Sensory cell regeneration and stem cells: what we have already achieved in the management of deafness.

Background/objective: Genetic manipulation of the cell-cycle exit, induction of new hair cells (HCs) through gene modification therapy, and introduction of stem cells (SCs) into damaged cochleas potentially offer exciting new strategies in treating sensorineural hearing loss.

Materials And Methods: Literature review from Medline and database sources.

Study Selection: Ex vivo models, animal studies, in vitro studies, and review articles.

Auditory neuropathy: endocochlear lesion or temporal processing impairment? Implications for diagnosis and management.

Background/objective: Auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony, characterized by absent auditory brainstem responses, normal otoacoustic emissions or cochlear microphonics, and word discrimination disproportional to the pure-tone audiogram, may be accompanied by perceptual consequences that could jeopardize language acquisition in affected children. However, the related evidence is constantly changing leading to a serious debate. The aim of the present paper is to review the current knowledge on auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony, and to present the therapeutic strategies that can be employed in its management, taking into account the potentially underlying pathophysiology.