OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features and prognosis of sudden hearing loss in children, so that to guide clinical diagnosis and treatment. METHOD: A retrospective review of medical records of 12 hospitalized children (21 ears) suffering from sudden hearing loss was conducted. RESULT: The study comprised 8 males and 4 females with a mean age of 6.28 years old, among which 25% had a unilateral hearing loss and 75% exhibited bilateral hearing loss. The mean onset time was 5.42 days. Four children had tinnitus and 3 patients showed dizziness. For the possible etiology. 2 cases had mumps. 6 cases had definite upper respiratory infections history, one experienced trauma, and another one took ototoxic drugs. Five patients were proved to come down with the large vestibular aqua duct syndrome by the CT scan. Among the 21 ears. 7 ears were diagnosed severe hearing loss and 14 ears were diagnosed profound hearing loss. After the treatment of 7 days, 6 ears were cured, one car showed effective change. and 14 cars came out to be ineffective, with the total effective rate of 33.3%. After the 14 days' treatment, there was no improvement for 5 patients. CONCLUSION CT scan should he performed on all of the children with hearing loss to exclude the inner ear malformation. Most of the children with sudden hearing loss underwent some clear etiology, showing more severe hearing loss and had a poorer prognosis.
Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; diagnosis ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Male ; Retrospective Studies