Long‐term Outcomes of Tinnitus after Steroid Therapy in Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss Accompanied by Tinnitus

Objectives: Investigate long‐term outcomes of tinnitus after steroid therapy in sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) accompanied by tinnitus. Methods: Thirty‐four patients diagnosed with SSNHL with tinnitus were retrospectively included for this study. All patients underwent systemic steroid therapy and/or intratympanic steroid injection. Clinical and audiological findings, and assessment of tinnitus were performed before and after treatment of SSNHL. Assessment of hearing recovery after treatment was done with Kim's and Siegel's criteria. Results: The study group consisted of 17 male and 17 female patients. The ages of all patients ranged from 19 to 81 years (mean age 49.8 years) and the mean follow‐up period was 16.5 months. Eight patients (23.5%) had dizziness and medical treatment for tinnitus was done in all patients. Final hearing after treatment evaluated by the two criteria was that complete recovery was approximately 30% and no recovery approximately 40%. Patients showing the poor recovery of final hearing in both Kim's and Siegel's criteria revealed significantly poor global subjective tinnitus score ( P <0.016 and P < 0.033, respectively). There was a high correlation between the grades of initial hearing in SSNHL and Kim's criteria ( P < 0.029). However, there was no significant correlation between the grade of initial hearing in SSNHL and global subjective tinnitus score. Conclusions: Successful treatment of SSNHL may assure the favorable long‐term control of tinnitus.