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Introduction: Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is a long standing infection of the middle ear cleft. Mastoidectomy, with or without tympanoplasty, is the preferred treatment for CSOM. However, the drill used during ear surgery generates noise that may potentially cause hearing damage in both the operated and opposite inner ear, leading to temporary or permanent hearing loss. Materials and Methods: The study included patients diagnosed with CSOM who underwent surgeries in the Otorhinolaryngology department. Postoperatively, all patients were followed up on the 7th day and 1 month after the surgery. Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA) was performed to evaluate the hearing outcomes. Results: A total of 61 patients were included in the study. The mean preoperative PTA of contralateral ear bone conduction among the study participants was 6.48. At the 7th day post-operation, the mean post-operative PTA of contralateral ear bone conduction for the same participants was 7.77. This difference was statistically significant according to the Paired T-test (P = 0.001).However, when evaluating the mean preoperative PTA of contralateral ear bone conduction (6.48) and the mean post-operative PTA at 1st month (6.02), the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.208).Additionally, there was no statistical difference in air conduction and air-bone gap before and after surgery. Conclusion: The study suggests that mastoid drilling is associated with a significant temporary hearing loss in the contralateral ear immediately after surgery, which eventually recovers within a month. However, the hearing loss is considered negligible and not statistically significant in the long term. It is worth considering additional audiological investigations, such as otoacoustic emissions, to detect this type of hearing loss more accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the etiology and ossicular pathology of traumatic ossicular injury in Taiwan and examine the hearing outcomes and predictive factors between the titanium prosthesis and autologous incus groups. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients with traumatic ossicular injury from 2011 to 2020 in Taiwan. Patients were divided into the titanium or autologous group according to the surgical materials used. The audiometric outcomes and predictive factors of ossiculoplasty were analyzed between groups. Results: Twenty patients with ossicular chain discontinuity were enrolled (8 in the titanium group and 12 in the autologous group). The postoperative hearing threshold (26.6 ± 8.9 dB) and air-bone gap (10.3 ± 5.6 dB) improved significantly compared with the preoperative hearing threshold (50.7 ± 13.3 dB) and air-bone gap (29.9 ± 11.0 dB). The improvements in the hearing threshold and air-bone gap were not significantly different between the titanium and autologous groups. Our patients presented an improvement in hearing restoration with 65% closure of the air-bone gap in 0 to 10 dB range and 30% in 11 to 20 dB range, without sensorineural hearing loss during surgery. Univariate regression analysis revealed that vertigo, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, and temporal bone fracture may serve as negative factors influencing the air-bone gap gain. Conclusions: Ossiculoplasty with both titanium prosthesis and autologous materials demonstrated favorable hearing recovery in traumatic ossicular injury. Vertigo, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, and temporal bone fracture may serve as negative predictive factors of the hearing benefit after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is a major health issue in developing countries causing persistent problem and may lead to life-threatening complications. This major health issue and its complications can be best avoided by early and effective treatment. Aims and Objectives: The aim is to compare the outcome in terms of hearing improvement following canal wall up and canal wall down mastoid surgery. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted in Otorhinolaryngology Department of a Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, Burdwan, a tertiary care hospital in Burdwan from April 2019 to August 2020 and 50 clinically diagnosed cases of COM (Squamous type) were included in this study after through history taking and meticulous clinical examination. Patients were divided in two Groups (Group-A and Group-B) with 25 patients in each group randomly and Group-A patients undergone canal wall up mastoidectomy and Group-B patients undergone canal wall down mastoidectomy (CWDM). Now, before performing surgery, a pre-operative pure tone audiometry was performed for each of the patients and a follow-up pure tone audiometry was done again, 2-month post-operative period. These results were compared to assess the degree of hearing improvement in the two different operative procedures, namely, canal wall up and CWDM. Results: In Group-A, the mean hearing gain (mean±SD) of patients was 12.5700±0.9856. In Group-B, the mean hearing gain (mean±SD) of patients was 8.4200±5.0051. Difference of mean hearing gain with both groups was statistically significant (P=0.0002). Chi-square value: 