BrazJOtorhinolaryngol.2017;83(6):732
www.bjorl.org
Brazilian
Journal
of
OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY
LETTER
TO
THE
EDITOR
The
place
of
hyperbaric
oxygen
therapy
and
ozone
therapy
in
sudden
hearing
loss
夽O
papel
da
oxigenoterapia
hiperbárica
e
da
ozonioterapia
na
perda
súbita
de
audic
¸ão
DearEditor,
I’vereadthevaluablearticleentitled‘‘Theplaceof
hyper-baricoxygentherapyandozonetherapyinsuddenhearing
loss’’ by Gülin Ergun Tas¸dövenet al.1 In this article, the
authorsmentionedthatthecostofHyperbaricOxygen
Ther-apy(HBOT)forIdiopathicSuddenSensorineuralHearingLoss
(ISSNHL)wasnotmetbyanyinsurancecompany.However,
thisinformationis incorrect,soIwould liketogivesome
informationaboutthepaymentlistoftheGovernmentSocial
SecuritySystem(GSSS)inTurkey.
An indicationlistof paymentscovered byGSSS is
pub-lished every year in Turkey. The inclusion criteria for
paymentsarealsoincludedonthelist.
ISSNHLisoneoftheindicationswhichhasbeenpaidfor
by the Turkish social security system for years, including
2010.In2010,theGSSScriteriawas‘‘Thepatientmustbegin
hyperbaricoxygentherapywithinonemonthofthediagnosis
ofISSNHL.Thesepatientsareadministeredaweekly
audio-logicaltest.Ifthehearinggainis<10dB(puretoneaverage)
aftertwoweeksoftreatment(10sessions),subsequent
ses-sions willnot bepaid for but ifthe hearinggain is equal
toor higherthan 10dB,30 more sessionscanbepaid for
byGSSS’’.2The criteriainusesince2012is‘‘ISSNHLmust
bediagnosedbyaudiologicaltestinthelast30days.Ifthe
hearinggain is <20dB (pure tone average) after the20th
sessionoftreatment,subsequentsessionswillnotbepaid
forbutifthehearinggainisequaltoorhigherthan20dB,
20moresessionswillbepaidforbyGSSS’’.3
DOIoforiginalarticle:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2016.06.002
夽 Pleasecitethisarticleas:ErgözenS.Theplaceofhyperbaric
oxygentherapyandozonetherapyinsuddenhearingloss.Braz J Otorhinolaryngol.2017;83:732.
InadditiontotheGSSSpayment,privateHBOTclinicsin
Turkeycanrequestanextrafeeforeachsession,whichmay
varybetween0and15U.S.dollars. Forexample,patients
payonly2.5USDextrafeeforeachsessioninourclinic.
ApartfromISSNHL,theGSSSandsomeprivateinsurance
companies pay for HBOT for the indications of
decom-pression sickness, air or gas embolism, carbonmonoxide
poisoning, cyanide poisoning, acutesmoke inhalation, gas
gangrene,necrotizingsofttissueinfections,crushinjuries,
compartment syndrome, acute traumatic ischemia,
dia-beticandnon-diabeticchronicwounds,chronic refractory
osteomyelitis, radiation necrosis, compromised flaps and
grafts, thermal injuries, brain abscess, anoxic
encepha-lopathy, retinal artery occlusion, acute osteomyelitis of
skull---sternum---vertebrate,andavascularnecrosisofbone.3
Conflicts
of
interest
Theauthordeclaresnoconflictsofinterest.
References
1.ErgunTas¸dövenG,DerinAT,YaprakN,Özc¸a˘glarHÜ.Theplaceof hyperbaricoxygentherapyandozonetherapyinsuddenhearing loss.BrazJOtorihinolaryngol.2016,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.bjorl.2016.06.002.
2. http://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2010/03/20100325M1-1.htm
3. http://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2012/01/20120121-4.htm
SerkanErgözen
ASALHyperbaricOxygenTreatmentCenter,YunusEmre Mah,Ankara,Turkey
E-mail:srknergozen@gmail.com
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.03.007
