No COVID-19 in Patients With Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSNHL)

Background: Various case reports have described sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) in patients with the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Our aim was to determine the incidence of COVID-19 in patients with SSNHL. Methods: All consecutive patients with audiometric confirmed SSNHL between November 2020 and March 2021 in a Dutch large inner city teaching hospital were included. All patients were tested for COVID-19 by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) and awaited the results in quarantine. Results: Out of 25 patients, zero (0%) tested positive for COVID-19. Two patients had previously tested positive for COVID-19: at three and eight months prior to the onset of hearing loss. Conclusions: This is the largest series to date investigating COVID-19 in SSNHL patients. In this series there is no apparent relationship between SSNHL and COVID-19.