Therapeutic effect of lipoprostaglandin E1 on sudden hearing loss

Abstract

Purpose: The authors conducted a prospective, comparative clinical trial for the purpose of additional effect of lipoprostaglandin E 1 (lipo-PGE 1 ) on sudden hearing loss.

Materials and methods: With the approval of the institute ethics committee, a total of 128 consecutive patients with diagnoses of sudden hearing loss were included in the study. The patients in the lipo-PGE 1 group received continuous infusion of 10 microL lipo-PGE 1 and 48 mg methylprednisolone for 5 days, and the patient in the control group were treated with only 48 mg methylprednisolone.

Results: The total recovery rate after the treatment was 67.2%. There were 70.5% recovery rate in lipo-PGE 1 group and 60.5% recovery rate in control group. However, no significant differences were observed in the improvements of pure tone average and subjective symptoms between the lipo-PGE 1 and control groups.

Conclusion: The results failed to prove a beneficial effect of lipo-PGE 1 in the treatment of sudden hearing loss in spite of its higher cure rate.