Effect of Aging on Speech Discrimination.

Background And Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with decrease in speech discrimination ability seen in patients with presbycusis and whether aging has a significant effect on the observed decline.

Subjects And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients aged >40 years who had undergone pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, and auditory brainstem response for hearing loss at our hospital from January 2019 to June 2021, and investigated the factors that correlated with speech discrimination score.

Results: We enrolled 103 patients with 120 ears, with a mean age of 65.

Effect of Hearing Rehabilitation Therapy Program in Hearing Aid Users: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study.

Objectives: Despite sufficient hearing gains, many patients with hearing loss have difficulty using hearing aids due to poor word recognition ability. This study was performed to introduce our hearing rehabilitation therapy (HRT) program for hearing aid users and to evaluate its effect on hearing improvement.

Methods: In this prospective randomized case-control study, 37 participants with moderate or moderate-severe sensorineural hearing loss who had used bilateral hearing aids for more than 3 months with sufficient functional hearing gain were enrolled in this study.

Efficiency of a dexamethasone nanosuspension as an intratympanic injection for acute hearing loss.

Dexamethasone sodium phosphate (Dex-SP) is the most commonly used drug administered via intratympanic injection for the treatment of acute hearing loss, but its penetration efficiency into the inner ear is very low. To address this problem, we evaluated the possibility of administering dexamethasone nanosuspensions via intratympanic injection because hydrophobic drugs might be more effective in penetrating the inner ear. Three types of dexamethasone nanosuspensions were prepared; the dexamethasone nanoparticles in the three nanosuspensions were between approximately 250 and 350 nm in size.

Effects of tympanic membrane perforation, middle ear cavity volume, and mastoid aeration on hearing impairment.

Aims: To investigate the effects of the location and size of tympanic membrane (TM) perforation and middle ear cavity volume on conductive hearing loss in patients with TM perforation.

Methods: Data were collected via a retrospective medical chart review.

Results: We enrolled 128 patients with a mean age of 45.

Intratympanic administration of alpha-lipoic acid-loaded pluronic F-127 nanoparticles ameliorates acute hearing loss.

We used antioxidant-containing nanoparticles (NPs) to treat acute hearing loss. Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) served as the antioxidant; we employed Pluronic F127 to fabricate NPs. In vitro, ALA-NPs protected cells of the organ of Corti in HEI-OC1 mice, triggering nuclear translocation of NRF2 and increases in the levels of antioxidant proteins, including Nrf2, HO-1, SOD-1, and SOD-2.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss After Surgery to Treat Chronic Otitis Media.

Objective: We investigated the incidence of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) after chronic otitis media (COM) surgery and determined the associated factors.

Methods: Data were collected via retrospective medical chart review.

Results: Of the 192 patients, 82 underwent tympanoplasty, 26 underwent canal wall up mastoidectomy with tympanoplasty, and 84 underwent canal wall down mastoidectomy with tympanoplasty.

Typewriter tinnitus: An investigative comparison with middle ear myoclonic tinnitus and its long-term therapeutic response to carbamazepine.

Objectives: Due to its rarity and similar sound, typewriter tinnitus (TT) can be misdiagnosed as middle ear myoclonic tinnitus (MEMT). We aim to clarify the characteristics of TT compared to MEMT, and the long-term therapeutic response to carbamazepine.

Methods: Fourteen patients with TT and 28 patients with MEMT were enrolled.

α-Lipoic acid prevents against cisplatin cytotoxicity via activation of the NRF2/HO-1 antioxidant pathway.

The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by cisplatin is one of the major mechanisms of cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity. We examined the preventive effect of α-lipoic acid (LA) on cisplatin-induced toxicity via its antioxidant effects on in vitro and ex vivo culture systems. To elucidate the mechanism of the antioxidant activity of LA, NRF2 was inhibited using NRF2 siRNA, and the change in antioxidant activity of LA was characterized.

Cartilage Fascia Composite Canalplasty for External Auditory Canal Cholesteatoma: Case Analysis and Long-term Surgical Results.

Objective: To analyze surgical outcomes of cartilage-fascia composite canalplasty (CFCC) for external auditory canal cholesteatoma (EACC).

Study Design: Retrospective case review study.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Safety and Effectiveness of Peramivir in Korean Adult Influenza Patients: Prospective Observational Study Based on Post-Marketing Surveillance Data.

Background: The safety and clinical effectiveness data of peramivir in the real clinical field are limited. A prospective observational study was conducted based on the post-marketing surveillance data to evaluate the post-marketing safety and effectiveness of peramivir in Korean adults with seasonal influenza.

Methods: Among adults aged 20 years or older who were diagnosed with influenza A or B, patients who started peramivir within 48 hours from the initial symptoms of influenza were enrolled.

The effect of urban particulate matter on cultured human nasal fibroblasts.

Background: Exposure to urban particulate matter (UPM) has been linked to aggravation of various health problems. Although the effects of UPM on the lower respiratory tract have been extensively studied, more research is required on the impact of UPM on the upper respiratory tract and the underlying mechanisms. Thus, we investigated the cytotoxic effects of UPM on cultured human nasal fibroblasts, the underlying signaling pathways involved, and changes in cytokine levels.

