Auditory and vestibular symptoms and chronic subjective dizziness in patients with Ménière's disease, vestibular migraine, and Ménière's disease with concomitant vestibular migraine.

Objective: To compare presentations of Ménière's disease (MD), vestibular migraine (VM), and Ménière's disease plus vestibular migraine (MDVM), with and without comorbid chronic subjective dizziness (CSD).

Study Design: Retrospective review with diagnosis confirmed by consensus conference of investigators using published criteria for MD, VM, and CSD.

Setting: Ambulatory, tertiary dizziness clinic.

Cochlear implantation in patients with neurofibromatosis type 2: variables affecting auditory performance.

Objective: To investigate cochlear implant performance outcomes among patients with Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2).

Study Design: Retrospective case series, patient questionnaire, and systematic review of the literature.

Setting: Tertiary academic referral center.

Reproductive ecology and severe pollen limitation in the polychromic tundra plant, Parrya nudicaulis (Brassicaceae).

Pollen limitation is predicted to be particularly severe in tundra habitats. Numerous reproductive patterns associated with alpine and arctic species, particularly mechanisms associated with reproductive assurance, are suggested to be driven by high levels of pollen limitation. We studied the reproductive ecology of Parrya nudicaulis, a species with relatively large sexual reproductive investment and a wide range of floral pigmentation, in tundra habitats in interior montane Alaska to estimate the degree of pollen limitation.

Noninvasive measurement of plasma triglycerides and free fatty acids from exhaled breath.

Background: Although altered metabolism has long been known to affect human breath, generating clinically usable metabolic tests from exhaled compounds has proven challenging. If developed, a breath-based lipid test would greatly simplify management of diabetes and serious pathological conditions (e.g.

Does health insurance continuity among low-income adults impact their children's insurance coverage?

Parent's insurance coverage is associated with children's insurance status, but little is known about whether a parent's coverage continuity affects a child's coverage. This study assesses the association between an adult's insurance continuity and the coverage status of their children. We used data from a subgroup of participants in the Oregon Health Care Survey, a three-wave, 30-month prospective cohort study (n = 559).

Transoral robotic surgery using the thulium:YAG laser: a prospective study.

Objective: To compare thulium:YAG laser-assisted transoral robotic surgery (TY:TORS) and conventional electrocautery-equipped TORS (EC:TORS) in patients undergoing transoral resection of upper aerodigestive tract malignant neoplasms.

Design: Prospective matched cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary academic referral center.

Reimplantation with a conventional length electrode following residual hearing loss in four hybrid implant recipients.

Hypothesis: Revision surgery using a newer-generation conventional length cochlear implant electrode will provide improved speech perception in patients that initially underwent hybrid electrode implantation and experienced post-operative loss of residual hearing and performance deterioration.

Clinical Presentation: We present four patients who experienced delayed post-operative hearing loss following implantation with the Nucleus Hybrid S8 device and underwent reimplantation with the Nucleus Freedom or Nucleus 5 device using the Contour Advance array. Pure-tone thresholds and speech perception data were retrospectively reviewed.

Magnetic resonance imaging surveillance following vestibular schwannoma resection.

Objectives/hypothesis: To describe the incidence, pattern, and course of postoperative enhancement within the operative bed using serial gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) following vestibular schwannoma (VS) resection and to identify clinical and radiologic variables associated with recurrence.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: All patients who underwent microsurgical resection of VS between January 2000 and January 2010 at a single tertiary referral center were reviewed.

The intraparotid facial nerve schwannoma: a diagnostic and management conundrum.

Objectives: The aims of the study were (1) to review the management strategy and clinical outcomes of all intraparotid facial nerve (FN) schwannomas (PFNSs) treated at a single tertiary academic center from 1975 to 2010 and (2) to summarize all previously reported cases of PFNS in the international literature.

Study Design: A retrospective cohort study and literature review.

Methods: Fifteen patients were diagnosed and treated at the authors' institution from 1975 to 2010.

Cochlear implantation: current and future device options.

Today most cochlear implant users achieve above 80% on standard speech recognition in quiet testing, and enjoy excellent device reliability. Despite such success, conventional designs often fail to provide the frequency resolution required for complex listening tasks. Furthermore, performance variability remains a vexing problem, with a select group of patients performing poorly despite using the most recent technologies and processing strategies.

Parent and child usual source of care and children's receipt of health care services.

