Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology
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: Many previous attempts have been made to classify or categorize cholesteatomas. Recently, the European Academy of Otology and Neurotology and the Japanese Otological Society proposed a classification system based primarily on extension and complications. The European Academy of Otology and Neurotology/Japanese Otological Society consensus statement makes an effort to standardize reporting of surgical techniques. ⋯ It is definitively the right time to find a consensus on how to record and report surgical findings in cholesteatoma surgery. To stimulate this interesting discussion, we propose a ChOLE-classification system, which is based on the differentiation into extension (Ch), status of the ossicular chain at the end of surgery (O), complications (L), and degree of pneumatization and ventilation (E). A numeric rule is used to stage these cholesteatomas from I-III.
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After the suicide bombings in Brussels on March 22, 2016, many victims consulted our emergency department with otologic symptoms. The aim of this study was to report the otologic morbidity and outcome after acute acoustic trauma in these patients. ⋯ Blast-related otologic injuries have a significant impact on morbidity. Comprehensive otologic evaluation and state-of-the-art treatment may lead to a significant improvement in symptoms and hearing loss.
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To investigate the alterations in microstructural gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) in adults with prelingual sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and explore whether the clinical data are associated with the whole brain structure changes in SNHL subjects. ⋯ These findings suggest that DKI can provide comprehensive characteristics to demonstrate reductions in the auditory cortical GM and hypomyelination of WM fibers in the auditory pathway caused by auditory deprivation early in life.
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To investigate how tinnitus affects the processing of speech and non-speech stimuli at the subcortical level. ⋯ Our findings suggest that maladaptive neural plasticity resulting from tinnitus can be subcortically measured and affects timing processing of both speech and non-speech stimuli. The findings have been discussed based on models of maladaptive plasticity and the interference of tinnitus as an internal noise in synthesizing speech auditory stimuli.
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Since 1996 the active middle-ear implant Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) is used to treat mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing losses. The former standard surgical approach for incus vibroplasty included a mastoidectomy and a posterior tympanotomy, crimping the Floating-Mass Transducer (FMT) to the long incus process. The introduction of the short process (SP) coupler allows the attachment of the FMT to the incus body making the procedure of a posterior tympanotomy unnecessary. The aim of this study was to evaluate the duration of surgery (surgical case length) and to compare the audiological results of SP coupling with the former standard surgical approach to the long incus process. ⋯ The SP coupler leads to a shortened time of surgery and by the less invasive surgery to reduced risks for facial nerve and chorda tympani. Speech perception is significantly improved by SP coupling compared to classic long incus coupling.