Follow up study of sudden deafness.

It is significant to follow up patients with sudden deafness, because the change of hearing level after a long-term period and a differential diagnosis from Meniére's disease must be studied. We reported the follow-up study of 27 patients with sudden deafness who were admitted to the Department of Otolaryngology of the Second Tokyo National Hospital. The duration of follow-up ranged from 6-58 months, with a mean duration of 23.7 months. In the Complete Recovery Group there was little change of mean hearing loss during the follow-up period. We coud demonstrate that the once recovered hearing level rarely deteriorated afterwards, but the not recovered hearing level would sometimes deteriorate.