Objective: To evaluate the hearing outcomes of intratympanic steroid (ITS) treatment for patients with acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss (ALHL) after the failure of initial therapy and to investigate the recurrence and progression to definite Ménière's disease (MD) during long-term follow-up. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 90 patients with refractory ALHL who were followed-up for at least 1 year between January 2000 and April 2014. Patients who responded

more »

... ly to initial medical treatment received intratympanic dexamethasone injections (ITS group) or isosorbide administration for 4 weeks (Diuretic group) as salvage treatment options according to their choice of management. The control group did not receive ITS or the diuretic due to their refusal of both medical treatments. The hearing outcomes were evaluated at 1 month, 1 year and 5 years after the completion of second-line therapy, and the rates of recurrence and progression to MD were measured during a follow-up period of at least 1 year. Results: Twenty-seven patients in the ITS group, 39 patients in the diuretic group and 24 patients in the control group were enrolled. Of these, 12 patients in the ITS group, 15 patients in the diuretic group and 12 patients in the control group were followed-up for over 5 years. We found that the recovery rates and the audiometric functional values after 1 month and 1 year in the ITS group were significantly higher than those in the diuretic and control groups. However, there were no significantly differences in the 4 recovery rates or the audiometric functional values after 5 years, or in the rates of recurrence and progression to MD among the groups. Conclusions: Salvage ITS therapy can provide a relatively good short-term hearing outcome for ALHL patients who have persistent hearing loss despite conventional treatment. However, both recurrence and progression to MD after treatment were observed in some patients during long-term follow-up. 5