RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Because tinnitus can be generated from the damaged cochlear hair cells, patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss frequently complain their tinnitus as an important symptom. We prospectively designed this study to understand the clinical characteristics of tinnitus in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Thirty-seven patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss who performed an audiologic study and questionnare of tinnitus before and immediately after the combination therapy for hearing loss were included. Their clinical and audiologic data were prospectively entered into a comprehensive data base to analyze the clinical characteristics of tinnitus. RESULTS: Most of the patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss showed abrupt and concomitant onset of tinnitus in the same ear of hearing loss. The characteristics of tinnitus were changed according to the degree of hearing recovery of sudden hearing loss. CONCLUSION: Improvement of tinnitus in the patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss may be closely related to the degree of hearing recovery. Understanding the characteristics of tinnitus in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss might be helpful in counselling them during the treatment period of hearing loss.