ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Otorinolaringologia 2001 June;51(2):83-8

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Use of the association acetazolamide/pentoxifylline in the treatment of idiopathic sudden hearing loss in patients with chronic glaucoma

Giuliano D. A., Restivo S., Giuliano S., Cupido G., Gallina S.

Università degli Studi - Palermo Clinica Otorinolaringoiatrica Base *Servizio di Oftalmologia ASS n. 2 di Caltanissetta

Back­ground. ­There are ­still dis­cor­dant opin­ions ­about the exis­tence of a ­close phys­io­path­o­logic cor­re­la­tion ­between ­idiopathic ­sudden ­hearing ­loss and ­chronic glau­coma. Nev­er­the­less ­this asso­ci­a­tion ­appears ­with rel­a­tive fre­quency in the clin­ical prac­tice. The aim of ­this ­paper is to ­assess the effi­cacy of a ther­a­peu­tical ­strategy, ­based on the asso­ci­a­tion Acet­a­zol­a­mide/Pen­tox­i­fyl­line, exe­cuted to ­save the eye ­from phar­mac­o­log­ical inju­ries ­that ­could ­increase the ­initial path­o­log­ical ­state and to ­treat ­both ­sense-­organs, con­tem­po­ra­ne­ously ­obtaining the ­hearing ­recovery and the re-estab­lish­ment of the ­normal ­ocular ten­sion.
­Methods. 11 ­patients, 7 men and 4 ­women (­mean age ± SD: 40.4±7.3; ­range 28-51 ­years) ­with ­chronic glau­coma and ­idiopathic ­sudden ­hearing ­loss ­have ­been ­treated. No ­later ­than 24 ­hours ­from the admis­sion to hos­pital, two ­drugs ­have ­been admin­is­tered to ­each ­patient: Acet­a­zol­a­mide (250 mg × 4/die for the ­first 5 ­days and 250 mg × 3/die for 5 ­days ­more) and Pen­tox­i­fyl­line (400 mg × 3/die for 10 ­days). The audiom­etry and tonom­etry of Gold­mann ­have ­been car­ried out at admis­sion to hos­pital and at the end of the treat­ment. ­During the ­time ­spent in hos­pital, ­other ­audio-ves­tib­ular, ­hematic and radio­logic exam­ina­tions ­have ­been car­ried out to con­firm the ­idiopathic ­nature of the ­hearing ­loss.
­Results. The ­hearing ­recovery has ­been com­plete in 5 ­patients, ­good in ­other 5 and ­modest in ­only one clin­ical ­case, ­whereas the invo­lu­tion ­degree of the ­ocular hyper­ten­sion has ­been com­plete in 8 ­patients and ­good in the ­other 3. The exis­tence of a sta­tis­ti­cally ­meaning cor­re­la­tion (r of ­Pearson = 0.93) ­between the ­values of ­hearing ­recovery and the ­ones of invo­lu­tion of the ­ocular hyper­ten­sion has ­been ver­i­fied.
Con­clu­sions. The phar­mac­o­log­ical asso­ci­a­tion Acet­a­zol­a­mide/Pen­tox­i­fyl­line is one of the ­most effec­tive ther­a­peu­tical strat­e­gies to ­cure the ­idiopathic ­sudden ­hearing ­loss in ­patients ­with ­chronic glau­coma.