Search

Objectives. We evaluated the causes, hearing, and speech performance before and after cochlear implant reimplantation in Mandarin-speaking users. Methods. In total, 589 patients who underwent cochlear implantation in our medical center between 1999 and 2014 were reviewed retrospectively. Data related to demographics, etiologies, implant-related information, complications, and hearing and speech performance were collected. Results. In total, 22 (3.74%) cases were found to have major complications. Infection (n=12) and hard failure of the device (n=8) were the most common major complications. Among them, 13 were reimplanted in our hospital. The mean scores of the Categorical Auditory Performance (CAP) and the Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) obtained before and after reimplantation were 5.5 versus 5.8 and 3.7 versus 4.3, respectively. The SIR score after reimplantation was significantly better than preoperation. Conclusions. Cochlear implantation is a safe procedure with low rates of postsurgical revisions and device failures. The Mandarin-speaking patients in this study who received reimplantation had restored auditory performance and speech intelligibility after surgery. Device soft failure was rare in our series, calling attention to Mandarin-speaking CI users requiring revision of their implants due to undesirable symptoms or decreasing performance of uncertain cause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: Studies report high comorbidity of lifetime anxiety disorders with bipolar disorders in Western patients, but it is unclear in Taiwan. The authors explored the comorbidity of anxiety disorders in different bipolar disorder subtypes in Han Chinese in Taiwan. Methods: Three hundred twenty-five patients with bipolar disorder (bipolar I: 120; bipolar II: 205) disorder were recruited from two general medical outpatient services. They were evaluated and their diagnoses confirmed by a psychiatrist using the Chinese version of the Modified Schedule of Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia-Lifetime. The exclusion criteria were: any DSM-IV-TR Axis I diagnosis, other than bipolar disorder, being outside the 18–65-year-old age range, any other major and minor mental illnesses except anxiety disorder, any neurological disorders or organic mental disorders. Results: Thirty-two (26.7%) of patients were comorbid with lifetime anxiety disorder and bipolar I, 80 (39.0%) with lifetime anxiety disorder and bipolar II, 7 (5.8%) were comorbid with two or more anxiety disorders and bipolar I, and 27 (13.2%) with two or more anxiety disorders and bipolar II. Conclusion: That more than twice as many bipolar II than bipolar I patients reported two or more anxiety disorders implies that the complication is more prevalent in bipolar II patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: (1) To report the auditory performance and speech intelligibility of 84 Mandarin-speaking prelingually deaf children after using cochlear implants (CIs) for one, two, three, four, and five years to understand how many years of implant use were needed for them to reach a plateau-level performance; (2) to investigate the relation between subjective rating scales and objective measurements (i.e., speech perception tests); (3) to understand the effect of age at implantation on auditory and speech development., Methods: Eighty-four children with CIs participated in this study. Their auditory performance and speech intelligibility were rated using the Categorical Auditory Performance (CAP) and the Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) scales, respectively. The evaluations were made before implantation and six months, one, two, three, four, and five years after implantation. At the fifth year after implantation, monosyllabic-word, easy-sentence, and difficult-sentence perception tests were administered., Results: The median CAP score reached a plateau at category 6 after three years of implant use. The median SIR arrived at the highest level after five years of use. With five years of CI experiences, 86% of the subjects understood conversation without lip-reading, and 58% were fully intelligible to all listeners. The three speech perception tests had a moderate-to-strong correlation with the CAP and SIR scores. The children implanted before the age of three years had significantly better CAP and monosyllabic word perception test scores., Conclusions: Five years of follow-up are needed for assessing the post-implantation development of communication ability of prelingually deafened children. It is recommended that hearing-impaired children receive cochlear implantation at a younger age to acquire better auditory ability for developing language skills. Constant postoperative aural-verbal rehabilitation and speech and language therapy are most likely required for the patients to reach the highest level on the CAP and SIR scales., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The high comorbidity rate between bipolar disorder (BP) and anxiety disorder (AD) has been studied in depth. This comorbidity is not as high in Han Chinese in Taiwan. Therefore, we explored the genetic effects BP comorbid with AD., Methods: We recruited 1316 participants: 286 with BP-I, 681 with BP-II, and 349 healthy Controls. Genotypes of the BDNF Val66Met and DRD3 Ser9Gly polymorphisms were determined using polymerase chain reactions plus restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis., Results: The DRD3 Ser9Gly polymorphism was associated with BP-II comorbid with AD (BPII(+AD)), and the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism was associated with BP-I comorbid with AD (BPI(+AD)). An interaction between the Val/Val genotype of the BDNF Val66Met and Gly/Gly polymorphism of the DRD3 Ser9Gly was found in BPII(+AD), but not in BP-II not comorbid with AD (BPI(-AD)) compared with healthy Controls., Limitation: The low comorbidity rate of AD in both BP subtypes, especially BP-I, limit generalizing our findings., Conclusion: The involvement of the dopaminergic pathway in AD was confirmed, particularly with BP-II rather than BP-I. Because the Val/Val genotype of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, rather than the other two polymorphisms, has been associated with anxiety, it seems to affect BP-I comorbid with AD without the involvement of the DRD3 Seg9Gly polymorphism, but may modify the involvement of DRD3 Gly/Gly in BP-II comorbid with AD., (© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)