Journal of Otology最新文献

Background

Intratympanic administration of gadolinium chelate allows for a better visualization of endolymphatic hydrops (EH) using MRI than intravenous injection and was recently further improved to facilitate high-quality imaging of EH in 7 min. The aim of the present study was to simplify the intratympanic administration protocol by mixing gadolinium chelate with therapeutic dexamethasone and to evaluate the effects of this mixture on the visualization of EH in MRI.

Materials and methods

In an in vitro study, the potential impact of gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) on the stability of dexamethasone was evaluated by analyzing dynamic changes in dexamethasone with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after mixing with Gd-DTPA. Ten patients with definite Meniere's disease (MD) were recruited to study the potential interference of dexamethasone on MRI visualization of EH, and 49 patients with MD were recruited to evaluate the effect of intratympanic injection of Gd-DTPA mixed with dexamethasone on MRI of EH using a 3T MR machine and a novel heavily T2-weighted 3-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery reconstructed using a magnitude plus zero-filled interpolation (hT₂FLAIR-MZFI) sequence.

Results

The retention times and peak area of dexamethasone in HPLC were not modified by the addition of Gd-DTPA. EH grading in the cochlea and vestibule was not influenced in any ear by intratympanic injection of dexamethasone. Excellent inner ear images were obtained from all patients, and EHs with various grades were displayed. There were significant correlations between diagnosis and cochlear EH (p < 0.01, Spearman's Rho), between diagnosis and vestibular EH (p < 0.01, Spearman's Rho), and between cochlear and vestibular EH (p < 0.01, Spearman's Rho). The distribution of Gd-DTPA plus dexamethasone negatively correlated with the grade of vestibular EH. Injury of the endolymph-perilymph barrier was detected in one cochlea and three vestibules of 59 inner ears with MD.

Conclusions

Intratympanic administration of Gd-DTPA plus dexamethasone yielded high-quality MRI images of EH in patients with MD using a novel 7-min protocol and simplified the clinical application. Intratympanic administration of Gd-DTPA plus dexamethasone might be used to test its therapeutic effect in future work.

Level of evidence

3.

Objective

Auditory-Verbal Therapy (AVT) can be considered one of the best practices for children with Cochlear Implants (CIs) who show impairments in cognitive skills such as executive functions. Hence, this research examined the impact of AVT on the executive functions in children with CIs.

Methods

This was a randomized case control study with pre- and post-intervention assessments. The participants were 36 children with CIs and their mothers. They were randomly selected from rehabilitation centers and deaf pre-schools, and randomly allocated to a control (n = 18) and a study (n = 18) group. The mean age of the children in the study and control groups was 3.11 ± 0.31 years and 3.20 ± 0.29 years, respectively. Participants in the study group received 20 sessions of AVT over 10 weeks at twice a week, while those in the control group did not. All mothers completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function Pre-school Version (BRIEF-P) before and after children in the study group completed their AVT intervention. Data were analyzed by MANCOVA.

Results

The results suggest that AVT significantly influenced executive functions and all subscales including shifting, inhibition, emotional control, working memory and organization/planning in children with CIs.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that AVT may be effective in resulting in positive outcomes and may play an important role in improving executive functions in children with CIs.

Background

Tinnitus is a sound precepted without an external sound stimulus. Its background can be categorised into primary and secondary cases. The secondary cases include pathologies of the external, middle and inner ear. Tinnitus can be objective or subjective; the latter can only identified by the sufferer. Previous research results have shown that tinnitus significantly affects the quality of life and daily functioning.

Objectives

To analyse the impact of tinnitus on the daily functioning and the possible influence of demographical data and tinnitus duration on it.

Methods

630 patients (265 males and 365 females, 25–85 years of age) suffering from primary tinnitus were enrolled. In the Hungarian language, these patients completed the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) questionnaire and underwent a complete otorhinolaryngological examination. IBM SPSS V24 software was used for data processing; correlation tests, the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric tests were used.

Results

According to the THI questionnaires outcomes, most patients (62.5%) were presented with a mild handicap. Based on statistical analysis, no significant correlation was observed between the total THI points and the age of the patients, along with the duration and localisation of the symptoms. However, the total THI scores of male and female patients significantly differed, indicating higher THI values in the female group (p = 0.00052∗).

Conclusions

The tinnitus severity was not affected by the duration, localisation of the symptoms and age but by gender, indicating higher values in the case of females.

