The Impact of Cardiovascular Risk Factors on the Incidence, Severity, and Prognosis of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL): A Systematic Review

TL;DR

This systematic review explores how cardiovascular risk factors like dyslipidaemia and diabetes may be linked to sudden hearing loss, while factors like obesity and smoking do not seem to affect it.

Contribution

The study systematically reviews the association between cardiovascular risk factors and sudden sensorineural hearing loss, highlighting a potential microvascular basis for the condition.

Findings

Dyslipidaemia, diabetes, and atherosclerosis markers are more common in SSHL patients than in controls.

Obesity, hypertension, and smoking do not significantly influence SSHL risk.

A high cardiovascular risk profile correlates with increased SSHL risk, supporting a microvascular etiology.

Abstract

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) is believed to be mainly idiopathic since the cause is not usually identified. Several recent studies have examined the role of cardiovascular risk factors in this disease. The aim of this systematic literature review is to investigate the possible association between acquired and inherited cardiovascular risk factors and the incidence, severity, and prognosis of SSHL. A systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A search of the PubMed database for the period between February 2010 and January 2023 was performed in order to retrieve eligible articles. The analytic cohort included 24 studies. Overall, this systematic review includes a total of 61,060 patients that were encompassed in these studies. According to most studies, the prevalence of dyslipidaemia, diabetes, and ultrasound indices of atherosclerosis was significantly higher in SSHL patients compared to controls. On the other hand, obesity, hypertension, and smoking did not seem to influence the risk of SSHL. Most studies suggest the presence of a correlation between a high cardiovascular risk profile and the risk of developing SSHL. The theory of microvascular impairment in the development of SSHL is indirectly supported by the findings of this review.

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