A Prognostic Model to Predict Hearing Recovery in Patients With Idiopathic Sudden Onset Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

Importance: The prognosis of idiopathic sudden onset sensorineural hearing loss (iSSNHL) is uncertain, which creates challenges in clinical decision-making for ear, nose, and throat (ENT) physicians and adds to the burden of the condition experienced by patients.

Objective: To develop and internally validate a prognostic model for hearing recovery among patients with iSSNHL to support ENT surgeons in making informed and individualized treatment decisions.

Design, Settings, And Participants: This prognostic study and model used cohort data from the Sudden Onset Sensorineural Hearing Loss study, which included 812 patients (age ≥16 years) diagnosed with iSSNHL at 76 National Health Service ENT departments in the UK from December 2019 to May 2022.

Creating a health informatics data resource for hearing health research.

Background: The National Institute of Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Health Informatics Collaborative (HIC) for Hearing Health has been established in the UK to curate routinely collected hearing health data to address research questions. This study defines priority research areas, outlines its aims, governance structure and demonstrates how hearing health data have been integrated into a common data model using pure tone audiometry (PTA) as a case study.

Methods: After identifying key research aims in hearing health, the governance structure for the NIHR HIC for Hearing Health is described.

Topical or oral antibiotics in childhood acute otitis media and ear discharge: a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.

Background: Current guidance suggests oral antibiotics can be considered for children with acute otitis media (AOM) and ear discharge, but there is an absence of evidence regarding the relative effectiveness of antibiotic-corticosteroid eardrops.

Aim: To establish whether antibiotic-corticosteroid eardrops are non-inferior to oral antibiotics in children with AOM and ear discharge.

Design And Setting: Open randomized controlled non-inferiority trial set in Dutch primary care.

Adult-onset hearing loss and incident cognitive impairment and dementia - A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Background: We comprehensively summarized the cohort evidence to date on adult-onset hearing loss as risk factor for incident cognitive impairment and dementia, and examined the evidence for dose-response, risk for various dementia subtypes, and other moderators. Previous meta-analyses were less comprehensive.

Methods: We included cohort studies with participants without dementia and with hearing assessments at baseline, minimum 2 years follow-up and incident cognitive outcomes.

A phase I/IIa safety and efficacy trial of intratympanic gamma-secretase inhibitor as a regenerative drug treatment for sensorineural hearing loss.

Inhibition of Notch signalling with a gamma-secretase inhibitor (GSI) induces mammalian hair cell regeneration and partial hearing restoration. In this proof-of-concept Phase I/IIa multiple-ascending dose open-label trial (ISRCTN59733689), adults with mild-moderate sensorineural hearing loss received 3 intratympanic injections of GSI LY3056480, in 1 ear over 2 weeks. Phase I primary outcome was safety and tolerability.

Preparing for Otoferlin gene therapy trials: A survey of NHS Paediatric Audiology and Cochlear Implant services on diagnosis and management of Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder.

Objectives: Gene therapy for monogenic hearing loss is on the horizon. The first trials in patients with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) due to pathogenic variants in the Otoferlin (OTOF) gene will open this year. In the UK, the new NHS Genomic Medicine Service (GMS) offers genetic testing in each child diagnosed with congenital or early onset sensorineural hearing loss.

Topical and oral steroids for otitis media with effusion (OME) in children.

Background: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is an accumulation of fluid in the middle ear cavity, common amongst young children. The fluid may cause hearing loss. Although most episodes of OME in children resolve spontaneously within a few months, when persistent it may lead to behavioural problems and a delay in expressive language skills.

Ventilation tubes (grommets) for otitis media with effusion (OME) in children.

Background: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is an accumulation of fluid in the middle ear cavity, common amongst young children. It may cause hearing loss which, when persistent, may lead to developmental delay, social difficulty and poor quality of life. Management includes watchful waiting, autoinflation, medical and surgical treatment.

Antibiotics for otitis media with effusion (OME) in children.

Background: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is an accumulation of fluid in the middle ear cavity, common amongst young children. The fluid may cause hearing loss. When persistent, it may lead to developmental delay, social difficulty and poor quality of life.

Adenoidectomy for otitis media with effusion (OME) in children.

Background: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is an accumulation of fluid in the middle ear cavity, common amongst young children. The fluid may cause hearing loss. When persistent, it may lead to developmental delay, social difficulty and poor quality of life.

Cataloging Existing Hearing Loss Cohort Data to Guide the Development of Precision Medicine for Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review of Hearing Repositories.

Recent breakthroughs in our understanding of sensorineural hearing loss etiology have encouraged the identification of novel hearing therapeutics, paving the way for precision hearing medicine. Critical to this field is the curation of health resources on hearing data. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to map existing (inter)national and regional datasets that include hearing data to inform the development of future hearing repositories.

Autoinflation for otitis media with effusion (OME) in children.

Background: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is an accumulation of fluid in the middle ear cavity, common amongst young children. The fluid may cause hearing loss. When persistent, it may lead to behavioural problems and a delay in expressive language skills.

