Search

ObjectivesAlthough many studies have assessed sudden deafness in adults, sudden deafness has not been evaluated in children. We therefore evaluated the differences in sudden deafness between children and adults.MethodsWe compared clinical manifestations, including gender, audiogram pattern of initial hearing loss, and recovery rate after treatment in 87 children and 707 adults diagnosed with sudden deafness from September 2003 and August 2012.ResultsThere were no differences in sex, side, or audiogram between children and adults (P>0.05 each). Hearing recovery rates in children and adults were 72.4% and 70.6%, respectively (P>0.05). Both children and adults with mild hearing loss showed significantly greater hearing recovery rates than individuals with profound hearing loss (P

ObjectivesOtitis media (OM) is an infectious disease that affects all age brackets. Aural discharge is a typical symptom, occurring in all subtypes of OM. We have compared the identity and antibiotic sensitivity of bacteria isolated from aural discharges of adults and children with various types of OM, including acute OM (AOM), OM with effusion (OME), chronic OM (COM), and cholesteatomatous OM (CSOM).MethodsThe study involved 2,833 patients who visited five tertiary hospitals between January 2001 and December 2010 and were diagnosed with AOM, OME, COM, or CSOM. The patients were divided into a pediatric group and an adult group, and the distribution of cultured bacteria and their antibiotic sensitivity were compared in the two groups.ResultsBacterial detection rates were higher in adults than in children with OME and COM (P=0.000 each). The majority of the bacteria cultured from patients with AOM and OME bacteria were methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Bacteria cultured from children were more susceptible to antibiotics (P=0.002) and had higher antibiotic sensitivity (P=0.001) than were bacteria cultured from adults. The majority of bacteria culture from patients with COM and CSOM were MSSA and pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The frequency of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was significantly higher in adults than in children, and more strains of bacteria isolated from adults were sensitive to the antibiotics septrin, vancomycin, and teicoplanin.ConclusionBacteria cultured from children were more susceptible to antibiotics and had higher antibiotic sensitivity than did bacteria cultured from adults.

ObjectivesTo assess the rate of isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) and multidrug-resistant PA (MDR-PA) from patients with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) otorrhea and the annual trend of antibiotic-resistance.MethodsOtorrhea samples were collected aseptically from 1,598 CSOM patients. The rate of bacterial isolation and the results of antibiotic susceptibility testing were evaluated retrospectively.ResultsThe PA isolation rate from CSOM otorrhea was 24.4%. Of the 398 isolated strains tested for their susceptibilities to 10 antibiotics, 395 strains showed definitive results. Of these, 183 (46.3%) were susceptible to whole antibiotics and 212 (53.7%) was resistant to more than 1 antibiotics, with the frequency of antibiotics-resistance increasing significantly over time. Although strains susceptible to all antibiotics decreased over time, the rate of isolation of MDR-PA did not change significantly. Resistance to aminoglycosides and quinolones was higher than to other antibiotics and significantly increased over time, whereas resistance to other antibiotics showed no trend.ConclusionMDR-PA, assessed using five individual antibiotics and six antibiotic-classes, showed no tendency to increase or decrease over time. This may have been due to increased concern about antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, leading to improved infection control within hospitals and healthcare centers.

