Geriatric sudden deafness

• Published in: American journal of otolaryngology Vol. 42; no. 4; p. 102985
• Main Authors: Zhang, Bang-Yan, Young, Yi-Ho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.07.2021; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Age; Aging; Cardiovascular disease; Clinical outcomes; Deafness; Ears & hearing; Geriatric; Geriatrics; Hearing loss; Inner ear; Investigations; Older people; Otolaryngology; Regression analysis; Society; Sudden deafness; Sudden sensorineural hearing loss; Systemic diseases; The elderly; Tinnitus; Vertigo; Vestibular system; United States > US; Sudden sensorineural hearing loss; Geriatric; Sudden deafness; The elderly
• ISSN: 0196-0709; 1532-818X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2021.102985

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss, briefly sudden deafness (SD), in the elderly remains less investigated despite rapidly aging population in most countries around the world. This study investigated whether aging process affects the treatment outcome of SD in the elderly. Eighty patients with SD, comprising 40 geriatric patients aged >65 years and 40 non-geriatric patients aged 55–64 years, were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent an inner ear test battery including audiometry, and cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP), ocular VEMP (oVEMP), and caloric tests. Pre-treatment mean hearing level in the geriatric group (94 ± 16 dB) did not significantly differ from non-geriatric group (89 ± 20 dB). After treatment for 3 months, mean hearing gain in the geriatric group (22 ± 18 dB) with an improvement rate of 65%, did not significantly differ from non-geriatric group (21 ± 28 dB) with 58% improvement rate. Both inter-subject and intra-subject analyses revealed that the aging process greatly influenced the cVEMP and oVEMP responses, while less influenced the caloric responses. The treatment outcome of SD in geriatric patients aged >65 years did not significantly differ from that in non-geriatric patients aged 55–64 years, indicating that aging process did not affect treatment outcome of SD. Unlike treatment outcome for the presbycusis is unsatisfactory, treatment outcome for the elderly with SD could be favorable.