Dr. Adrien Eshraghi Pens Book About Overcoming Hearing Loss
“Overcoming Hearing Loss: From Drug Therapy to Cochlear Implant Surgery” addresses appropriate patient referrals and answers patient questions about hearing loss.
Adrien A. Eshraghi, M.D., M.S., professor of otolaryngology, neurosurgery and pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School Medicine, is the editor and an author of the newly published book, “Overcoming Hearing Loss: From Drug Therapy to Cochlear Implant Surgery.”
The book informs health care providers on optimal referral practices and patient management and guides consumers on the wide array of treatments for hearing loss, from mild to profound.
“This work is an amalgamation of scientific rigor and compassionate insight of esteemed experts who paint a comprehensive picture of the auditory system’s magnificence and its vulnerabilities,” Harvard neurotologic surgeon D. Bradley Welling, M.D., Ph.D., wrote in the book’s forward.
Dr. Eshraghi, who co-directs the University of Miami Ear Institute and directs the Hearing and Cochlear Implant Laboratory at the Miller School, said he wrote the book because many providers, from primary care to emergency medicine physicians, do not appropriately refer patients with hearing loss or tinnitus. As a result, ear, nose and throat (ENT) physicians and otologists often see the patients too late to offer hearing recovery treatments.
A First in the Field
According to Dr. Eshraghi, the book is the first to provide both clinicians and patients comprehensive information on acute and chronic hearing loss and tinnitus. It also features a glossary to help consumers understand complex medical terms.
The American Cochlear Implant Alliance has invited Dr. Eshraghi for a book signing at CI2025 Boston, its annual meeting.
“With today’s options, patients should never be told there’s nothing that can be done for their hearing loss,” Dr. Eshraghi said. “Some can benefit from basic clinical procedures, and others from surgery. We can help the majority of patients—if not all of them—in a way that their quality of life will be much, much better.”
Key Hearing Health Messages
• Providers should refer acute hearing loss and tinnitus immediately: Loud noise is a significant cause of hearing loss due to widespread use of personal technological devices, industrial activity and urbanization.
“Providers seeing patients with sudden hearing loss or tinnitus should refer them to ENTs immediately. ENTs can administer a hearing test and initiate early treatment with steroids orally or injected into the ear,” Dr. Eshraghi said.
• Look beyond hearing aids and beware of over-the-counter options: If patients are dissatisfied with hearing aids, consider alternatives like cochlear implants.
“Hearing aids amplify sounds but often don’t improve clarity, leaving many patients dissatisfied,” Dr. Eshragi said. “Cochlear implant surgery restores sound clarity, enabling patients to better understand voices and sentences.”
Cochlear implants are safe and effective treatments for nearly any age and an appropriate consideration for people with severe or profound hearing loss. More than a decade ago, Dr. Eshraghi was among the first to report positive results for patients over 79, many of whom recommended the surgery to peers. This is now accepted as standard of care.
The rise of over-the-counter and direct-to-consumer hearing aids may help many patients with mild to moderate hearing loss. Dr. Eshraghi, though, worries that, without a proper diagnosis and customization, patients may buy inappropriate devices and lose hope, unaware that a simple procedure or cochlear implant could restore their hearing.
Don’t delay treatment in children with hearing difficulties: Addressing hearing difficulties in children promptly is crucial to their academic and social development.
“Timely treatment helps children develop language skills,” Dr. Eshraghi said. “Sometimes a small procedure can change a child’s life.”
Some children experience hearing loss due to chronic fluid in their ears, treatable with a drainage tube. Children and adults can have hearing loss because of a more severe issue such as a chronic ear infection or cholesteatoma. The latter is a noncancerous tumor that can cause hearing loss and, if left untreated, dizziness, facial nerve paralysis, meningitis and even brain abscess.
“Those with hearing loss and chronic ear discharge must be seen by an otolaryngologist to prevent more complications,” Dr. Eshraghi said.
Gene Therapies for Hearing Loss
Gene therapies for hearing loss are in development, including one targeting otoferlin mutations that cause deafness. Initial trials show promising results in patients with this rare genetic defect.
“This early research success, however, should not prevent us from using other available treatments, including cochlear implants, because gene therapy is not for everyone. Otoferlin deficiency is at the root of 2% of genetic hearing loss cases,” Dr. Eshraghi said.
Investigational drugs aim to protect hearing loss from cisplatin, a chemotherapy medication known to damage hearing.
“Drugs in clinical trials have shown hearing protection for cancer patients under cisplatin therapy. We, at the Miller School of Medicine, participate in these clinical trials,” Dr. Eshraghi said.
New drugs are also being studied for sudden hearing loss or noise trauma, with results expected soon.
Tags: cochlear implants, Dr. Adrien Eshraghi, ear, hearing, hearing aids, hearing loss, otolaryngology, pediatric hearing loss, tinnitus