Abstract
Objective: To synthesize the problem of sudden deafness in view of the etiologies, pathophysiology, clinical picture and treatment; taking into account the updates made on the topic. Methods: This review of the specialized integrative literature was based on a bibliographic survey about sensorineural deafness. The stages of construction of this review were: to select the issue and the research question, to search for articles in the digital databases, to establish criteria for inclusion and exclusion of the articles, in addition to discussing the results. Results: The pathology presents four etiological theories: viral, immunological infection, rupture of membranes and circulatory disorder. The diagnosis, in turn, is more reliable thanks to magnetic resonance imaging, especially in vestibular schwannoma. In addition, the treatment is based on the use of corticosteroids and the Cochlear Implant (CI). Final considerations: Considering the problem raised by sudden hearing loss, although there are numerous divergent positions of the authors, there is a consensus on the use of corticosteroids that has shown to decrease the time of disease and use of magnetic resonance imaging to establish the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease in addition to elucidating other possible differential diagnoses.