[Consensus on diagnosis and treatment of sudden hearing loss. Asociación Madrileña de ORL].

Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss is an unexplained unilateral hearing loss with onset over a period of less than 72 hours, without other known otological diseases. We present a consensus on the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of this disease, designed by AMORL, after a systematic review of the literature from 1966 to June 2010. Diagnosis of sudden sensorineural hearing loss is based on mandatory otoscopy, acoumetry, tonal audiometry, speech audiometry, and tympanometry.

[Intratympanic drug delivery for the treatment of inner ear diseases].

Introduction: Intratympanic drug delivery for labyrinth diseases is a non-aggressive outpatient procedure where drugs reach high concentrations in the cochlea and minimum systemic diffusion. The aim of this review is to update the delivery techniques and report on the results obtained with different substances in cochleovestibular disorders. New perspectives in drug development and gene therapy are discussed.

Auditory discrimination training for tinnitus treatment: the effect of different paradigms.

Acoustic deprivation, i.e. hearing loss, is responsible for a cascade of processes resulting in reorganisation of the cortex.

Transtympanic steroids for Ménière's disease.

Objective: To describe the long-term efficacy of transtympanic steroids (TTS) using methyl-prednisolone in the treatment of Ménière's disease (MD).

Design: Descriptive prospective study.

Main Outcome Measures: Pure-tone average (PTA) corresponding to the conversational frequencies on the audiogram (0.

[Diagnostic clues in pulsatile tinnitus (somatosounds)].

Pulsatile tinnitus is a sound from within the body, mostly of vascular origin, that stimulates the patient's hearing in the same way as an external sound does, generally at the same pace as the pulse. Although not frequent, the diagnosis of its cause is crucial because of its potential severity in some cases. This article describes some of the diagnostic clues for arterial causes (arteriosclerosis, aberrant carotid artery, arteriovenous fistula or malformations, increased vascularization in Paget's disease) and venous causes (benign intracranial hypertension, high jugular bulb).

Tinnitus retraining therapy: prognosis factors.

Introduction: Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is, nowadays, one of the most extended treatments for tinnitus control. The goal is the habituation to a nonsignificative signal, that is, tinnitus, first, eliminating its reaction and, second, minimizing its perception.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to identify the factors that could improve or reduce the efficacy of TRT.

Intratympanic steroids for treatment of sudden hearing loss after failure of intravenous therapy.

Objective: We sought to describe our experience with intratympanic steroid treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss after failure of intravenous steroid treatment.

Study Design And Setting: We conducted a nonrandomized prospective clinical trial. Fifty patients presenting with sudden onset idiopathic hearing loss were treated intravenously over five days.

Long-term clinical trial of tinnitus retraining therapy.

Objective: To demonstrate the efficacy of tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) for tinnitus relief compared to a waiting list group and a partially treated group (patients that refused prosthesis adaptation).

Study Design: Prospective non-randomised clinical assay (n = 158). Visual analogue scale (VAS) for intensity and the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) were evaluated at 12-month period.