Role of platelet-rich plasma in management of sensorineural hearing loss diseases

Sensorineural deafness is a form of loss of hearing. It happens from damage to the cochlea. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous management derived from a case's blood and was observed to have pro-nerve regenerative characteristics. Intratympanic injection of PRP improves the cells of the hair of the inner ear, therefore enhancing the hearing. OBJECTIVE: To show the effectiveness and safety of PRP in the management of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) diseases. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 150 patients who had sensorineural hearing loss because of different otological diseases, such as acoustic trauma, presbycusis, idiopathic sudden SNHL, in addition to Meniere's disease (MD). All cases received 4 times of intratympanic injections of PRP with one-week intervals between them. RESULTS: In our research, 150 cases with SNHL diseases, as acoustic trauma, MD, presbycusis, and idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) (68 (46.3%) males and 82 (54.6%) females) with age ranges from 18 to 78 years, received intratympanic injections of PRP. 50 patients with ISSNHL: 39 of them showed hearing improvement, with an average of 28 dB in pure tone audiometry (PTA) and 26% in speech discrimination. In acoustic trauma, 18 patients, 12 of them, showed hearing improvement, averaging 30 dB in PTA and 28% in speech discrimination. In presbycusis, 58 patients, 42 of them, showed an improvement in hearing of an average of 25 dB and 24% in speech discrimination. In Meniere's disease, 24 patients, 16 of them, showed an improvement in hearing of an average of 15 dB and 5% in speech discrimination. CONCLUSION: Platelet-rich plasma appears effective and safe for the management of sensorineural hearing loss with no systemic side effects as an oral steroid and at low cost.