BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders - Latest articles

Simplified form of tinnitus retraining therapy in adults: a retrospective study

Hashir Aazh, Brian CJ Moore and Brian R Glasberg — 2008-11-03

Background: Since the first description of tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT), clinicians have modified and customised the method of TRT in order to suit their practice and their patients. A simplified form of TRT is used at Ealing Primary Care Trust Audiology Department. Simplified TRT is different from TRT in the type and (shorter) duration of the counseling but is similar to TRT in the application of sound therapy except for patients exhibiting tinnitus with no hearing loss and no decreased sound tolerance (wearable sound generators were not mandatory or recommended here, whereas they are for TRT). The main goal of this retrospective study was to assess the efficacy of simplified TRT. Methods: Data were collected from a series of 42 consecutive patients who underwent simplified TRT for a period of 3 to 23 months. Perceived tinnitus handicap was measured by the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and perceived tinnitus loudness, annoyance and the effect of tinnitus on life were assessed through the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Results: The mean THI and VAS scores were significantly decreased after 3 to 23 months of treatment. The mean decline of the THI score was 45 (SD = 22) and the difference between pre- and post-treatment scores was statistically significant. The mean decline of the VAS scores was 1.6 (SD = 2.1) for tinnitus loudness, 3.6 (SD = 2.6) for annoyance, and 3.9 (SD = 2.3) for effect on life. The differences between pre- and post-treatment VAS scores were statistically significant for tinnitus loudness, annoyance, and effect on life. The decline of THI scores was not significantly correlated with age and duration of tinnitus. Conclusions: The results suggest that benefit may be obtained from a substantially simplified form of TRT.

Olfactory function following open rhinoplasty: A 6-month follow-up study

2008-10-03

Background: Patients undergoing any type of nasal surgery may experience degrees of postoperative olfactory dysfunction. We sought to investigate "when" the olfactory function recovers to its preoperative levels. Methods: In this cohort design, 40 of 65 esthetic open rhinoplasty candidates with equal gender distribution, who met the inclusion criteria, were assessed for their olfactory function using the Smell Identification Test (SIT) with 40 familiar odors in sniffing bottles. All the patients were evaluated for the SIT scores preoperatively and postoperatively (at week 1, week 6, and month 6). Results: At postoperative week one, 87.5% of the patients had anosmia, and the rest exhibited at least moderate levels of hyposmia. The anosmia, which was the dominant pattern at postoperative week 1, resolved and converted to various levels of hyposmia, so that no one at postoperative week 6 showed any such complain. At postoperative week six, 85% of the subjects experienced degrees of hyposmia, almost all being mild to moderate. At postoperative six month, the olfactory function had already reverted to the preoperative levels: no anosmia or moderate to severe hyposmia. A repeated ANOVA was indicative of significant differences in the olfactory function at the different time points. According to our post hoc Benfronney, the preoperative scores had a significant difference with those at postoperative week 1, week 6, but not with the ones at month 6. Conclusion: Esthetic open rhinoplasty may be accompanied by some degrees of postoperative olfactory dysfunction. Patients need a time interval of 6 weeks to 6 months to fully recover their baseline olfactory function.

The Information and Consent Process in Patients undergoing Elective ENT surgery: A cross-sectional survey

Christos Georgalas, Kulandaivelu Ganesh and Eva Papesch — 2008-09-17

Background: To assess the importance of different information pathways for patients undergoing elective ENT surgery (General Practitioner, Specialist consultation, pre assessment clinic and consent process as well as printed information material and non medical sources) and to correlate their relative importance with patient and doctor factorsMethods – PatientsCross – sectional questionnaire survey226 consecutive patients undergoing elective non-oncological otolaryngology procedures at a District General Hospital between May and August 2004 Results: Overall patients were moderately satisfied with the information they received prior to surgery (score 63/100). Although they were generally satisfied with the quality of information they received at their outpatient consultation and at the preadmission clinic, they were less satisfied with the quality of information provided by their GPs and by the quality of self – obtained information. Most importantly, linear regression modeling showed that the overall level of information could be predicted by three factors: The quality of written information received at the hospital, the quality of self-obtained information and the information provided by the specialist at the time of listing for surgery. While patient's education level was correlated with the information process, the age and gender of the patient as well as the grade of the doctor at the outpatients were not associated with his overall levels of satisfaction. Conclusion: Although the impact of the initial outpatient consultation for patients undergoing elective surgery can not be over emphasized, written information provided at the hospital as well as patient – initiated, parallel information pathways are at least as important: It is our duty to recognize them and use them for the patient's advantage.

