Recovery from repeated sudden hearing loss in a patient with Takayasu’s arteritis treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy: the first report in the literature

Hearing loss has been rarely reported in Takayasu's arteritis, presents as sudden sensorineural hearing loss and usually responds well to corticosteroid therapy. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is commonly used as a supplementary treatment to corticosteroids for sudden hearing loss. We present the case of a woman with Takayasu's arteritis who had two episodes of hearing loss involving one ear at a time with a 11-month delay between each episode. During the first episode, the patient was treated with high-dose intramuscular corticosteroids with a temporary improvement of auditory threshold, that deteriorated close to previous level 14 days after cessation of therapy. In the second episode, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy was associated to corticosteroids, with a significant, longer term improvement in both ears, including the one that had shown to be unresponsive to previous pharmacologic therapy. Oxygen therapy could have played a role in hearing restoration in this patient, as it could have acted synergically with corticosteroids amplifying their effect.