Journal of Audiology and Otology最新文献

Background and objectives: Tinnitus, or ear ringing, involves impulsive and spontaneous activity in the auditory neurons. Its prevalence is high in the elderly, but 10%-15% of adults suffer from tinnitus, affecting their quality of life. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Ginkgo biloba administered singly and in combination with antioxidants in tinnitus patients. Subjects and.

Methods: Patients were randomly allocated to Placebo (T0, n=22), Treatment 1 (T1, n=24), and Treatment 2 (T2, n=23) groups. The patients were educated on the study's methodology and were instructed to visit at 0, 4, 8, 12, and 14 weeks. The placebo group received starch capsule supplements. Conversely, the treatment groups received Ginkgo biloba (60 mg twice a day) singly and in combination with antioxidants. We enrolled 69 patients aged 40-70 years (41 men, 28 women). The Tinnitus Handicap Index (THI), Visual Analogue Score (VAS), and Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Scores were determined pre- and post-treatment at each visit.

Results: Supplementation of Ginkgo biloba, along with antioxidants, provided marked improvement (p<0.05) in post-treatment THI and VAS scores in the T2 group compared to those in the T1 and T0 groups. The greatest (p<0.05) percent difference was observed in the pre- and post-treatment THI (-36%) and VAS scores (-22.6%) of T2 patients. Likewise, the SF-36 scores improved significantly (p<0.05) in the T2 group in varied parameters.

Conclusions: Ginkgo biloba, along with antioxidants, can be a promising therapy for tinnitus patients, providing marked improvement in THI, VAS, and SF-36 scores.

Congenital middle ear cholesteatoma (CMEC) accounts for 2%-5% of all cases of middle ear cholesteatoma. CMEC is rare and diagnostically challenging; therefore, only a few cases are reported in the literature, and the pathophysiology of this condition remains largely unclear. Currently, epidermoid formation, amniotic fluid contamination, lack of the tympanic ring, and squamous metaplasia are among the mechanisms implicated in the pathogenesis of CMEC; however, no single theory satisfactorily explains the pathophysiology of this disorder. We report a case of CMEC in a young male patient, who showed a symmetric, binaural whitish mass posterior to the anterosuperior quadrant of the tympanic membrane. A few reports have described bilateral CMEC; however, no study has reported symmetrical CMEC as observed in this case. Bilateral tympanoplasty concomitant with cholesteatoma removal was performed, and histopathological evaluation of the resected specimen showed closed-type cholesteatoma. In this report, we describe a rare case of symmetric CMEC, which supports the epidermoid formation theory associated with CMEC, together with a literature review.

Background and objectives: The etiopathogenesis of acquired pediatric cholesteatoma has not yet been fully clarified. Recent studies and modern technologies have led researchers to look for explanations at a molecular level. This study aims to understand if the origins of cholesteatoma could be related to dysfunctions in coagulation factors, thereby emphasizing its role in angiogenesis. Subjects and.

Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study carried out at a tertiary hospital center between January 2010 and December 2020. The study included 92 children. The variables of the summary coagulation study (partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, and international normalized ratio) were compared among children with and without development of chronic otitis media with cholesteatoma.

Results: The cases and controls were comparable in terms of age, type, and number of times that ventilation tubes were placed. Partial thromboplastin times tended to be higher in children who developed cholesteatoma, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of normal and abnormal partial thromboplastin times (p=0.029).

Conclusions: The results of this case control study indicate that slight extension of partial thromboplastin times in the coagulation study may not meet the criteria for diagnosis of certain hematological pathologies or clinical significance, but at a molecular level may already have implications for activation of angiogenesis and other growth factors involved in the onset, growth, and expansion of acquired pediatric cholesteatoma.

Background and objectives: Hearing aid (HA) use is a common rehabilitation method for people with hearing loss. This study aimed to investigate whether the use of HA will advance the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Subjects and.

Methods: Patients referred to a public audiological department in Norway were invited to participate in this pre-post interventional study. The RAND-SF-36, a generic HRQoL questionnaire, was administered to the participants before and three months after HA fitting. Changes in HRQoL dimensions were analyzed for the whole group and for subgroups based on sex, age, and presence of tinnitus.