Obliteration of radical cavities with autogenous cortical bone; long-term results

2008-07-29

Background: To evaluate the long-term surgical outcome(s) in patients who have undergone canal-wall-down operation with mastoid and epitympanic obliteration using autologous cortical bone chips, bone pate and meatally-based musculoperiosteal flap technique.MethodRetrospective evaluation of seventy patients operated during 1986–1991 due to a cholesteatoma. An otomicroscopy was performed to evaluate the postoperative outer ear canal configuration with a modified Likert scale (1 – 4). The outer ear canal physical volume was assessed by tympanometry. The hearing outcome and a patient-filled questionnaire were also analyzed. Results: The posterior wall results were 1.8 (± 0.9 SD) and the attic region 1.8 (± 0.9 SD) (ns., p > 0.05). These values show either no cavity formation or minor formation of a cavity, with a good functional result. The mean volume of the operated ear canal was 1.7 (± 0.5 SD) ml. The volume of the contralateral ear canal was 1.2 (± 0.3 SD) ml (*** p < 0.0001). A comparison of the current mean ABG to the preoperative mean ABG and to the ABG at one-year postoperatively, 5-years postoperatively or 10-years postoperatively showed no statistical significance (p > 0.05). Conclusion: ABG does not significantly change in the long-term. The configuration of the cavity tends to change, however, the obliteration material is stable in the long-term and clinically significant cavitation rarely occurs.

Tone burst-evoked otoacoustic emissions in neonates: normative data

Vicky Wei Zhang, Bradley McPherson and Zhi-Guo Zhang — 2008-04-17

Background: Tone-burst otoacoustic emissions (TBOAEs) have not been routinely studied in pediatric populations, although tone burst stimuli have greater frequency specificity compared with click sound stimuli. The present study aimed (1) to determine an appropriate stimulus level for neonatal TBOAE measurements when the stimulus center frequency was 1 kHz, (2) to explore the characteristics of 1 kHz TBOAEs in a neonatal population. Methods: A total of 395 normal neonates (745 ears) were recruited. The study consisted of two parts, reflecting the two study aims. Part I included 40 normal neonatal ears, and TBOAE measurement was performed at five stimulus levels in the range 60–80 dB peSPL, with 5 dB incremental steps. Part II investigated the characteristics of the 1 kHz TBOAE response in a large group of 705 neonatal ears, and provided clinical reference criteria based on these characteristics. Results: The study provided a series of reference parameters for 1 kHz TBOAE measurement in neonates. Based on the results, a suggested stimulus level and reference criteria for 1 kHz TBOAE measures with neonates were established. In addition, time-frequency analysis of the data gave new insight into the energy distribution of the neonatal TBOAE response. Conclusion: TBOAE measures may be a useful method for investigating cochlear function at specific frequency ranges in neonates. However, further studies of both TBOAE time-frequency analysis and measurements in newborns are needed.

Psychometric properties of the Vertigo symptom scale – Short form

2008-03-27

Background: The aim of the study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Vertigo symptom scale – short form (VSS-SF), a condition-specific measure of dizziness, following translation of the scale into Norwegian. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used to examine the factor structure, internal consistency and discriminative ability (sample I, n = 503). A cross-sectional pre-intervention design was used to examine the construct validity (sample II, n = 36) of the measure and a test-retest design was used to examine reliability (sub-sample of sample II, n = 28). Results: The scree plot indicated a two factor structure accounting respectively for 41% and 12% of the variance prior to rotation. The factors were related to vertigo-balance (VSS-V) and autonomic-anxiety (VSS-A). Twelve of the items loaded clearly on either of the two dimensions, while three items cross-loaded. Internal consistency of the VSS-SF was high (alpha = 0.90). Construct validity was indicated by correlation between path length registered by platform posturography and the VSS-V (r = 0.52), but not with the VSS-A. The ability to discriminate between dizzy and not dizzy patients was excellent for the VSS-SF and sub-dimension VSS-V (area under the curve 0.87 and 0.91, respectively), and acceptable for the sub-dimension VSS-A (area under the curve 0.77). High test-retest reliability was demonstrated (ICC VSS-SF: 0.88, VSS-V: 0.90, VSS-A: 0.90) and no systematic change was observed in the scores from test to retest after 2 days. Conclusion: Using a Norwegian translated version of the VSS-SF, this is the first study to provide evidence of the construct validity of this instrument demonstrating a stable two factor structure of the scale, and the identified sub-dimensions of dizziness were related to vertigo-balance and autonomic-anxiety, respectively. Evidence regarding a physical construct underlying the vertigo-balance sub-scale was provided. Satisfactory internal consistency was indicated, and the discriminative ability of the instruments was demonstrated. The instrument showed satisfactory test-retest reliability.

