Diatrizoate Meglumine (Hypaque) Treatment for Sudden Hearing Loss

Extract

At the Shambaugh Fifth International Workshop on Middle Ear Micro-surgery and Fluctuant Hearing Loss held in Chicago in March 1976, Professor Tamotsu Morimitsu, of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, reported on the successful treatment of sudden hearing loss (SHL) with diatrizoate meglumine, an iodinated dye used in radiologic studies, which has a trade name of ‘Hypaque’ in this country. The initial case that stimulated Professor Morimitsu's interest involved a patient who had a SHL of 40 days’ duration and a significant improvement in hearing following a 1 cc. test dose of intravenous Hypaque prior to a vertebral angiography study. Subsequently, Professor Morimitsu compared 39 patients treated with Hypaque within two weeks following onset of SHL, to 419 patients, followed by the Sudden Deafness Research Committee of Japan, who were treated with vasodilators within the same time period. Of the patients treated with Hypaque, 54 per cent had complete recovery of hearing compared to 19 per cent of those treated with vasodilators.