This prospective longitudinal study evaluated vestibular function inpatients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) using caloric and video head impulse tests. All patients were admitted for treatment of their ISSHL and divided into two cohorts depending on presence or absence of vestibular symptoms. The tests were performed on the 10th inpatient day, and as outpatients during the third month and one year after onset of hearing loss. The authors found a significant relationship between the degree of hearing loss pre-treatment and the level of improvement at the 10th day, third month and 12th month post treatment. Their results indicate that severe cochlear damage is suggested by the presence of vertigo in patients with ISSHL. They recommend that, in patients with ISSHL, otolaryngologists should focus treatment on not only the cochlea and the hearing loss but also on the vertigo and the vestibular system.
Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss and vertigo
Reviewed by Gauri Mankekar
Vestibular function assessment in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss: a prospective study.
CONTRIBUTOR
Gauri Mankekar
Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery, Louisiana State University Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.
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