Mapping Two Decades of Paediatric Down Syndrome Research Literature.

Background: While research has led to significant advancements in the health and life expectancy of children with Down Syndrome (DS), there remains a significant burden of disease and health inequity. Further research, focused on areas of greatest need, is imperative to address this. An understanding of what research has been undertaken, and any existing gaps, helps to guide future academic efforts.

Paracetamol (acetaminophen) or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, alone or combined, for pain relief in acute otitis media in children.

Background: Acute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most common childhood infectious diseases. Pain is the key symptom of AOM and central to children's and parents' experience of the illness. Because antibiotics provide only marginal benefits, analgesic treatment including paracetamol (acetaminophen) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is regarded as the cornerstone of AOM management.

Managing comorbid cognitive impairment and hearing loss in older adults: a UK survey of audiology and memory services.

Background: midlife hearing loss is a potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia. Addressing comorbid hearing loss and cognitive impairment in services for older adults may offer opportunities to reduce dementia risk.

Objective: to explore current practice and views amongst UK professionals regarding hearing assessment and care in memory clinics and cognitive assessment and care in hearing aid clinics.

Effectiveness of analgesic ear drops as add-on treatment to oral analgesics in children with acute otitis media: study protocol of the OPTIMA pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Ear pain is the most prominent symptom of childhood acute otitis media (AOM). To control the pain and reduce reliance on antibiotics, evidence of effectiveness for alternative interventions is urgently needed. This trial aims to investigate whether analgesic ear drops added to usual care provide superior ear pain relief over usual care alone in children presenting to primary care with AOM.

[Acute ear discharge, a reason for consultation].

It is often thought that acute ear discharge as a presenting symptom of acute otitis media (AOM) means that the infection is petering out. However, children with AOM presenting with ear discharge due to a spontaneous perforation of the eardrum (AOMd) have a poorer prognosis (i.e.

Intratympanic corticosteroids for sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Background: Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is common, and defined as a sudden decrease in sensorineural hearing sensitivity of unknown aetiology. Systemic corticosteroids are widely used, however their value remains unclear. Intratympanic injections of corticosteroids have become increasingly common in the treatment of ISSNHL.

COVID-VU - ENT-UK national survey of flexible nasendoscopy in the upper aerodigestive tract amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Flexible nasendoscopy (FNE) is an invaluable multi-disciplinary tool for upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) examination. During the COVID-19 pandemic concerns were raised that FNE had the potential of generating aerosols resulting in human cross-contamination when performed on SARS-COV2 carriers. In the UK, and other European countries, national guidelines were issued restricting FNE to essential cases.

Early Health Economic Modeling of Novel Therapeutics in Age-Related Hearing Loss.

Background: Health systems face challenges to accelerate access to innovations that add value and avoid those unlikely to do so. This is very timely to the field of age-related sensorineural hearing loss (ARHL), where a significant unmet market need has been identified and sizeable investments made to promote the development of novel hearing therapeutics (NT). This study aims to apply health economic modeling to inform the development of cost-effective NT.

Observational retrospective study calculating health service costs of patients receiving surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis in England, using linked patient-level primary and secondary care electronic data.

Objectives: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) symptoms are experienced by an estimated 11% of UK adults, and symptoms have major impacts on quality of life. Data from UK and elsewhere suggest high economic burden of CRS, but detailed cost information and economic analyses regarding surgical pathway are lacking. This paper estimates healthcare costs for patients receiving surgery for CRS in England.

Topical or oral antibiotics for children with acute otitis media presenting with ear discharge: study protocol of a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial.

Background: Around 15%-20% of children with acute otitis media present with ear discharge due to a spontaneous tear or perforation of the eardrum (AOMd). Current guidance recommends clinicians to consider oral antibiotics as first-line treatment in this condition. The opening in the eardrum however should allow topical antibiotics to enter the middle ear directly.

Immediate oral versus immediate topical versus delayed oral antibiotics for children with acute otitis media with discharge: the REST three-arm non-inferiority electronic platform-supported RCT.

Background: Acute otitis media is a painful infection of the middle ear that is commonly seen in children. In some children, the eardrum spontaneously bursts, discharging visible pus (otorrhoea) into the outer ear.

Objective: To compare the clinical effectiveness of immediate topical antibiotics or delayed oral antibiotics with the clinical effectiveness of immediate oral antibiotics in reducing symptom duration in children presenting to primary care with acute otitis media with discharge and the economic impact of the alternative strategies.

A Strong Decline in the Incidence of Childhood Otitis Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Netherlands.

Introduction: Recent reports have highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of infectious disease illnesses and antibiotic use. This study investigates the effect of the pandemic on childhood incidence of otitis media (OM) and associated antibiotic prescribing in a large primary care-based cohort in the Netherlands.

Material And Methods: Retrospective observational cohort study using routine health care data from the Julius General Practitioners' Network (JGPN).