Korean J Otolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2001 Oct;44(10):1032-1037.

Analysis of Prognosis in Patients with Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Dizziness

• Ahn JH
• Yoon TH
• Chung JW

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There are many known prognostic factors such as patient's age, treatment onset, initial hearing threshold, and dizziness. This study was aimed to collect the clinical features and the prognostic factors of sudden sensorineural hearing loss with or without dizziness.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We reviewed the chart of 246 patients who were diagnosed as idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss and treated from October 1995 through December 1999.
RESULTS
The number of patients who had complaint of dizziness was 105 out of 253. Among many factors, age, treatment onset, initial hearing threshold, and dizziness showed statistically significant correlation with the final result of hearing recovery. We analyzed the correlation between dizziness and other prognostic factors. But when we supposed the condition that initial hearing threshold be equalized between improved and no improved group, dizziness had no meaning as a prognostic factor any more without initial hearing threshold.
CONCLUSION
We can predict hearing outcome of sudden sensorineural hearing loss more accurately on the basis of age, delayed time before treatment, initial hearing level, dizziness. But dizziness may not be an independent prognostic factor without considering initial hearing level.

Keyword

Sudden deafness; Dizziness; Vestibular function tests

MeSH Terms

Age Factors
Dizziness*
Hearing
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural*
Hearing Loss, Sudden
Humans
Prognosis*
Vestibular Function Tests