Intravenous Infusion of Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator for the Treatment of Patients with Sudden and/or Chronic Hearing Loss

Abstract

Seventeen patients with sudden hearing loss and 10 patients with chronic hearing loss were treated with intravenous infusion of tissue plasminogen activator. For sudden hearing loss, the recombinant tissue plasminogen activator was used, and 3 mg (in 3 mL of diluent) was diluted into 250 mL of physiological saline solution and given intravenously every 12 hours. Sixteen patients of the sudden hearing loss group and all 10 patients of the chronic hearing loss group showed an improvement after this treatment. No patients had side effects from the treatment. The results indicate that this would be an excellent mode of therapy for patients with hearing loss.