Results: A total of 202 adults (109 men; mean age, 66.68 years [SD=10.92]) were included in the study. After a mean observation time of 91.63 days (SD=45.61), pain and general health significantly improved. Women aged ≥70 years without tinnitus improved in social functioning, while men aged <70 years with tinnitus improved in general health.

Conclusions: Adults with mild hearing loss reported better general health and less bodily pain three months after HA fitting than before. The patient subgroups reported improved general health and social functioning. However, causation remains uncertain because of methodological limitations. A randomized, controlled trial with a longer follow-up time could clarify such issues.

Background and objectives: Severe to profound hearing loss impacts the capacity for verbal communication as well as the social, emotional, and overall quality of life; however, the association between socio-emotional rehabilitation and post-hearing aid use is not widely explored. This study aimed to investigate the socio-emotional change in post-hearing aid fitted individuals with severe to profound hearing loss. Materials and.

Methods: A total of 60 individuals comprised of 15 females and 45 males with severe to profound hearing loss within the age range of 40-60 years (mean age and standard deviation of 53.4±6.1), participated in this study. Participants were divided into two categories with a 10-year age interval i.e., 40-50 and 51-60 years. These participants were equally divided into hearing aid user (HAU) and non-hearing aid user (NHAU) groups. The hearing handicapped inventory for the adults-short version (HHIA-S) adapted from Weinstein & Ventry (1983) was used in this study.

Results: The mean social score of all the participants was significantly higher than the mean emotional score. However, no such advantage was observed between the HAU and NHAU groups. The mean social score of females in the HAU category was significantly higher than males. The mean social and emotional scores were also compared across two age categories in the age range of 40-50 and 51-60 years and revealed no significant difference between mean social and emotional score across the age categories (p=0.026).

Conclusions: In individuals with severe to profound hearing loss, social rehabilitation occurs quicker than emotional. In the HAU group, socialization occurred faster in females than males. These findings suggest that a customized counselling should be developed for the social and emotional wellbeing as these two parameters improve distinctly.

Background and objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with decrease in speech discrimination ability seen in patients with presbycusis and whether aging has a significant effect on the observed decline.

Subjects and methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients aged >40 years who had undergone pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, and auditory brainstem response for hearing loss at our hospital from January 2019 to June 2021, and investigated the factors that correlated with speech discrimination score.

Results: We enrolled 103 patients with 120 ears, with a mean age of 65.8±11.9 years. The pure-tone average of the patients' thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz was 37.2±27.7 dB HL, and their mean speech discrimination score was 82.5%± 22.3%. A correlation analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the patients' speech discrimination scores and age. In addition, all variables of pure-tone audiometry and the patients' auditory brainstem responses were significantly correlated with the speech discrimination scores. The pure-tone average had the strongest negative correlation. On analyzing the significant predictors of lower speech discrimination scores, using a multiple linear regression analysis, pure-tone average and age showed significant results.

Conclusions: The speech discrimination ability of older patients with hearing loss significantly decreases with increasing pure-tone average and age.

Background and objectives: We present the anatomical and functional results on the use of cartilage in myringoplasty and use the data to analyze the factors influencing hearing gain.

Subjects and methods: This retrospective study included 161 cases of cartilage myringoplasties collected over an 11-year period (2010-2020). Of the 161 cases, the etiology of the tympanic perforations was simple chronic otitis media in 154 (95.65%) ears and traumatic in 7 (4.35%) ears. The mean preoperative Rinne was 26.20±7.05 dB. The most commonly used approach was retroauricular, and the common graft material was tragal or conqual cartilage.

Results: After the follow-up period (mean:15 months), the anatomical success rate was 93.2%; there were nine cases of reperforation, of which three were reoperated with a good final result. The hearing success rate (residual Rinne ≤20 dB) was 91.9% with an average gain of 11.48±8.62 dB. The only factor significantly influencing the anatomical outcome was the history of chronic rhinosinusitis. In univariate studies, several factors influencing the functional result were revealed; the only one retained after elimination of bias was the anatomical result.

Conclusions: We recommend cartilage as the material of choice for myringoplasties as it has been shown to be resistant to predictive factors of failure after tympanic repair surgery. We recommend the adequate management of all chronic rhinosinusitis before performing myringoplasty.