Sudden sensorineural hearing loss in children: a review of dia­gnosis, treatment, and prognosis

Introduction: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) is an acute condition in children. Universal guidelines for treatment and dia­gnosis are not defined. Use of objective dia­gnostic methods in hearing threshold level verification is necessary. Standardized follow-up care is essential for adequate correction of hearing impairment. Methods and material: This retrospective study analysed 14 patients suffering from SSHL, hospitalized between 2016 and 2019 in a tertiary centre. Age, gender, affected side, hearing threshold level, symptoms, cause and treatment were compared. Hearing loss was classified according to the WHO methodology. The recovery rate was assessed by Siegel’s criteria. Results: All children were treated with an initial dose of 5 mg/kg/day of methylprednisolone intravenously. A complete recovery in our group was achieved in 6 cases (43%). The rate of treatment failure was 75% for the left side and 16.7% for right side SSHL. Patients with the presence of tinnitus have a 54.5% chance of hearing restitution, as compared to 35.3% in patients without tinnitus. The risk of treatment failure for children aged 5–10 years, 10–15 years and 15–18 years is 33%, 83% and 20% respectively. We did not observe any effect on hearing recovery for the other analysed parameters. Conclusions: Better hearing recovery was observed in children with tinnitus, the right affected side and a higher severity of initial hearing loss. At the age of 10–15 years, the chance of hearing recovery was three times lower than in other age groups. Key words sudden sensorineural hearing loss – children – correction of hearing impairment