Noise exposure and hearing impairment among Chinese restaurant workers and entertainment employees in Hong Kong.

Background: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a major concern in the non-manufacturing industries. This study aimed to investigate the occupational noise exposure and the NIHL among Chinese restaurant workers and entertainment employees working in the service industry in Hong Kong.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey involved a total of 1,670 participants.

Temporal fine structure in cochlear implants: preliminary speech perception results in Cantonese-speaking implant users.

Conclusion: Acute comparisons between continuous interleaved sampling (CIS) and a temporal fine structure (TFS) coding strategy in Cantonese-speaking cochlear implant (CI) users did not reveal any significant differences in speech perception. Performance with the unfamiliar TFS coding strategy was on a par with CIS. Benefits of extended fine structure use observed in other studies should be investigated for tonal languages.

[Auditory brainstem implantation in patient with bilateral acoustic neuromas].

Objective: To restore auditory sensation for patient suffering loss of hearing due to bilateral acoustic neuromas.

Method: One patient of bilateral acoustic neuromas received auditory brainstem implant (ABI) at the same surgery for resection of the second tumor. The retrosigmoid approach was used for resection of the tumor and to exposure the lateral recess of the fourth ventricle for placement of ABI electrode array.

Short electrode insertion in cochlear implantation: speech perception performance of Cantonese-speaking subjects.

Conclusions: Subjects with cochlear ossification derived benefits in terms of speech performance similar to those of the non-ossified group. It is thus recommended that the insertion of short electrode arrays should be considered an alternative choice for patients with cochlear ossification.

Objective: Cochlear ossification has been recognized as a major obstacle to the full insertion of a multichannel cochlear implant electrode array.

Translation of the dizziness handicap inventory into Chinese, validation of it, and evaluation of the quality of life of patients with chronic dizziness.

The aims of this study were 1) to translate the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) into Chinese and to validate it and 2) to use the Chinese DHI and the Chinese (Hong Kong) Short Form-36 Health Survey (Chinese [HK] SF-36) to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) of patients with chronic dizziness. Seventy-one patients with 6 months of dizziness due to vestibular dysfunction were evaluated initially, 7 days later (n = 49), and after 7 months of medical treatment (n = 17). The Chinese DHI has been shown to retain good test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient range, 0.

ENT management of a child with CHARGE association.

The acronym CHARGE is used to describe specific congenital birth defects in children: colobomata, heart defect, atresia of the choanae, retarded growth or development, genital hypoplasia, and ear anomalies or deafness. CHARGE association with hearing impairment is a challenge to ENT surgeons. We report the case of a child with CHARGE association who underwent cochlear implantation using an unconventional surgical approach and review the postoperative speech perception results.

Randomized evaluation of the audiologic outcome of ventilation tube insertion for middle ear effusion in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Objective: Complications after ventilation tube insertion for middle ear effusion in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma are frequent. This may compromise the overall benefit obtained from the procedure. This study evaluates the hearing improvement after tube insertion compared with observation alone to see if the benefits of the procedure outweigh its potential complications.