Investigation the efficacy of intratympanic steroid injection in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Purpose: Steroid is the only proven drug in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. In the recent studies, it has been suggested that; steroids delivered through the intratympanic route obtained higher perilymph levels, resulting better hearing outcomes. The purpose of this study is to research the effectiveness of ITS. Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, 35 patients admitted with idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss complaint treated between 2013-2014 years were enrolled.2 ml dexametazon with the dose of 4 mg/ml in dental syringe were performed 5 injections tapered every 3 days. The assessment of response to treatment, the pure tone averages (PTA), speech discrimination scores (SDS), speech reception threshold (SRT); the percentage of the patients who made an improvement more than 10 dB PTA gain and according to the Furuhashi criteria were analyzed in 1.week and 3. week after the treatment statistically. Results: The improvement in PTA in 1.week and 3.week after treatment was 47.43 and 46.51 dB respectively; the improvement in SRT in the same time period was 46.57 and 45.57 dB respectively: the improvement in SDS in the same time period was 64.69% and 65.03% respectively. 22 of 35 patients (%63) made an improvement more than 10 dB on PTA in the 1.week and 3.week control.17 of 35 patients (%49) in 1. week, 18 of 35 patients(%51) in 3. week made succesfull treatment (complete+marked improvement) according to Furuhashi criteria. Conclusion: Intratympanic steroids gave similar hearing results than systemic steroids with no steroid side effects. Studies with more sample sizes will identify the best steroid for injection, application time, frequency and dose. Key words: intratympanic, steroid, sudden sensorineural hearing loss, treatment