As audiology and ENT professionals we all have an inkling about the prevalence and impact of hearing loss, but the true gravity of the situation is even greater than previously thought… It may seem hard to believe, but in the...
Prevention and treatment of hearing loss needs to be viewed through a public health lens, but what does that look like? Kelly Reavis and colleagues explain the steps to addressing hearing healthcare from a public health perspective and why this...
Early hearing detection and intervention programmes have been implemented in many countries across the globe, but why are these programmes so important and how are our Canadian colleagues managing this process? The consequences of being born with a permanent hearing...
A detailed look at the pathogenesis of acquired hearing loss due to exposure to ototoxicity during pregnancy or shortly after birth. Insights from genomic medicine have shown that, along with environmental factors causing epigenetic alterations, hearing loss may be caused...
Whilst enjoying music, we also need to be mindful of the potential effect of producing music for the musician. Dr Chasin discusses the development of earplugs for the industry with the added bonus of physics for party goers! Hearing protection,...
A sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) of 30dB or more affecting at least three frequencies and occurring over less than three days is classified as ‘sudden’ SNHL (SSNHL). Treatment is urgently undertaken with systemic and/or intra-tympanic steroids, and ijn some cases...
There is recognised variation between ENT departments in exact imaging protocols for the workup of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) but a routine MRI to exclude retrocochlear pathology is standard, usually following immediate treatment with oral +/- intratympanic steroids....
Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in adults can be a result of multiple factors such as age, noise exposure and autoimmune pathology. In a group of patients, no cause is identified and the SNHL is treated as idiopathic. Authors evaluate the...
Many treatment strategies for sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) have been discussed, but the high spontaneous recovery rate (32-65%) of idiopathic SSNHL and differing treatment guidelines make comparing outcomes difficult. Systemic steroids are the most common first-line therapy with significant...
The 2012 American Academy of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) clinical practice guidelines on sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) have two statements that address steroid use. Statement eight indicates an option to offer corticosteroid as initial treatment for...
There have been suggestions that the natural course of the idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is not affected by intensive therapy. There is speculation as to whether unknown factors affect the treatment prognosis. This is a retrospective study of...
This article looked at whether intratympanic steroids (ITS) provide more benefits over systemic steroid therapy (SST) as initial therapy in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL). This meta-analysis study, based on published RCTs, concluded that ITS treatment exhibited...