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Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.
Dr
James
Tysome
+44 1223 256051
jrt20@cam.ac.uk
Ms
Karen
James
-
starfish@trials.bham.ac.uk
Dr
Matthew
Smith
-
mes39@cam.ac.uk
Mr
Samir
Mehta
-
S.MEHTA.1@bham.ac.uk
Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss
This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.
Hearing loss is a common and disabling condition that may result from problems with the cochlea, the inner ear structure that senses sound and sends information to the brain. Loss of hearing due to damage to the cochlea can occur suddenly and without an obvious cause, a condition described as sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). SSNHL can range from a mild hearing loss to a completely deaf ear, which can make it difficult to understand people talking on the affected side. Recovery of hearing following SSNHL may be helped by urgent treatment with steroids, but crucially we do not know if these work best given as tablets or by an injection through the ear drum. If SSNHL is identified more than a few weeks after it occurs, steroids may have little effect. A major problem is that patients with SSNHL may not be referred to Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons in time to benefit from steroid treatment (within four weeks), due to delays in the hearing loss being recognised or referred by general practitioners (GPs). Sudden hearing loss is rare and we usually do not know why it happens. Steroids are the best treatment to try and improve hearing, but we do not know whether it is best to give them by mouth or by an injection through the ear drum.
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
2024 Protocol article in https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38422002/ (added 01/03/2024)
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
1. Identified cause for hearing loss (not idiopathic)2. Bilateral ISSNHL3. Received prior steroid treatment for the same episode of ISSNHL4. Medical contraindication to high dose systemic steroids5. Previous history of psychosis6. On oral steroid therapy for another condition7. Known adrenocortical insufficiency other than exogenous corticosteroid therapy8. Hypersensitivity to the active substance or to any of the excipients9. Has a systemic infection unless specific anti-infective therapy is employed10. Has ocular herpes simplex11. Has ipsilateral acute or chronic active middle ear disease (including acute otitis media, chronic suppurative otitis media and cholesteatoma, excluding dry perforation)12. Does not have the capacity to provide written informed consent
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
Mr
Samir
Mehta
-
S.MEHTA.1@bham.ac.uk
Dr
Matthew
Smith
-
mes39@cam.ac.uk
Dr
James
Tysome
+44 1223 256051
jrt20@cam.ac.uk
Ms
Karen
James
-
starfish@trials.bham.ac.uk
The study is sponsored by University of Birmingham and funded by National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Your feedback is important to us. It will help us improve the quality of the study information on this site. Please answer both questions.
Or CPMS 53517
You can print or share the study information with your GP/healthcare provider or contact the research team directly.