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between vestibular hydrops (VH), cochlearhydrops (CH), vestibular aqueduct non-visibility (VANV), and visually increased perilymphatic enhancement (VIPE) with the findings of pure-tone audiometry (PTA) in Meniere’s disease (MD) patients.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 53 ears belonging to 48 patients were divided into two groups and evaluated. In group “MD patients,” there were 24 ears of 19 patients diagnosed with the definite MD (14 patients with unilateral and 5 patients withbilateral involvements). The “control group” consisted of 29 non-symptomatic ears belonging to patients diagnosed with unilateral sudden sensory-neural hearing loss or unilateral schwannoma. All the patients underwent 2 sessions of temporal bone MRI using the same 3T system: an unenhanced axial T1, T2, and 3D-FLAIR MRI, an intravenous gadolinium-enhanced axial T1 fat-sat, and 4 h after the injection, an axial 3D-T2 cube and 3D-FLAIR session. VH, CH, VANV, and VIPE were assessed. Subsequently, the correlation between EH indices and PTA findings (in three frequency domains of low, middle, and high) were evaluated, and the predictive value of MRI was calculated.

Results: VH was significantly correlated with the hearing threshold in the low, middle, and high-frequency domains. CH was also correlated with the hearing threshold in the low and middle domains. Contrarily, VIPE was not associated with hearing thresholds, and VANV was only correlated with the hearing threshold in low frequencies.

Conclusion: The grade of VH, CH, and VANV were significantly correlated with the hearing thresholds in PTA.

The etiology and underlying mechanism of Meniere's disease (MD) development are still unknown, although inflammation and autoimmunity have been implicated as underlying mechanisms. The human endolymphatic sac (ES) has been reported to have innate and adaptive immune capacity in local immune reactions. In vivo demonstration of inflammation of the ES in patients with MD is missing in the literature. We report the case of a 47-year-old female patient diagnosed with unilateral MD with genetic variants and cytokine markers indicating inflammation and vascular congestion of the ES. Endolymphatic hydrops in the right cochlea (grade 2) and vestibulum (grade 3) were detected using MRI. She carried heterozygous variants in MEFV (c.442G > C), IRF8 (c.1157G > T), ADA (c.445C > T), PEPD (c.151G > A), NBAS (c.4049T > C), CSF2RB (c.2222C > T), HPS6 (c.277G > T), IL2RB (c.1109C > T), IL12RB1 (c.1384G > T), IL17RC (c.260_271del GCAAGAGC TGGG), LIG1 (c.746G > A), RAG1 (c.650C > A), and SLX4 (c.1258G > C, c.5072A > G). In the serum, the levels of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), macrophage inflammatory protein 1α, and IL7 were significantly elevated, and the level of IL2Rα was reduced. Intratympanic administration of dexamethasone temporarily alleviated her hearing loss. Her vertigo was significantly relieved but remained slight after ES administration of corticosteroids.

The objective was to measure the effect of various face masks on speech recognition threshold and the word recognition score in the presence of varying background noise levels. 20 normal-hearing adult subjects (a total of 40 ears) participated. Pure tone audiometry followed by speech recognition threshold and word recognition score at the most comfortable level in varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNR0, SNR10, and SNR15) using surgical, pleated cloth, and N95 masks. Using surgical, cloth, and N95 masks, speech recognition thresholds increased by 1.8 dB, 4.4 dB, and 5.05 dB, respectively. Word recognition scores decreased by 32% without a mask, 43.7% in a surgical mask, 46.3% in a cloth mask, and 46.7% in N95 mask conditions, between SNR15 and SNR0. The speech recognition threshold was negatively affected with cloth and N95 masks. Surgical masks do not affect the word recognition scores at lower background noise levels. However, as the signal-to-noise ratio decreased, even the surgical, cloth, and N95 masks significantly impacted the word recognition score even in normal-hearing individuals.

Objective

The management of traumatic facial nerve paralysis (FNP) has remained a controversial issue with conflicting findings arguing between surgical decompression and conservative management. However, recent advances in endoscopic surgery may consolidate the management plan for this condition.

Methods

This prospective clinical study included patients with posttraumatic FNP at a tertiary referral center. Patients were categorized in two main groups: surgical and conservative. Indications for surgery included patients with immediate and complete FNP, no improvement in facial function on medical treatment, with electroneurography showing >90% degeneration or electromyography showing fibrillation potential. Patients who did not satisfy this criterion received the conservative approach. The transcanal endoscopic approach (TEA) or endoscopic assisted transmastoid approach was performed for facial nerve decompression in the surgical group.

