Table 1

Inclusion and exclusion criteria for participation in the ROSALIE study

Inclusion criteria sudden deafness cohortInclusion criteria control cohort

  • Sudden deafness defined by acute onset sensorineural hearing loss of at least 30 dB on three contiguous frequencies occurring within 72 hours or less.

  • An MRI of the cerebellopontine angle or MRI cerebrum with at least one T2 or FLAIR sequence of the entire brain.

  • Age≥50 years.

  • Patients diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm, vestibular paroxysmia or a cerebellopontine neoplasm.

  • Absence of SSNHL.

  • An MRI of the cerebellopontine angle or MRI cerebrum with at least one T2 or FLAIR sequence of the entire brain.

  • Age≥50 years.

Exclusion criteria

  • Diagnosis of sudden deafness prior to the study period.

  • Significant cerebral damage due to a pre-existing medical condition that will impede an adequate assessment of the degree of CSVD. For instance, a medical history of multiple sclerosis.

  • Presence of an enlarged vestibular aqueduct on MRI that could be responsible for SSNHL.

  • An identifiable cause of iSSNHL such as a Borrelia Burgdorferi infection.

  • CSVD, cerebral small vessel disease; FLAIR, fluid attenuated inversion recovery; iSSNHL, idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss; SSNHL, sudden sensorineural hearing loss.