Page 10 - Revista SPORL - Vol 58. Nº2

recent chemotherapy, radiation therapy or ototoxic 17.0. Chicago: SPSS Inc.) was used for statistical analysis.
drops; (c) cochlear malformations or the presence of Quantitative and qualitative statistical methods of data
otitis media; (d) pregnancy and (e) those patients who analysis were used. The Chi-square test was used. For
failed to complete at least 10 years of follow-up. the quantitative variables the Student´s t-test and the
Diagnosis was based on the history, otomicroscopy, Mann-Whitney U-test were used. To control the possible
pure-tone audiometry, extendend high-frequency confounding variables and possible interactions a
audiometry, speech audiometry, and tympanometry. logistic regression adjustment analysis was performed,
Searching for systemic diseases was performed. taking into consideration the possible associations
Laboratory tests included a complete blood cell count; related to the patient, auditory findings, and being the
glucose levels, lipid profiles, erythrocyte sedimentation dependent variable sensorineural hearing loss. The
rate, C-reactive protein levels, immunologic work-up estimate was established with 95% confidence intervals,
study, and thyroid function tests. Magnetic resonance and a p-value of < 0.05 was accepted as the statistical
imaging of the brain were arranged to rule out internal significance level.
auditory canal, cerebellopontine angle tumors, multiple
sclerosis, or cerebrovascular causes. RESULTS
Patients were treated with oral Methylprednisolone Between January 1994 and December 2006, a total of
1mg/kg/day tapered in three weeks. Patients who 214 patients were diagnosed with SHL. The primary
had failure of oral therapy received intravenous outcome was evaluated (cardiovascular disease risk
Methylprednisolone (Solu-Moderín, Pfizer, New York, factors) in 188 patients who signed the informed
USA) 125-500 mg for 72 hours or injections as a rescue consent. Of these patients, 64 patients in whom a
line (4 Methylprednisolone injections through the known cause of the hearing loss such as an immune-
tympanic membrane within a 1-week period)9. mediated disorder and/or viral infection was ruled-out
Stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) were defined (37 male, 57.81%; 27 female, 42.19%) were assessed for
according to the WHO criteria. Stroke and TIA diagnosis
was carried out by a neurologist based on clinical and FIGURE 1
imaging findings. The Lausanne Stroke Registry was Trial profile scheme carried out in the present study.
used to classify ischemic stroke subtypes: (1) large-
artery atherosclerosis (LAA); (2) cardioembolism (CE);
(3) lacunar stroke or small-artery occlusion (SAO); (4)
stroke of other infrequent cause (SIC), and (5) stroke of
undetermined cause (UND)10.
The SHL patients were matched 1:4 with subjects no
diagnosed with SHL from the same time period. The
control participants were selected from patients who
were treated at the hospital for different reasons not
suspected of causing stroke. A total of 256 patients were
randomly selected and matched with the SHL group in
terms of age and gender.
The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Inc.
Released 2008. SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version

TABLE 1
Clinical characteristics and comorbidities in patients with SHL in different series.

Gender M/F (%) Chang et al.6 Lin et al.5 Rudack et al.20 Ballesteros et al.27 Kim et al.8 Present study
Age (yr) (n=349) (n=1432) (n=142) (n=99) (n=4944) (n=64)
Ear: R/L/B(%) 64.8/35.2 54.5/45.5 54.2/45.8 1/1 44.1/55.9
Dizziness(%) 57.81/42.19
High blood pressure(%) 60.2 ± 16.6 — 51.2 ± 17.2 51.7 ± 16.4 5-85+ 61.4 ± 30.6
Diabetes mellitus(%) 47.3/50.1/2.6 — 47.9/52.1/0 46.8/53.2/2 — 43.75/43.75/12.5
Dyslipidemia(%) — —
Coronary heart disease(%) 16.9 8.4 31.7 27 34.8 29.7
Stroke after SHL (%) 47.9 10.1 14.1 21.1 20.7 42.2
19.8 0.8 5.6 30.2 12.50
40.1 — — 7 7.6 31.25
8.9 12.7 3.5 — 4.9 4.7
4.9 — 8.8 10.94
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58 REVISTA PORTUGUESA DE OTORRINOLARINGOLOGIA E CIRURGIA DE CABEÇA E PESCOÇO