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. 2022 Apr 28:13:883749.
doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.883749. eCollection 2022.

COVID-19 and Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review

Xiangming Meng  1 , Jing Wang  2 , Jian Sun  3 , Kangxu Zhu  1
Affiliations

COVID-19 and Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review

Xiangming Meng et al. Front Neurol. .

Erratum in

Abstract

A growing body of evidence suggests that patients with the 2019 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have a risk of developing sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). The pathogenesis of COVID-19-related SSNHL remains unclear. This systematic review examined whether COVID-19 causes an increased incidence of SSNHL and the clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19-related SSNHL according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. SSNHL usually developed between a few days and 2 months after the diagnosis of COVID-19, and a proportion of patients developed it before the diagnosis of COVID-19. The literature is inconsistent regarding whether COVID-19 causes an increased incidence of SSNHL, and this matter remains unclear. This review included 23 patients with COVID-19-related SSNHL, all adult patients with an average age of 43.1 years. Of these patients, 60.9% had accompanying tinnitus symptoms. Glucocorticoids are the preferred medication to treat COVID-19-related SSNHL. Intratympanic administration may be considered to reduce the side effects of the drug. Hearing tests are suggested when hearing loss is suspected in COVID-19 individuals, and if SSNHL is detected, prompt and aggressive treatment is vital. Large-scale, multicenter research on the pathophysiology, treatment, and prognosis of COVID-19- related SSNHL should be conducted in the future.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; glucocorticoids; incidence; inner ear; sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart showing the process of literature screening.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Figure showing the age distribution of 23 patients with 2019 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-related sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Figure showing the distribution characteristics of concomitant symptoms in 23 patients with COVID-19-related SSNHL.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Figure showing the treatment outcomes of 23 patients with COVID-19-related SSNHL.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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