Abstract
The main etiology of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is uncertain and vascular problems have been proposed as one of the underlying factors in this disease. Patients with SSNHL and people without any hearing or ear disorders as the control group were included in the study (aged 18-65 years). Clinical examination, pure tone audiometry, and color doppler ultrasound of the neck vessels were performed for all patients and control subjects, on both sides, to check blood flow, peak systolic velocity (PSV), vascular diameter, and intima-media thickness (IMT) in the common carotid (CCA), vertebral (VA), and internal carotid arteries (ICA). Thirty-three patients and 33 control subjects enrolled in the study. Comparing ultrasonography findings in the involved and non-involved side in the patients' group, blood flow in the VA and CCA was 85.66 (33.52), 113.42 (40.26) and 390 (431.5-358.0), 405 (437.0-339.0), respectively, and IMT in the ICA and CCA was 0.7 (0.6-0.8), 0/6 (0.5-0.7), and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). On the other hand, comparing the results between the case and control groups, blood flow in the VA, the IMT in the CCA, and the PSV in the VA in the involved ear were significantly different (P < 0.05). Vascular indices, like blood flow in the VA and the IMT in the CCA, are different in SSNHL cases.