Nasopharyngeal radium irradiation: The lessons of history.

In the Netherlands, nasopharyngeal radium irradiation was started in 1945. The indications included refractory symptoms of otitis media with effusion and other adenoid-related disorders after adenoidectomy. It was considered a safe and effective therapy.

Microbial profiling does not differentiate between childhood recurrent acute otitis media and chronic otitis media with effusion.

Objectives: Otitis media (OM) is one of the most frequent diseases of childhood, with a minority of children suffering from recurrent acute otitis media (rAOM) or chronic otitis media with effusion (COME), both of which are associated with significant morbidity. We investigated whether the microbiological profiling could be used to differentiate between these two conditions.

Methods: Children up to five years of age, with rAOM (n = 45) or COME (n = 129) and scheduled for tympanostomy tube insertion were enrolled in a prospective study between 2008 and 2009.

Inflammation in the middle ear of children with recurrent or chronic otitis media is associated with bacterial load.

Background: Viral upper respiratory tract infections have been described as an important factor in the development of otitis media (OM), although it is unclear whether they facilitate bacterial OM or can directly cause OM. To clarify the role of viral infections in OM, we compared the relative contribution of viruses and bacteria with the induction of inflammatory cytokine responses in the middle ear of children suffering from OM.

Methods: Children up to 5 years of age, with recurrent or chronic episodes of OM and scheduled for ventilation tube insertion were enrolled in a prospective study.

Prediction of vestibular schwannoma growth: a novel rule based on clinical symptomatology.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to formulate a predictive rule for vestibular schwannoma growth during the initial observation period after diagnosis.

Methods: Logistic regression models were fitted, with tumor growth in the first year as the dependent variable and patient characteristics as the independent variables. Backward selection was used to eliminate superfluous predictors.

Gamma knife radiosurgery for vestibular schwannomas: identification of predictors for continued tumor growth and the influence of documented tumor growth preceding radiation treatment.

Objectives/hypothesis: Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) has become an important treatment modality for vestibular schwannomas. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether tumor growth at the moment of GKRS has any correlation with the outcome. The secondary aim was to identify clinical predictors of radioresistance in vestibular schwannoma patients treated with GKRS.

Follow-up after gamma knife radiosurgery for vestibular schwannomas: volumetric and axial control rates.

Objectives/hypothesis: A prospective long-term follow-up study was conducted to evaluate the results of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for vestibular schwannoma (VS) patients. Both axial and volumetric measurements are used to determine tumor size during follow-up.

Study Design: Individual prospective cohort study.

Quality of life after gamma knife radiosurgery treatment in patients with a vestibular schwannoma: the patient's perspective.

This study evaluates the impact of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) on the quality of life (QOL) of patients with a sporadic vestibular schwannoma (VS). This study pertains to 108 VS patients who had GKRS in the years 2003 through 2007. Two different QOL questionnaires were used: medical outcome study short form 36 (SF36) and Glasgow benefit inventory (GBI).

Gamma knife radiosurgery for vestibular schwannomas: results of hearing preservation in relation to the cochlear radiation dose.

Objectives/hypothesis: This study was designed to evaluate hearing preservation after gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) and to determine the relation between hearing preservation and cochlear radiation dose in patients with a sporadic vestibular schwannoma (VS).

Methods: Prospective study involving patients suffering from VS who received GKRS from June 2003 until November 2007. Pure tone and speech audiometry were conducted before and after GKRS.

Imaging of electrode position in relation to electrode functioning after cochlear implantation.

This study assessed the electrode position in cochlear implant patients and evaluated the extent to which the electrode position is determinative in the electrophysiological functioning of the cochlear implant system. Five consecutively implanted adult patients received a multichannel cochlear implant. In all patients, the electrical impedance and the electrically evoked compound action potentials were recorded immediately after implantation.

Giant Cholesteatoma: Recommendations for Follow-up.

This report presents the management of five patients who presented with giant recurrent or residual cholesteatoma after periods of 2 to 50 years. Their case histories are highly diverse, but all provide evidence of the need for long-term follow-up.

Predictors of future growth of sporadic vestibular schwannomas obtained by history and radiologic assessment of the tumor.

Management of a sporadic vestibular schwannoma (VS) is still a subject of controversy, mainly due to distinct and unpredictable growth patterns. To embark on an appropriate therapy it is necessary to dispose of a reliable prediction about tumor progression. This study aims to design a risk profile with predictors for VS growth.

Advances in understanding the pathogenesis of pneumococcal otitis media.

