Prognosis of sudden deafness remains a challenge in clinics because of inhomogeneity of the disease. Here we report our retrospective study aimed to explore the value of coagulative markers including activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), plasma fibrinogen (FIB), and plasma D-dimer in the prognosis of patients. The study included a total of 160 patients, of whom 92 had valid responses, 68 had invalid responses, and 68 had ineffective responses. APTT, PT, and the levels of FIB and D-dimer in serum were compared between the two groups, and their prognostic values were determined in terms of area under the curve (AUC) in receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis, sensitivity, and specificity. The correlations of APTT, PT, and FIB to degree of hearing loss were also assessed. Serum APTT and PT, FIB, and D-dimer levels were lower in patients with sudden deafness who responded poorly to treatments. ROC analysis showed that APTT, PT, FIB, and D-dimer had high AUC, sensitivity, and specificity for nonresponders, particularly when used in combination (AUC = 0.91, sensitivity = 86.76%, and specificity = 82.61%). Patients with a higher degree of hearing loss (>91 dB) also demonstrated significantly lower values of APTT and PT and higher levels of serum FIB and D-dimer than those with a lower degree of hearing loss. Our study demonstrated that APTT, PT, and serum levels of FIB and D-dimer could serve as strong predictors of sudden deafness, potentiating the use of these tests to identify patients who respond poorly to treatments.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Our retrospective study indicated that lower serum APTT and PT levels and higher fibrinogen (FIB) and D-dimer levels are characteristics associated with poor treatment responses among patients with sudden deafness. A combination of these levels had a high accuracy in identifying the nonresponders. APTT, PT, and serum levels of FIB and D-dimer could serve as strong predictors of sudden deafness, potentiating the use of these tests to identify patients who respond poorly to treatments.
Keywords: coagulation states; prognosis; sudden deafness.