Impact of the Vestibular System on the Formation and Progression to Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Review of Literature.

The physiopathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis remains unknown. However, a multifactorial pathogenesis is being assumed. Besides biomechanical, biochemical, and genetic factors, some studies have focused on congenital or acquired abnormalities in the vestibular organ with consecutive development of scoliosis.

Preservation of Vestibular Function and Residual Hearing After Round Window Cochlear Implantation.

Objective: To examine the possible correlation between the loss of short-term residual hearing and vestibular function after cochlear implantation (CI).

Study Design: Retrospective patient review.

Setting: Academic tertiary referral center.

Influence of ambient air pressure changes on vestibular symptoms after stapes surgery.

Objective: To examine if vestibular irritation after stapes surgery may be provoked by pressure changes across the tympanic membrane, which consecutively results in displacements of the ossicular chain and the piston prosthesis suspended to it.

Methods: In this prospective study 15 patients (13 female, 2 male) received unilateral stapes surgery (4 left, 11 right ear) with stapedotomy (n=14) or stapedectomy (n=1) at an academic tertiary referral center. Surgery was performed under local anesthesia via a transmeatal approach with a piston prosthesis 0.

Prevalence of Barotrauma in Recreational Scuba Divers After Repetitive Saltwater Dives.

Introduction: The aim was to investigate the prevalence of middle ear barotrauma (MEB) and to establish risk factors of MEB after repeated saltwater dives.

Methods: In this prospective observational cohort study 28 divers were examined over 6 consecutive days of diving in the Red Sea, Egypt. Participants underwent an otoscopic examination before the first dive, between each dive and after the last dive.

Postural control before and after cochlear implantation: standard cochleostomy versus round window approach.

Conclusion: The approach to the cochlea did not influence postural control after cochlear implantation (CI) surgery. Most patients already have impaired vestibular function before surgery. These balance deficits did not change after CI surgery in the majority of patients but static balance might be improved by CI surgery.

Static and dynamic postural control before and after cochlear implantation in adult patients.

On a Balance Master computerized force plate static and dynamic postural control was measured in 24 severe hearing-impaired patients before and after CI surgery, and 19 healthy adults in a prospective study. The test battery consisted of the modified clinical test of sensory interaction on balance, the Rhythmic Weight Shift, the Walk Across, and the Tandem Walk test. Postural control was significantly worse in CI candidates than in healthy adults.