gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: The etiology of the acute hearing loss is unknown. A multifactorial genesis is assumed. A variety of therapeutic approaches are discussed in literature. Aim of the present study was to compare the treatment methods used in Dresden and the assessment of the therapeutic efficiency.

Material and method: Fourty-nine patients were treated medicamentously with prednisolone and pentoxyfylline. Fivty one other patients underwent a tympanotomy additionally. Audiograms were made before and at the end of primary therapy and 90 days later.

Results: Vertigo and tinnitus are the most frequent symptoms that accompany hearing loss. An additional vertigo increases the suspicion of a rupture of the membrane. There is no significant advantage of one kind of therapy regarding the vertigo. There is no impact of a trauma in the anamnesis on the development of the hearing loss. A rupture of the membrane was seen in 3,9% of the tympanotomies. The region of the membranes were visible in 94,1 % of the cases. In average, patients after tympanotomy had better hearing results compared to patients treated by infusions only. However, statistically this difference did not reach a significant level. Tympanotomy at an early stage increases the resulting benefit in hearing, however without significance.

Discussion: Even though the predominance of the combined therapy with infusions and tympanotomy could not be proved statistically, in our opinion the inspection and the covering of both of the window membranes should be discussed, if the hearing loss is high-grade, to prevent leakage of perilymph.