Socioeconomic Disparities in Patient Use of Telehealth During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Surge.

Importance: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic required the rapid transition to telehealth with the aim of providing patients with medical access and supporting clinicians while abiding by the stay-at-home orders.

Objective: To assess demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with patient participation in telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study included all pediatric and adult patient encounters at the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery in a tertiary care, academic, multisubspecialty, multisite practice located in an early hot spot for the COVID-19 pandemic from March 17 to May 1, 2020.

A study of adherence to the AAO-HNS "Clinical Practice Guideline: Adult Sinusitis".

A retrospective study was conducted to determine if physicians in otolaryngology practice adhered to the clinical practice guideline for adult sinusitis that had been issued by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) 3 years earlier. We analyzed data obtained from the charts of 90 adults who had presented to an otolaryngology outpatient department with a diagnosis of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), acute bacterial rhinosinusitis (ABRS), or acute viral rhinosinusitis (AVRS); there were 76 cases of CRS, 11 cases of ABRS, and 3 cases of AVRS. Our goal was to ascertain how closely the treating physician had adhered to the AAO-HNS recommendations with respect to diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of these diseases.

Novel DICER1 mutation as cause of multinodular goiter in children.

Background: The aim of this report was to present a rare case of an adolescent with multinodular goiter (MNG) found to have a DICER1 mutation.

Methods And Results: The methodology includes a presentation and discussion of a chart review including endocrine hormone tests, thyroid ultrasound, and genetic testing for DICER1. A 12-year-old girl presented with a diffusely enlarged thyroid gland.

Otologic complications of cotton swab use: one institution's experience.

Objectives/hypothesis: To evaluate the indications for observation versus surgery in the management of cotton swab-induced tympanic membrane perforations (TMP).

Study Design: Institutional review board-approved retrospective cohort study of 1,540 patients with a diagnosis of TMP from 2001 to 2010. Patients with a cotton swab injury were subdivided into two groups: observation and surgery.

Sudden bilateral sensorineural hearing loss following polysubstance narcotic overdose.

Background: Auditory disorders associated with substance abuse are rare. Hearing loss secondary to heroin and hydrocodone abuse has been described variously as not always responsive to steroid management, as not always reversible, and in some cases, as nonresponsive profound sensorineural hearing loss requiring cochlear implantation. We present a case of a teenager with sudden-onset moderate to severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss after documented polysubstance "binging.

Early mortality rate of morbidly obese patients after tracheotomy.

Objectives: To 1) determine the early mortality rate (within 30 days) of morbidly obese patients after tracheotomy; 2) determine the difference between the mortality rate after tracheotomy of morbidly obese patients and patients who are not morbidly obese; and 3) determine the difference between the mortality rate after tracheotomy adjusted for case mix index (CMI) of morbidly obese patients and patients who are not morbidly obese.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study of 278 patients who had undergone a tracheotomy by the otolaryngology head and neck surgery department from 2004 to 2006. The patients were subdivided into two groups: 1) body mass index (BMI) <35 (n = 229) and 2) BMI > or =35 (morbidly obese) (n = 49).

Direct electrical stimulation of Heschl's gyrus for tinnitus treatment.

Objectives/hypothesis: The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of electrical stimulation of the auditory cortex in patients with tinnitus.

Study Design: Nonrandomized clinical trial.

Methods: Two patients with debilitating tinnitus refractory to conventional therapies were treated.

Auditory research involving antioxidants.

Purpose Of Review: The role of antioxidants in the management of hearing loss has generated considerable interest over the past several years. Research efforts in this field have yielded many new insights into the molecular and cellular nature of several types of hearing impairment, including age-related, noise-induced, and drug-induced hearing loss. The objective of this paper is to highlight some of the important studies published over the past several years that have further contributed to our understanding of the mechanism of antioxidants in attenuating hearing loss.