Is auditory brainstem response a prognostic factor in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss?

Abstract

Background: Serum thyroid hormone levels are closely related to the normal functioning of the cochlea. However, the relationship between initial auditory brainstem response (ABR) results and levels of thyroid hormone remained unclear until we adopted ABR as a prognostic factor in Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) patients.

Objective: This investigation aimed to elucidate the association between ABR and outcomes in patients with ISSNHL.

Material and methods: Thirty-three patients presenting with unilateral ISSNHL underwent blood sampling and ABR tests on the day of admission. The mean latencies of the ABR results were compared among the groups which were classified by ISSNHL outcome, based on Siegel’s criteria. The association between the ABR results and the thyroid hormone serum levels (TSH, T3, and free T4) were assessed.

Results: The overall successful recovery rate was 60.6% (n = 20). The mean latencies of all the ABR parameters were not significantly different between the different treatment outcome groups (Mann–Whitney U test). Wave V latency, III–V interval and I–V interval were negatively associated with T3 serum levels.

Conclusion: The results indicate that clinical caution should be exercised when conducting ABR tests without assessing thyroid hormone levels.

背景：血清甲状腺激素水平与耳蜗的正常功能密切相关。然而, 直到我们采用ABR作为特发性突发性感音神经性失聪（ISSNHL）患者的预后因素, 初始听觉脑干反应（ABR）结果与甲状腺激素水平之间的关系才比较明确。

目的：本研究旨在阐明ABR与ISSNHL患者预后之间的关系。

材料和方法：33名单侧ISSNHL患者在入院当天接受了血液采样和ABR测试。根据Siegel标准, 我们比较了据ISSNHL结果的组别之间的ABR结果的平均潜伏期。评估了ABR结果与甲状腺激素血清水平（TSH, T3和游离T4）之间的关联。

结果：总体成功恢复率为60.6％（n = 20）。所有ABR参数的平均潜伏期在不同治疗结果组之间没有显著差异（Mann-Whitney U检验）。波V潜伏期, III-V间期和I-V间期与T3血清水平呈负相关。

结论：结果表明, 在不评估甲状腺激素水平的情况下进行ABR试验, 应该谨慎行事。

Keywords:

• Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss
• auditory brainstem response
• pure tone audiometry
• thyroid hormone

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (2019R1I1A1A01040966).