0.1678; P=0.9195. Conclusion: Hearing gain was more with canal wall up compared to CWDM in CSOM which was statistically significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this study is to explore the potential factors in hearing outcomes and verify the role of oxidant‐antioxidant equilibrium on the prognosis of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Methods: Ninety‐two patients who were diagnosed with SSNHL between January 2018 and December 2019 in our hearing clinic center were included in this study. All patients were treated with intravenous dexamethasone, and 72 cases were treated with additional HBOT for 10 consecutive days. Peripheral blood was collected prior to any treatment to determine the blood cell count and hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels. Pure tone audiometry was measured before and after treatment. Complete and overall recovery rate was evaluated. Multivariate logistic analysis was used to identify prognostic factors. Results: The rate of overall recovery was significantly higher in the patient with combined therapy compared to patients treated with steroids only (51.4% vs 25.0%, p =.036). The levels of HGB, HCT, and SOD were much higher in the patients with better hearing outcomes (p =.027,.033, and.011, respectively). Multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that patients with higher initial hearing thresholds, or hearing loss at overall frequency, were more prone to have poor hearing gains after HBOT. Conclusion: HBOT is effective as an early adjuvant therapy for SSNHL. Hearing loss at low frequency, low initial hearing thresholds, as well as high HBG, HCT, and SOD levels are positive prognostic factors for SSNHL patients treated with HBOT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Evaluation of the self‐perceived hearing impairment and performance after cochlear implantation in patients with definite Menière's disease (MD). Patients and Methods: Seventeen unilaterally or bilaterally profoundly hearing‐impaired patients suffering from MD who received a cochlear implantat (CI) were eligible for inclusion in this study. Their self‐perceived hearing impairment using the short Speech Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ12) as well as their performance in speech perception (German language Freiburger mono‐ and multisyllable test, Oldenburger sentence test) were compared with a best‐matched control group of non‐MD patients up to 24 months of follow‐up. Results: MD patients improved significantly in perception of monosyllables presented at 65 dBSPL, from preoperatively best aided 18.2% [2.4, 34.0] to 51.7% [39.4, 63.9] 1 year after cochlear implantation (mean [95% confidence interval]). Their performance approached the matched controls with 63.2% [55.7, 70.8]. Monosyllables presented at a lower intensity of 55 dBSPL revealed a significant underperformance of the MD patients (21.1% [12.6, 29.6]) in contrast to the non‐MD controls (39.1% [30.9, 47.4]) 12 months post‐CI. Self‐assessed hearing disability was significantly more pronounced in MD patients with a mean total SSQ12 score of 3.6 [2.4, 4.9] in comparison to 6.1 [5.4, 6.8] of the matched non‐MD controls after 12 months of cochlear implantation. Conclusion: Cochlear implantation substantially improves hearing capabilities in profoundly hearing‐impaired patients with MD, but they tend to underperform in comparison to non‐MD patients at least at lower sound pressure levels. This is likely one reason for the poorer self‐assessed hearing function of cochlear implanted MD patients. Level of Evidence: 3, retrospective, nonrandomized follow‐up study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Recurrent idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is a rare disease. In this study, we evaluated the correlations between hearing recovery after the first and recurrent episodes of ISSNHL and characterized the clinical features of different episodes of ISSNHL.Methods: This retrospective study was conducted by reviewing medical records pertaining to the period 2008-2018. A total of 30 patients (16 male, 14 female) who had experienced at least two episodes of ISSNHL were included. All patients were had received steroid therapy (including systemic and IT) and/or hyperbaric oxygen therapy within 2 weeks after the onset of disease. The SDRG's criteria was used for the grading of hearing recovery.Results: The median age at the first and second episode of ISSNHL was 48 and 53.5 years, respectively; a total of 30% of patients presented with vertigo in the first episode and 40% presented with vertigo in the second episode. The hearing outcomes of both episodes showed significant improvement after treatment. The rate of complete recovery after the first and second episodes was 46.67% and 33.33%, respectively. A significant positive correlation was observed between the treatment outcomes of the first and second episodes (r = 0.721, p < 0.001).Conclusion: In ISSNHL, hearing recovery after a recurrent episode is significantly correlated with the hearing outcome after the initial episode (p = 0.042). The treatment outcome of the first episode is a prognostic factor for the outcomes of recurrent episodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze demographic, clinical, surgical, and audiometric