Is the routine pressure dressing after thyroidectomy necessary? A prospective randomized controlled study

2008-03-20

Background: An acute complication of thyroidectomy is fatal hematoma, which can produce an upper airway obstruction needing immediate intubation or tracheostomy. After neck surgery, we usually apply a pressure dressing with a non-woven, adhesive fabric to reduce bleeding and fluid collection at the operative bed. We conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled study to evaluate a pressure vs. a non-pressure dressing after thyroid surgery by monitoring blood and serum in the operative bed. Methods: We studied 108 patients who underwent 116 thyroid surgeries at Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University, between December 2006 and September 2007. The patients were randomized to either the pressure dressing or non-pressure dressing group. Ultrasound of the neck was performed 24 ± 3 hours after surgery. The volume of fluid collection in the operative bed was calculated. All patients were observed for any post-operative respiratory distress, wound complications, tingling sensation or tetany. Results: The distributions of age, sex, surgical indications and approaches were similar between the two groups. There was no statistically significant difference in the volume of fluid collection in the operative bed (p = 0.150) and the collected drained content (p = 0.798). The average time a drain was retained was 3 days. One patient in the pressure dressing group suffered cutaneous bruising while one patient in the non-pressure dressing group developed immediate hemorrhage after the skin sutures. Conclusion: Pressure dressing after thyroidectomy does not have any significant impact on decreasing fluid collection at the operative bed. The use of pressure dressing after thyroidectomy may not therefore be justified.Trial RegistrationNCT00400465, ISRCTN52660978

Audiologic monitoring of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis patients on aminoglycoside treatment with long term follow-up

Prahlad Duggal and Malay Sarkar — 2007-11-12

Background: Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis has emerged as a significant problem with the resurfacing of tuberculosis and thus the need to use the second line drugs with the resultant increased incidence of adverse effects. We discuss the effect of second line aminoglycoside anti-tubercular drugs on the hearing status of MDR-TB patients. Methods: Sixty four patients were put on second line aminoglycoside anti-TB drugs. These were divided into three groups: group I, 34 patients using amikacin, group II, 26 patients using kanamycin and group III, 4 patients using capreomycin. Results: Of these, 18.75% of the patients developed sensorineural hearing loss involving higher frequencies while 6.25% had involvement of speech frequencies also. All patients were seen again approximately one year after aminoglycoside discontinuation and all hearing losses were permanent with no threshold improvement. Conclusion: Aminoglycosides used in MDR-TB patients may result in irreversible hearing loss involving higher frequencies and can become a hearing handicap as speech frequencies are also involved in some of the patients thus underlining the need for regular audiologic evaluation in patients of MDR-TB during the treatment.

The acute effects of alcohol on auditory thresholds

2007-09-18

Background: There is very little knowledge about alcohol-induced hearing loss. Alcohol consumption and tolerance to loud noise is a well observed phenomenon as seen in the Western world where parties get noisier by the hour as the evening matures. This leads to increase in the referrals to the "hearing aid clinic" and the diagnosis of "cocktail party deafness" which may not necessarily be only due to presbyacusis or noise-induced hearing loss. Methods: 30 healthy volunteers were recruited for this trial which took place in a controlled acoustic environment. Each of the individuals was required to consume a pre-set amount of alcohol and the hearing was tested (using full pure tone audiogram) pre- and post- alcohol consumption over a broad range of 6 frequencies. Volunteers who achieve a minimum breath alcohol threshold level of 30 u/l had to have second audiogram testing. All the volunteers underwent timed psychometric and visuo-spatial skills tests to detect the effect of alcohol on the decision-making and psychomotor co-ordination. Results: Our results showed that there was a positive association between increasing breath alcohol concentration and the magnitude of the increase in hearing threshold for most hearing frequencies. This was calculated by using the Pearson Regression Coefficient Ratio which was up to 0.6 for hearing at 1000 Hz. Over 90% of subjects had raised auditory thresholds in three or more frequencies; this was more marked in the lower frequencies. Conclusion: Alcohol specifically blunts lower frequencies affecting the mostly 1000 Hz, which is the most crucial frequency for speech discrimination. In conclusion alcohol does appear to affect auditory thresholds with some frequencies being more affected than others.

Correction: A thyroid tumor extending to the parapharyngeal space

Fikret Cetik, Demet Yazici, Ramazan Gun and Aysun Uguz — 2007-05-21

Although he was listed as an author in the original submission of an article published in BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders (Cetik F, Yazici D, Uguz A: A thyroid tumor extending to the parapharyngeal space. BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders 2006, 6:3), Dr Ramazan Gun was not included in the author list of the published version. The authors agree that Dr Gun meets the criteria for authorship, and should be considered to be an author of Cetik et al. 2006.