[Therapy of sudden deafness with O2/CO2 inhalation (author's transl)].

A total of 55 patients with sudden deafness have been treated in a prospective randomized study by inhalation with 95% O2 and 5% CO2 or intravenous infusion with papaverin and dextran. Five days after treatment, no significant difference could be found between both therapies. However, audiometric results obtained one year later show statistically better results for those patients who were managed by O2/CO2 inhalations and indicate that such therapy may improve the spontaneous rate of recovery inherent to sudden deafness.