An Update on Aetiology of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Adults: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The present review aimed to document the evidence for aetiology of sudden SNHL from literature published in the last ten years. A totally internet-based search was carried out for the literature in the database of Google Scholar, Pubmed, and J-GATE from December 2020 to July 2021. Articles regarding the topic of aetiology of sudden SNHL were searched in the mentioned database. The articles published from 2011 to 2021 July were considered to select for the review. The data extraction were performed by Rayyan intelligent, systematic review software developed by Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI). Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 7 articles were selected for systematic review from 1,943 articles obtained after the initial search. The NIH study quality assessment tool was used for the quality analysis of finalized articles. The summary of all 7 selected articles identified idiopathic as a major cause for sudden SNHL and other causes reported in the reviewed articles are as follows, inner ear or intra labyrinthine haemorrhage, acoustic trauma, head injury, vestibular schwannoma or acoustic neuroma, meningioma, labyrinthitis, structural deformity, perilymphatic fistula and systemic autoimmune diseases such as Lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, vittiligo, Cogan’s syndrome, psoriasis, Susac syndrome, Sjogren syndrome and ankylosing spondylitis. The updated articles in the current study may help the audiologist perform appropriate diagnostic test batteries to find the causal link between the various aetiological factors and sudden SNHL.