Q: . My 37 years old wife has realised that she cannot hear anything through her right ear a month back after waking up in the morning. We rushed to an ENT specialist in the nearby hospital wherein the Audiogram showed nearly 100 percent hearing loss in right ear. The ENT Specialist informed us that the condition is called sudden sensorineural hearing loss and started the steroid treatment (prednisone 60mg a day) for 10 days. After two days she regained some hearing and could attend cell phones. However, it didn't last for long. We continued with the prednisone and went to a Neurosurgeon, who suggested an MRI and MRA and the results were negative. Audiogram was repeated after 10 days but there was no improvement. How can sudden sensorineural hearing loss be managed?

A:Exact cause of sudden sensorineural hearing loss is not known. Loss may be associated with noises in ear and dizziness and imbalance. Those with less than 80 dB hearing loss recover majority of cases. Cases with more than 80db hearing loss have bad prognosis specially if associated with dizziness. Treatment includes carbogen, anti viral, steroids, neurotropic agents, cinnarazine and hyperbaric oxygen. There are so many treatments because none is 100 percent successful. If improvement starts in 15 days results are better. No improvement is expected after two months. Intratympanic steroids are marginally better, recommended for those with diabetes. BAHA (Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid) can be done if required later.