[The revised version of the german guidelines "sudden idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss"].

The new revised version (expires 2012) for sudden, unilateral, sensorineural hearing loss stresses the urgence but not the emergency of diagnostics and therapy in this inner ear disfunction with still increasing incidence. Minimum diagnostics should comprise ENT examination with earmicroscopy, pure tone and tuning fork hearing tests, tympano- and vestibulometry. Classification by frequency loss seems of interest in regard to different underlying pathology, which is still obscure. Therefore from experience glucocorticoids and rheological therapy are recommended in the light of some favoring recent studies. The intratympanic appliCation of glucokorticoids is considered as spare therapy. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.