Is There an Association Between Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Coronavirus Disease 2019? A Comparison Between the Pre-pandemic and Pandemic Periods in Portugal

Background: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is a frequent pathology that has already been associated with vascular phenomena, immune causes, and viral infections. Various reports have suggested that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infected patients are prone to develop SSNHL, but evidence so far is inconsistent. In this study, we aim to compare the incidence of SSNHL in the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods in order to clarify the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) infection and/or immunization in the epidemiology of SSNHL.

Methods: We retrospectively selected all the patients who were admitted in the emergency department of Centro Hospitalar do Tâmega e Sousa with SSNHL’s diagnosis. The pre-pandemic period was defined from January 2, 2018, to March 1, 2020, and the pandemic period from March 2, 2020, to May 2, 2022. The incidence was calculated as the number of confirmed cases of SSNHL per total number of audiological evaluations performed in the emergency department in each period.

Results: The incidence of SSNHL was 8.1% in the pre-pandemic period, compared to 11.1% in the pandemic period. However, no significant difference was observed between the 2 periods (P > .05). One patient presented with SSNHL within 5 days after testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. Of the confirmed cases in the pandemic period, 52.4% were already vaccinated for COVID-19 at the time of occurrence.

Conclusion: Based on our results, we cannot affirm that the incidence of SSNHL has significantly increased since the beginning of the pandemic in Portugal. However, we must consider the limitations inherent to lockdown period in their interpretation.

Cite this article as: Cunha A, Bernardo T, Marques FT, Mota CP, Lousan N. Is there an association between sudden sensorineural hearing loss and coronavirus disease 2019? A comparison between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods in Portugal. Balkan ORL-HNS 2024;1(2):64-69.