Clinical Study of 35 Patients with Acute Acoustic Hearing Disorder

We conducted a clinical study on 35 patients (42 ears) with acute acoustic hearing disorder who visited the otolaryngology department of Himeji St. Mary's Hospital during 12 years, from January 2012 to December 2023. The patients' ages ranged from 16 to 81 years, with an average of 34.7 years (median age: 27 years); there were 27 male and 8 female patients. The disease was caused by exposure to shooting sounds in 22 patients (shooting sound group) and exposure to other strong and loud sounds in the remaining 13 patients (other high-intensity sound group). The mean age was significantly lower, and the interval from the onset of symptoms to consultation was shorter in the shooting sound group than in the other high-intensity sound group. Regarding hearing type, the C5-dip type was the most common (11 ears), followed in frequency by the gradually down-sloping, sharply down-sloping, and flat type. The overall hearing improvement was as follows: cured: 40.5%; markedly recovered: 11.9%; recovered: 19.0%; and unchanged: 28.6%. The degree of hearing improvement classified by hearing type was good for all of the C5-dip, dip (2K), and V-shaped types. Patients younger than 30 years, with a short interval from the onset to first visit, and with bilateral hearing loss showed satisfactory hearing improvement. There was a tendency for the degree of hearing improvement to be better in the shooting sound group than in the other high-intensity sound group.