Long-term administration of vitamin B12 and adenosine triphosphate for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss: a retrospective study

Abstract

Background In idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL), the relationship between the administration duration of vitamin B12 (vit B12) with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and their therapeutic effect is not fully understood. Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of long-term 16 (≥weeks) administration of vit B12 with ATP on the prognosis of ISSNHL patients and compare it with those of short-term (<8 weeks) and middle-term (≥8 weeks, <16 weeks) administration. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 117 patients with ISSNHL treated between 2015 and 2018. Results The overall recovery rate was 32.5%. Initial higher hearing threshold and initial higher grade of hearing loss (HL) were associated with a poor prognosis. However, the administration duration of vit B12 and ATP did not influence the overall hearing improvement. With regard to the time course of hearing recovery, there was no significant difference in hearing recovery among the long-, middle-, and short-term administration groups until 16 weeks after treatment. However, at 16–24 weeks after initial treatment, the short-term administration group exhibited significantly lower hearing recovery than did the long-term administration groups. Conclusions The administration duration of vit B12 and ATP did not influence the overall hearing prognosis in ISSNHL, but long-term administration of vit B12 and ATP helped prevent the progression of HL after ISSNHL. Our results suggest that long-term administration of vit B12 and ATP is not necessarily required to treat ISSNHL patients, except for slowly progressing HL in the affected ears.

Is repetitive systemic corticosteroid therapy effective for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss? a retrospective study

“…The primary goal of medical treatment for ISSHL is to restore hearing thresholds, and better prognostic factors of ISSHL have been reported as young age, short days between onset and the start of treatment, absence of vertigo (4,6,7), and better hearing thresholds at onset (8). Additionally, a recent report revealed that early response to systemic corticosteroid treatment correlates with final prognosis (7).…”

Serum Fibrinogen Level and Cytokine Production as Prognostic Biomarkers for Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

“…Accordingly, time to initial treatment after onset has been identified as the most important prognostic factor, with even better outcomes having been reported if treatment can be started within 2 weeks of hearing loss onset (13)(14)(15)(16). Furthermore, severe hearing loss upon onset, old age, and presence of accompanying dizziness have been identified as possible poor prognosis factors (17)(18)(19)(20). One recent report had identified high serum fibrinogen level as a poor prognosis factor (21).…”