Background: Although metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been associated with various diseases, few studies to date have addressed the association between MetS and hearing loss. Aims/Objectives: This cross-sectional review of health examination center data sought to determine the association between MetS and hearing disturbance. Material and methods: This study involved 28,866 subjects. Height, weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure were measured, and basic blood tests and pure-tone audiometry (PTA) were performed. Other factors analyzed included body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia. Results: Age and gender did not differ between subjects with and without MetS. PTA was slightly higher in subjects with than without MetS, but the difference was not statistically significant (p ¼ .47). The incidence of hearing loss was no higher in subjects who met three of the five diagnostic criteria of MetS than in those who met 0–2 criteria, but was significantly higher in subjects who met four (p ¼ .04) and five (p < .01) criteria. Conclusions and Significance: MetS may be associated with hearing loss, especially in subjects who meet four or five of the diagnostic criteria for MetS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusion: Underweight and severe obesity were associated with an increased prevalence of hearing loss in a Korean population. Objective: The relationship between weight and hearing loss is unclear. This study, therefore, analyzed the relationship between hearing loss and body mass index (BMI) in a Korean population. Methods: The prevalence and severity of hearing loss were assessed in 61 052 subjects who underwent health screening examinations, including hearing tests. Subjects were divided into five groups according to BMI (underweight, normal, overweight, obese, and severely obese). The relationships between the prevalence and severity of hearing loss and BMI were analyzed, after adjusting for the effects of age. Results: The rates of mild or greater hearing loss in the underweight, normal, overweight, obese, and severely obese groups were 24.9%, 20.4%, 21.8%, 21.2%, and 24.1%, respectively. Mild severity of hearing loss was the most common in all five groups, followed by moderate, moderately severe, and severe hearing loss, in that order. Multivariate analysis, showed that the odds ratios of hearing loss in the severely obese, and underweight groups, compared with the normal group, were 1.312 and 1.282, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To investigate changes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and their antibiotic sensitivities over 13 years in patients diagnosed with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). MATERIALS and METHODS: The current study reports on a retrospective analysis of the outcomes of 2256 outpatients who visited the Department of Otorhinolaryngology clinics of 3 tertiary medical centers and who were diagnosed with chronic otitis media (COM) or chronic cholesteatomatous otitis media (CCOM) from January 2001 to December 2013. Aural discharge was collected from each patient. Infectious bacteria were identified, and their antibiotic sensitivities were determined. RESULTS: The most frequent age range of patients diagnosed with CSOM was 41 to 50 years. In patients aged more than 30 years, CSOM was more frequent in females than in males, whereas in those aged less than 30 years, it was more frequent in males. Regardless of age, the isolated MRSA strains showed high sensitivity to vancomycin, teicoplanin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, whereas the isolated PA strains showed high sensitivity to cefepime, amikacin, and ceftazidime. The isolation rate of MRSA in patients with CSOM slightly decreased over the 13-year study period; however, PA resistance to quinolones and aminoglycosides showed a tendency to increase. CONCLUSION: Bacteria isolated from patients with CSOM showed little change between 2001 and 2013, whereas their antibiotic resistance showed changes; in particular, increased PA resistance to quinolones was observed. Empirical antibiotic treatment can lead to bacterial resistance, and changes in antimicrobial agents commonly used to treat CSOM should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Hearing loss can lead to a number of disabilities and can reduce quality of life. Noise-induced hearing losses have become more common among adolescents due to increased exposure to personal music players. We, therefore, investigated the use of personal music player among Korean adolescents and the relationship between hearing threshold and usage pattern of portable music players. Materials and Methods: A total of 490 adolescents were interviewed personally regarding their use of portable music players, including the time and type of player and the type of headphone used. Pure tone audiometry was performed in each subject. Results: Of the 490 subjects, 462 (94.3%) used personal music players and most of them have used the personal music player for 1-3 hours per day during 1-3 years. The most common type of portable music player was the MP3 player, and the most common type of headphone was the earphone (insert type). Significant elevations of hearing threshold were observed in males, in adolescents who had used portable music players for over 5 years, for those over 15 years in cumulative period and in those who had used earphones. Conclusion: Portable music players can have a deleterious effect on hearing threshold in adolescents. To preserve hearing, adolescents should avoid using portable music players for long periods of time and should avoid using earphones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the epidemiological and antibiotic resistance differences in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in patients with otitis media with effusion (OME), acute otitis media (AOM), chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM), and chronic cholesteatomatous otitis media (CCOM). MATERIALS and METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of patients with newly identified MRSA infections from January 2009 through January 2017. Overall, 3,522 patients from 10 tertiary referral hospitals were included in the study. An antibiotic sensitivity test was performed for each isolate. RESULTS: MRSA infections in patients with CSOM and CCOM were more resistant to ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, erythromycin, gentamicin, levofloxacin, and tetracycline. Patients showed good susceptibility to rifampicin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX), and vancomycin. CONCLUSION: MRSA infections in various otitis media cases showed different resistance patterns. MRSA infections in patients with COM and CCOM were more resistant to antibiotics than those in patients with OME and AOM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusarium graminearum (teleomorph Gibberella zeae) is a prominent pathogen that infects major cereal crops such as wheat, barley, and maize. Both sexual (ascospores) and asexual (conidia) spores are produced in F. graminearum. Since conidia are responsible for secondary infection in disease development, our objective of the present study was to reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying conidiogenesis in F. graminearum based on the framework previously described in Aspergillus nidulans. In this study, we firstly identified and functionally characterized the ortholog of AbaA, which is involved in differentiation from vegetative hyphae to conidia and known to be absent in F. graminearum. Deletion of abaA did not affect vegetative growth, sexual development, or virulence, but conidium production was completely abolished and thin hyphae grew from abnormally shaped phialides in abaA deletion mutants. Overexpression of abaA resulted in pleiotropic defects such as impaired sexual and asexual development, retarded conidium germination, and reduced trichothecene production. AbaA localized to the nuclei of phialides and terminal cells of mature conidia. Successful interspecies complementation using A. nidulans AbaA and the conserved AbaA-WetA pathway demonstrated that the molecular mechanisms responsible for AbaA activity are conserved in F. graminearum as they are in A. nidulans. Results from RNA-sequencing analysis suggest that AbaA plays a pivotal role in conidiation by regulating cell cycle pathways and other conidiation-related genes. Thus, the conserved roles of the AbaA ortholog in both A. nidulans and F. graminearum give new insight into the genetics of conidiation in filamentous fungi.

Fusarium graminearum is an important plant pathogen that causes head blight of major cereal crops. The fungus produces mycotoxins that are harmful to animal and human. In this study, a systematic analysis of 17 phenotypes of the mutants in 657 Fusarium graminearum genes encoding putative transcription factors (TFs) resulted in a database of over 11,000 phenotypes (phenome). This database provides comprehensive insights into how this cereal pathogen of global significance regulates traits important for growth, development, stress response, pathogenesis, and toxin production and how transcriptional regulations of these traits are interconnected. In-depth analysis of TFs involved in sexual development revealed that mutations causing defects in perithecia development frequently affect multiple other phenotypes, and the TFs associated with sexual development tend to be highly conserved in the fungal kingdom. Besides providing many new insights into understanding the function of F. graminearum TFs, this mutant library and phenome will be a valuable resource for characterizing the gene expression network in this fungus and serve as a reference for studying how different fungi have evolved to control various cellular processes at the transcriptional level.