Prediction of hearing outcomes by auditory steady-state response in
patients with unilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss
Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether auditory
steady-state response (ASSR) can be a prognostic indicator of hearing
outcome in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL).
Design: Prospective clinical study. Setting: Tertiary-care hospital
center. Participants: Fifty-three patients with unilateral SSNHL of ≤ 90
dB HL were included. Patients with a worse ASSR threshold of ≥ 15 dB HL
compared to pure-tone threshold were included in the worse ASSR (WASSR)
group. Patients without a worse ASSR thresholds were included in the
similar or better ASSR (SBASSR) group. Main outcome measures: Pure-tone
audiometry (PTA) was gathered before and after steroid treatment. The
hearing recovery was defined as a < 25 dB HL of final hearing
level or a > 15 dB HL of hearing gain. Hearing outcome of
SSNHL according to the ASSR grouping was evaluated. Results: Twenty-one
patients were included in the WASSR group, whereas the remaining of 32
patients were included in the SBASSR group. Although WASSR and SBASSR
groups had similar initial pure-tone thresholds, WASSR group had
significantly worse last pure-tone thresholds compared to SBASSR group
(p = 0.021). The ASSR grouping was significantly associated with the
hearing recovery in univariate and multivariate logistic regression
model (all p-values < 0.05) Conclusions: This study suggests
that ASSR measurements can be used to predict the hearing prognosis of
SSNHL.