Audiological outcomes in sudden sensorineural hearing loss with presumed inner ear hemorrhage

Impact of Perioperative Anticoagulation and Antiplatelet Therapy on Hearing Preservation Outcomes

OBJECTIVE

To report hearing preservation (HP) outcomes based on anticoagulation/antiplatelet use (blood thinner, BT) following cochlear implantation (CI).

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective cohort.

SETTING

Tertiary referral center.

PATIENTS

Three hundred twenty-six adults (361 ears: no BT = 210, BT held = 86, BT continued = 65) implanted between 2012 and 2021 with preoperative low-frequency pure-tone average (LFPTA) of 65 dB HL or better.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Postoperative HP, defined as LFPTA ≤80 dB HL, at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months.

RESULTS

Compared to no BT, the BT held and continued groups were older (60.6 vs 72.7 vs 73.0 yrs, p < 0.001) and had diabetes (10% vs 28% vs 22%, p < 0.001). Electrode type, steroid use, surgical approach, and preoperative LFPTA were equivalent among groups. Postoperative HP rates were significantly higher for no BT than the BT held and continued groups at 1 month (62% vs 48% vs 43%, p = 0.008), with equivalent results at 3, 6, and 12 months. When patients were stratified by BT type, there were no significant differences in HP outcomes. On multivariate analysis, BT status was not a significant predictor of HP rates at 1 or 12 months. Younger age (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.94-0.97, p < 0.001) was the only significant predictor of 1- but not 12-month HP.

CONCLUSIONS

BT use, regardless of whether held for surgery, was associated with inferior early HP outcomes. After controlling for age, BT status was not a significant predictor of HP, suggesting inherently poorer cochlear health in patients who are on BTs.

Labyrinthine lesions in presumed inner ear hemorrhage-related sudden deafness

PURPOSE

Inner ear hemorrhage (IEH) is a rare cause of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). This study aimed to evaluate the lesional patterns in patients with presumed IEH from morphological and functional aspects.

METHODS

Seventeen patients with SSNHL and presumed IEH who completed audio-vestibular tests were included. The main outcome measures included clinical characteristics, radiology, and functional test results.

RESULTS

The morphological findings and functional tests revealed differences in locations and lesional spectrums. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) hyperintensity was likely to involve the vestibule (88.2%), the cochlea (76.5%), and the posterior and lateral semicircular canals (76.5% and 70.6%, respectively). Furthermore, 70.6% of cases showed abnormality in the entire labyrinth, and abnormalities in the vestibule/semicircular canals were observed in 17.6% of cases. Meanwhile, dysfunction was sequentially detected in the cochlea (100%), semicircular canals (94.1%), and vestibule (70.6%); 64.7% of cases showed combined deficit in the entire labyrinth, and 29.4% of cases showed combined deficit in the cochlea/semicircular canals. Although lesions in the labyrinth were frequently detected, the results of the radiological and functional tests did not always match and significantly differed in either cochlear or superior semicircular canal damage detection (p < 0.05 each).

CONCLUSIONS

In this cohort, IEH preferentially caused sudden audio-vestibular impairment, which was well demonstrated by a combination of MRI and functional tests. The specific lesional configurations revealed in this study may suggest a possible pathomechanism that could be further explored as a therapeutic target.