Outcome

The main outcome was facial function improvement, assessed using the House Brackmann grading scale (HBGS) 6 months after surgery, and hearing state assessed using the air bone gap (ABG).

Results

The study included 38 patients, of whom 15 underwent had surgical decompression and 23 underwent conservative therapy. A significant improvement in facial nerve function from a mean of 4.66 ± 0.97 to 1.71 ± 0.69 (P = 0.001) and ABG from a median of 30 (10–40) to 20 (10–25) (P = 0.002) was observed.

Conclusion

Decision-making in cases of traumatic FNP is critical. The geniculate ganglion and tympanic segment were the most commonly affected areas in FNP cases. The TEA represents the most direct and least invasive approach for this area.

Background

Neuroplasticity is a phenomenon exhibited by our nervous system as an indicator of overall development and in response to training, injury/loss of particular function, treatment/drugs and as a result of stimulation from the surrounding environment.

Objective

The aim of the current study was to assess the auditory working memory capacities in Bharatanatyam dancers.

Method

The participants comprised fifty-four females with normal hearing sensitivity who belonged to two groups. Group-I consisted of 27 individuals who underwent formal training in Bharatanatyam for a minimum period of three years. Group-II consisted of the age-matched control group, consisting of 27 individuals who were non-dancers. The auditory working memory tasks included arranging the English digits presented binaurally in forward, backward, ascending, and descending spans. The maximum values (for the length of sequence arranged), midpoint values (average score), and response time for each task were noted down and compared among groups.

Results

The scores were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test, which revealed enhanced working memory exhibited by dancers for maximum values and midpoint scores for all three tasks except ascending span. It was also noted that the dancers exhibited a shorter response time compared to non-dancers for all the tasks except ascending span.

Conclusion

The current study highlights an enhanced auditory working memory capacity in Bharatanatyam dancers, which could be perceived as evidence of neuroplastic changes induced in the auditory and motor cortex as a consequence of extensive stimulation for auditory processing abilities and motor planning resulting from long-term dance training and regular practice.

Background

The activation of the medial olivocochlear reflex reduces the cochlear gain, which is manifested perceptually as decreased auditory sensitivity. However, it has remained unclear whether the extent of this suppression varies according to the cochlear region involved. Here we aims to assess the magnitude of contralateral efferent suppression across human cochlea, at low levels, and its impact on hearing sensitivity.

Methods

Assuming that acoustic stimulation activates the contralateral medial olivocochlear reflex, we evaluated the magnitude of the suppressive effect as a function of frequency in 17 subjects with normal hearing. Absolute thresholds were measured for bursts tones of various durations (10, 100, and 500 ms) and frequencies (250, 500, 1000, 4000, and 8000 Hz) in the presence or absence of contralateral white noise at 60 dB SPL.

Results

We found that contralateral noise raised the absolute threshold for the burst tones evaluated. The effect was greater at lower than higher frequencies (3.85 dB at 250 Hz vs. 2.22 dB at 8000 Hz).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that in humans, the magnitude of this suppression varies according to the cochlear region stimulated, with a greater effect towards the apex (lower frequencies) than the base (higher frequencies) of the cochlea.

Permanent damage to hair cells (HCs) is the leading cause of sensory deafness. Supporting cells (SCs) are essential in the restoration of hearing in mammals because they can proliferate and differentiate to HCs. MDS1 and EVI1 complex locus (MECOM) is vital in early development and cell differentiation and regulates the TGF-β signaling pathway to adapt to pathophysiological events, such as hematopoietic proliferation, differentiation and cells death. In addition, MECOM plays an essential role in neurogenesis and craniofacial development. However, the role of MECOM in the development of cochlea and its way to regulate related signaling are not fully understood. To address this problem, this study examined the expression of MECOM during the development of cochlea and observed a significant increase of MECOM at the key point of auditory epithelial morphogenesis, indicating that MECOM may have a vital function in the formation of cochlea and regeneration of HCs. Meanwhile, we tried to explore the possible effect and potential mechanism of MECOM in SC proliferation and HC regeneration. Findings from this study indicate that overexpression of MECOM markedly increases the proliferation of SCs in the inner ear, and the expression of Smad3 and Cdkn2b related to TGF signaling is significantly down-regulated, corresponding to the overexpression of MECOM. Collectively, these data may provide an explanation of the vital function of MECOM in SC proliferation and trans-differentiation into HCs, as well as its regulation. The interaction between MECOM, Wnt, Notch and the TGF-β signaling may provide a feasible approach to induce the regeneration of HCs.