A pilot study to investigate the therapeutic effect of Valsalva maneuver on otitis media with effusion in adults.

Objective: This pilot study was performed to investigate the therapeutic effect of Valsalva maneuver on otitis media in adults and to evaluate the prognostic factors for the good response.

Methods: Thirty nine ears of 32 adult patients who were diagnosed as otitis media with effusion and managed by one-week Valsalva maneuver (>20/day) without any other medication were included in this study. Its therapeutic efficacy was evaluated and the prognostic factors which predict the response of Valsalva maneuver were analyzed by comparing various clinical and audiological factors between success and failure groups.

Swing-Door Overlay Tympanoplasty: Surgical Technique and Outcomes.

Objectives: The classical overlay tympanoplasty is technically difficult with some disadvantages and thus less popular. However, it is particularly useful for large, anterior perforations. In this study, we describe the technique of a modified overlay graft in the tympanoplasty coined as the swing-door overlay tympanoplasty and report its outcomes.

Optimized phospholipid-based nanoparticles for inner ear drug delivery and therapy.

To develop efficient carriers for inner ear drug delivery, we prepared four kinds of phospholipid-based nanoparticles: neutral, anionic, cationic, and cationic-PEG (polyethyleneglycol) particles. PEG was used to maintain long-term particle circulation in the perilymph, avoiding non-specific binding of particles to proteins. All four nanoparticles were about 200 nm in diameter, and their zeta potentials were -4.

Long-Term Effects of Middle Ear Tendon Resection on Middle Ear Myoclonic Tinnitus, Hearing, and Hyperacusis.

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of middle ear tendon resection (METR) on middle ear myoclonic tinnitus (MEMT) and to investigate its long-term effects on hearing and hyperacusis.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-seven patients with MEMT with a mean age of 33.2 ± 11.

Microbiological Results From Middle Ear Effusion in Pediatric Patients Receiving Ventilation Tube Insertion: Multicenter Registry Study on the Effectiveness of Ventilation Tube Insertion in Pediatric Patients With Chronic Otitis Media With Effusion: Part I.

Objectives: The aim of this multicenter registry study was to investigate the effectiveness of ventilation tube insertion and the microbiology of otitis media with effusion (OME) in children. This part I study was conducted to evaluate the microbiological profile of children with OME who needed ventilation tube insertion.

Methods: Patients <15 years old who were diagnosed as having OME and received ventilation tube insertion were prospectively enrolled in 16 tertiary hospitals from June 2014 to December 2016.

Bony cochlear nerve canal stenosis in pediatric unilateral sensorineural hearing loss.

Objectives: This study was performed to evaluate the frequency of bony cochlear nerve canal (BCNC) stenosis and its clinical significance in pediatric patients with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) of unknown etiology.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed the medical records and temporal bone computed tomography (CT) results of patients less than 13 years of age with a diagnosis of unilateral SNHL of unknown etiology between July 2007 and July 2017. We compared the BCNC diameter between both sides and analyzed the age at diagnosis, degree of hearing loss, and accompanying inner ear anomalies.

Cognitive decline and increased hippocampal p-tau expression in mice with hearing loss.

Hearing and cognition are commonly involved in both normal and pathological aging. Current clinical interest lies in whether peripheral hearing loss promotes cognitive decline. In our previous publication, the authors have shown a causal relationship between hearing and cognitive impairments in C57BL/6 mice.

Nanomedicine for Inner Ear Diseases: A Review of Recent Studies.

Nanoparticles are promising therapeutic options for inner ear disease. In this report, we review animal studies in the otologic field using nanoparticles over the past 5 years. Many studies have used nanoparticles to deliver drugs, genes, and growth factors, and functional and morphological changes have been observed.

The effect of dexamethasone/cell-penetrating peptide nanoparticles on gene delivery for inner ear therapy.

Dexamethasone (Dex)-loaded PHEA-g-C18-Arg8 (PCA) nanoparticles (PCA/Dex) were developed for the delivery of genes to determine the synergistic effect of Dex on gene expression. The cationic PCA nanoparticles were self-assembled to create cationic micelles containing an octadecylamine (C18) core with Dex and an arginine 8 (Arg8) peptide shell for electrostatic complexation with nucleic acids (connexin 26 [] siRNA, green fluorescent protein [GFP] DNA or brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF] pDNA). The PCA/Dex nanoparticles conjugated with Arg8, a cell-penetrating peptide that enhances permeability through a round window membrane in the inner ear for gene delivery, exhibited high uptake efficiency in HEI-OC1 cells.

Prognostic factors for profound sudden idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss: a multicenter retrospective study.

The aim of this study was to assess the outcomes of various treatment modalities for profound idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) and confirm the prognostic factors. In total, 191 patients were enrolled after a thorough medical chart review of patients diagnosed with unilateral, profound ISSNHL (≥90 dB). Epidemiological profiles, therapeutic regimens, and the results of pure tone audiometry tests were recorded for all patients.

Prospective, Multicenter Study on Tinnitus Changes after Cochlear Implantation.

Objective: To investigate the time course of tinnitus changes in patients receiving cochlear implantation (CI) in a prospective, multicenter setting and to determine related factors.

Materials And Methods: A total of 79 adult patients who underwent CI were included in this study. We used the same questionnaires sequentially 5 times.