factors that may affect hearing outcome following surgery for the semicircular canals (SCC). Method: This is a retrospective case review of adults who underwent surgeries for superior SCC (SSCC), lateral SCC (LSCC), or posterior SCC (PSCC) and whose data were extracted and analyzed for factors affecting the hearing outcome in these procedures. Results: Thirteen patients underwent surgery for SSCC, seven cases for the LSCC, one for the PSCC, and one case of combined PSCC/SSCC surgery. The mean age was 49.8 ± 12 years (21–66). There was no difference between the preoperative and postoperative pure tone average (PTA) thresholds at 0.5–3 kHz. Higher thresholds were noted at 4, 6, and 8 kHz postoperatively. Deterioration (>10 dB) in the bone‐conduction (BC) PTA was demonstrated in 3 of 22 (13.6%) cases with no significant difference in the demographic, clinical, surgical, and preoperative audiometric parameters relative to the cases without PTA BC change. A significantly larger difference in PTA BC (pre‐ vs. postoperative) was seen for males. Small effect size was noted for Air conduction (AC) PTA in males, and moderate effect size for Word Recognition Score (WRS) in surgery for the LSCC compare to SSCC. Conclusions: SCC surgeries carry a relatively low risk of deterioration in PTA BC. High frequency thresholds should also be included in postoperative hearing outcome assessment. Cases of LSCC for intractable Meniere's disease and surgery in males carry higher risk of poor postoperative hearing outcomes. Level of Evidence: 4 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Otosclerosis is associated with hearing disability, leading to communication deficits and social and psychological restrictions. The objective of our study was to analyze disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after stapes surgery and compare the outcome of HRQOL with audiometric parameters. Subjects and Methods: Our clinical case study was conducted at two tertiary referral centers. All the 37 patients who had undergone stapes surgery were analyzed clinically and by audiometric testing (pure tone and speech audiometry) in the pre- and postoperative settings. Disease-specific HRQOL was assessed by the validated Stapesplasty Outcome Test 25 (SPOT-25) pre- and postoperatively. The subjective hearing disability was evaluated by the hearing handicap inventory for adults (HHIA). The postinterventional benefit was measured by the Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI). Results: Disease-specific HRQOL improved significantly after stapes surgery in all scales of the SPOT-25. Postoperatively, the total score and the subscore 'hearing function' correlated well with the audiometric data. The subscores 'tinnitus', 'social restrictions', and 'mental condition' did not show significant association with audiometric parameters. The comparison of pre- and postoperative HHIA offered a significant improvement in the hearing disability. The scores of the HHIA correlated very well with the audiometric data. The GBI showed a postoperative benefit for each individual patient. Conclusion: Stapes surgery leads to a significant improvement in the hearing handicap and of disease-specific HRQOL. The audiometric parameters were shown as not being a sufficient indicator of social and mental well-being. HRQOL outcome measuring instruments should be used routinely in clinical practice to provide an individualized postoperative assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the latency and amplitude of auditory brainstem response (ABR) and hearing prognosis in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL).Methods: Patients with ISSNHL were classified into four different recovery groups. All patients' clinical and demographic features were analyzed. Two-channel ABRs were collected in response to click stimuli at 90dB nHL. ABR amplitudes for wave I and ABR latency for waves I, III, and V were analyzed.Results: One hundred and two patients (54 men and 48 women) were included in the study. Hearing recovery was observed in 72 cases (70.6%). Waves I, III, and V latencies were significantly prolonged in the affected ears compared with the unaffected ears. A smaller wave I amplitude was found in the affected ear compared with the unaffected ear in the three recovery groups. There was a significant association between wave I latency and hearing outcome (p=0.009) with a prolonged trend from complete to slight hearing recovery group.Conclusions: There was a significant correlation between wave I latency and hearing outcome in patients with ISSNHL. The finding may provide diagnostic information and serve as a potential prognostic indicator in patients with ISSNHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusion: The pure-tone audiometry results following glycerol administration indicated a positive effect on cochlear endolymphatic hydrops. Glycerol cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) tests are a useful means of diagnosing saccular hydrops. There was no correlation between cVEMP and audiological results. Objective: To document the changes in pure-tone hearing outcomes and cVEMPs in patients with Ménière's disease (MD) and 10 healthy volunteers before and after oral administration of glycerol. Methods: Twenty-nine study group