In this review, a state of the art on otitis media research is provided with emphasis on the role of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the pathogenesis of this disease. Articles have been selected by MEDLINE search supplemented with a manual crosscheck of bibliographies. Pathogenic mechanisms in middle ear and eustachian tube are described.

The relationship between pre-treatment clinical profile and treatment outcome in an integrated stuttering program.

Unlabelled: A procedure for subtyping individuals who stutter and its relationship to treatment outcome is explored. Twenty-five adult participants of the Comprehensive Stuttering Program (CSP) were classified according to: (1) stuttering severity and (2) severity of negative emotions and cognitions associated with their speech problem. Speech characteristics (percentage of stuttered syllables, distorted speech score, and the number of correctly produced syllables on a diadochokinesis task) and emotional/cognitive states (emotional reaction, speech satisfaction, and attitudes toward speaking) were assessed before and after treatment, and at a 1- and 2-year follow-up.

The effect of otitis media in childhood on the development of middle ear admittance on reaching adulthood.

Objectives: To determine the long-term change in static admittance values of subjects with a positive or negative history of otitis media (OM) and ventilation tube (VT) insertion; and to investigate the association between static admittance values and tympanic membrane abnormalities.

Design: Prospective follow-up study.

Subjects: A total of 358 subjects with or without a history of OM (OM+ or OM-) and VT insertion (VT+ or VT-) derived from a birth cohort that had been observed from preschool to adulthood.

Immune status and eustachian tube function in recurrence of otitis media with effusion.

Objective: To study the combined role of immune status and eustachian tube function in the development of recurrent bilateral otitis media with effusion (OME).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Three academic and general hospitals.

Immunological status in the aetiology of recurrent otitis media with effusion: serum immunoglobulin levels, functional mannose-binding lectin and Fc receptor polymorphisms for IgG.

The objective was to study the role of serum immunoglobulin levels, mannose-binding lectin (MBL), and Fc gamma receptor (FcgammaR) polymorphisms on the development of recurrent otitis media with effusion (OME). Children aged between two and seven years with persisting OME received bilateral tympanostomy tubes and immunological parameters were investigated in relation with OME recurrence within six months after tube extrusion. No statistically significant differences in serum immunoglobulin levels were present between children with and without OME recurrence.

Hearing loss in young adults who had ventilation tube insertion in childhood.

It is known that insertion of ventilation tubes can cause damage to the tympanic membrane and hearing deterioration in the long-term. To investigate long-term effects of recurrent otitis media and of ventilation tube insertion, we used a study group (n = 358 subjects), with or without a history of otitis media and/or ventilation tube insertion, derived from a birth cohort that had been followed for 16 years. At 18 years of age, a standardized audiometric and otoscopic examination was performed.

Semilongitudinal and axial CT planes in assessing cochlear patency in cochlear implant candidates.

Objective: To investigate how cochlear patency as seen on computed tomography (CT), using axial plus semilongitudinal planes, is correlated with findings at surgery in cochlear implant patients.

Methods: Pre-operative CT scans of 45 patients were reviewed by three, independent observers. They classified the cochlear patency and recorded the location of any suspected decreased patency.

Hearing deficits in young adults who had a history of otitis media in childhood: use of personal stereos had no effect on hearing.

Objective: To test the hypothesis proposed in a recent French study that a history of recurrent otitis media (OM) in childhood increases susceptibility to hearing loss from frequent exposure to a personal stereo (PS) during development to early adulthood.

Methods: A subcohort of 358 young adults selected from a historic cohort study, all 18 years old and with a well-documented OM history (secretory and acute), provided data on the sound level and length of exposure to PSs. Four contrasting groups were formed: those with the highest or lowest PS exposure combined with a positive or negative history of OM (n = 238).

Hearing deterioration in patients with a non-growing vestibular schwannoma.

Objective: The aim of this study was to document and analyse the course of several audiometric parameters in 49 patients with a non-growing unilateral vestibular schwannoma (VS).

Material And Methods: Patients received conservative management and absence of tumour growth was ascertained by means of serial magnetic imaging studies. Pure-tone audiometry and speech audiometry were performed at yearly intervals.

Nasal mucociliary transport: new evidence for a key role of ciliary beat frequency.

Objectives/hypothesis: Mucociliary transport is an important defense mechanism of the respiratory tract. Nonetheless, the factors determining mucociliary transport are only partially understood. Ciliary beat frequency is assumed to be one of the main parameters, although the experimental evidence remains inconclusive.