PURPOSE In the United States, children who have a usual source of care (USC) have better access to health care than those who do not, but little is known about how parental USC affects children's access. We examined the association between child and parent USC patterns and children's access to health care services. METHODS We undertook a secondary analysis of nationally representative, cross-sectional data from children participating in the 2002-2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (n = 56,302).

Resolution of untoward nonauditory stimulation and cochlear implant performance gain after extraction of a stainless steel dental crown in a patient with cochlear otosclerosis.

Objective: To report a unique case of untoward nonauditory stimulation and cochlear implant performance deterioration after the placement of a stainless steel dental crown.

Study Design: Clinical capsule report.

Setting: Tertiary academic referral center.

The scapular, parascapular, and latissimus dorsi flap as a single osteomyocutaneous flap for repair of complex oral defects.

Complex composite defects of the oral cavity are often created due to en bloc resection of malignant tumors. These defects can involve bone, soft tissue, oral mucosa, and external skin, posing a reconstructive challenge to the microvascular surgeon. Though advances have been made in free tissue transfer via piggybacking techniques and double free-flaps, increases in operative time and morbidity remain limiting factors.

Investigation of the coherence of definite and probable vestibular migraine as distinct clinical entities.

Objectives: To investigate the following: 1) associations between vestibular symptoms and migraine in a well-characterized cohort of tertiary neurotology patients, 2) effects of comorbidity on clinical presentations, and 3) validity of proposed definitions of definite (dVM) and probable vestibular migraine (pVM).

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Tertiary neurotology center.

Nodular enhancement within the internal auditory canal following retrosigmoid vestibular schwannoma resection: a unique radiological pattern.

Object: The authors describe the unique occurrence of nodular enhancement within the fundus of the internal auditory canal (IAC) lateral to the preoperative radiological tumor margin following gross-total vestibular schwannoma (VS) resection.

Methods: The nature of the study was a retrospective chart review of records. The authors reviewed the cases of all patients who underwent microsurgical resection of a VS between January 2000 and January 2010 at a single tertiary referral center.

The individual and program impacts of eliminating Medicaid dental benefits in the Oregon Health Plan.

Objectives: We determined how elimination of dental benefits among adult Medicaid beneficiaries in Oregon affected their access to dental care, Medicaid expenditures, and use of medical settings for dental services.

Methods: We used a natural experimental design using Medicaid claims data (n = 22 833) before and after Medicaid dental benefits were eliminated in Oregon in 2003 and survey data for continuously enrolled Oregon Health Plan enrollees (n = 718) covering 3 years after benefit cuts.

Results: Claims analysis showed that, compared with enrollees who retained dental benefits, those who lost benefits had large increases in dental-related emergency department use (101.

Implications of minimizing trauma during conventional cochlear implantation.

Objective: To describe the relationship between implantation-associated trauma and postoperative speech perception scores among adult and pediatric patients undergoing cochlear implantation using conventional length electrodes and minimally traumatic surgical techniques.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review (2002-2010).

Setting: Tertiary academic referral center.

Evaluation of the hybrid-L24 electrode using microcomputed tomography.

Objectives/hypothesis: To compare electrode array position, and depth of insertion of the Cochlear Hybrid-L24 electrode array following traditional cochleostomy and round window (RW) insertion.

Study Design: Prospective cadaveric temporal bone study.

Methods: Ten cadaveric temporal bones were implanted with the Hybrid-L24 electrode array; half were introduced through a RW approach, whereas the other half were inserted through a traditional scala tympani cochleostomy.

Arctic mustard flower color polymorphism controlled by petal-specific downregulation at the threshold of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway.

Intra- and interspecific variation in flower color is a hallmark of angiosperm diversity. The evolutionary forces underlying the variety of flower colors can be nearly as diverse as the colors themselves. In addition to pollinator preferences, non-pollinator agents of selection can have a major influence on the evolution of flower color polymorphisms, especially when the pigments in question are also expressed in vegetative tissues.

Noninvasive measurement of plasma glucose from exhaled breath in healthy and type 1 diabetic subjects.

Effective management of diabetes mellitus, affecting tens of millions of patients, requires frequent assessment of plasma glucose. Patient compliance for sufficient testing is often reduced by the unpleasantness of current methodologies, which require blood samples and often cause pain and skin callusing. We propose that the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath can be used as a novel, alternative, noninvasive means to monitor glycemia in these patients.