subjects were chosen with complaints of vertigo. cVEMP testing and pure-tone hearing level testing were performed before and at 1, 2, and 3 h after administration of glycerol. Results: The means of the latencies, amplitudes, and difference ratio in 20 normal subject ears were determined. Based on these values, 9/29 MD-affected (MDA) ears (31%) had a unilaterally absent cVEMP. Compared with difference ratio values of the control groups there were significant differences in both latencies and amplitudes in MDA ears after glycerol administration. Before glycerol administration, there were significant differences between control and MDA ears on mean values of pure-tone hearing outcomes. Twenty patients in the MDA group showed significant pure-tone hearing outcomes after glycerol administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusion: The results demonstrate the stability of the efficacy over time of the intratympanic prednisolone protocol and they suggest that the spontaneous recovery does not significantly influence the long-term evaluation of intratympanic therapy. A 10-day follow-up after 3 days of intratympanic prednisolone administration can be considered a sufficient period to evaluate the effectiveness of the undertaken therapy. Objective: To assess the stability of the efficacy over time of intratympanic steroid therapy for patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Methods: A total of 122 patients received an intratympanic steroid injection of prednisolone daily for 3 days. Audiograms were performed before therapy and at 10 days and 1 year after therapy. Successful recovery was defined as complete and partial recovery using Siegel's criteria and complete and marked recovery following Furuhashi's criteria. Results: The comparison of audiometric data at study entry, at 10 days, and at 1 year after the treatment showed a statistically significant improvement of the mean pure tone audiometry. The evaluation of the hearing outcomes demonstrated a statistically significant improvement, with similar success rates when evaluated 10 days and 1 year after the treatment. Comparing the hearing outcomes at 1 year with the results at 10 days, no significant difference was detected between these two time points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We sought to identify factors that would predict hearing preservation in the treatment of semicircular canal labyrinthine fistulas. Methods: Between 1990 and 2010, 97 patients with semicircular canal fistulas were operated on and enrolled in this retrospective study. In 62 patients the matrix was removed and the fistula was sealed, whereas in 35 patients the canal was drilled, the matrix was detached, and the canal was occluded. Perioperative corticosteroids were administered in 51 patients. The main outcome measures were the bone conduction thresholds evaluated at 1 year after the operation. Factors considered for possible association with hearing preservation included age, gender, site and size of the fistula, primary versus revision surgery, surgeon, perioperative corticosteroid treatment, and surgical management of the fistula. Results: The bone conduction hearing level was improved in 16 patients, remained unchanged in 73 patients, and had worsened in 11 patients. On the univariate analysis, good hearing was predicted by grade II fistula, canal plugging, and corticosteroid treatment. However, none of these factors attained significance in the logistic regression model. Conclusions: In surgery of semicircular canal fistulas, good hearing outcomes are to be expected if perioperative corticosteroids are administered, matrix removal and fistula sealing is performed in grade II fistulas, and canal occlusion is performed in grade III and IV fistulas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusions: Thirteen (5.4%) of patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) had benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Most of the patients showed profound hearing loss and had BPPV of the lateral canal. BPPV in patients with ISSNHL may have no influence on hearing recovery. Objectives: BPPV occurs in 8.6-12.7% of patients with ISSNHL; however, the role of BPPV in hearing recovery remains controversial. Therefore, we investigated hearing outcomes in the patients, including the distribution of initial hearing threshold, the type of canal involved, and the number of repositioning maneuvers performed. Methods: Of 241 patients with ISSNHL who presented to a dizziness clinic between March 2008 and May 2012, 13 with both ISSNHL and BPPV were recruited for this study. The patients were evaluated for their initial hearing threshold, type of canal involved, response to repositioning maneuvers, and hearing outcome. Age- and hearing threshold-matched patients with ISSNHL but without BPPV were randomly sampled and included for a hearing outcome comparison. Results: Of 13 patients with ISSNHL and BPPV, 11 showed profound hearing loss. The lateral canal was involved in 11 patients, including 3 who had multi-canal involvement. Ten patients underwent a single repositioning maneuver. Those patients did not display a significant difference in hearing recovery compared with those patients having ISSNHL only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]