Retrospective study in 1020 cases on the rate of surgical site infections after lacrimal surgery without prophylactic systemic antibiotics.

Background/aims: Data regarding the effectiveness of prophylactic systemic antibiotics (PSA) in lacrimal surgery is scarce. Therefore, we determined the postoperative surgical site infection (SSI) rate in lacrimal surgery without PSA.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed files of patients who underwent external (extDCR) or endoscopic endonasal dacryocystorhinostomy (endoDCR).

Evaluation of ear, nose, and throat-screening in liver transplantation candidates: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Patients with end-stage liver disease can be treated with a liver transplantation (LT). Before listing, candidates are subjected to a screening procedure according to the EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines for LT. In our hospital, this includes an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) examination, directed towards the identification of (asymptomatic) infections and head and neck malignancies.

Aetiology of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea in a Dutch retrospective cohort from two tertiary referral centres.

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhoea has different aetiologies, with spontaneous leaks related to female gender and obesity. Limited data is available on patient characteristics and surgical outcomes across different aetiologies of CSF leaks in relatively non-obese populations.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study from two tertiary referral centres including adult patients that underwent surgical closure of a CSF leak, divided into four aetiologies: traumatic, iatrogenic, secondary to structural intracranial pathology (SIP), and spontaneous.

Evaluation of Routine Ear, Nose, and Throat Screening in Heart Transplant Candidates: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Patients with end-stage heart failure refractory to medication can be treated with a heart transplant (HTx). These patients are subjected to a preoperative screening procedure according to International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation guidelines. Additionally, in our hospital, a routine ear, nose, and throat (ENT) screening is performed, directed toward the identification of asymptomatic infections and head and neck neoplasms.

Vision loss caused by immunoglobulin G4-related disease of the skull base complicated by a mucocele of the sphenoid sinus.

Background: Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a fibro-inflammatory disorder and manifestation in de paranasal and sphenoid sinus is well recognized. In this patient, IgG4-RD presented in an unusual manner with vision loss due to mucocele formation in the sphenoid sinus.

Case Description: A 19-year-old man, with an unremarkable medical history, was referred with decreased vision in the left eye, headaches, and a sharp pain in the left orbit and ear.

Hearing Function: Identification of New Candidate Genes Further Explaining the Complexity of This Sensory Ability.

To date, the knowledge of the genetic determinants behind the modulation of hearing ability is relatively limited. To investigate this trait, we performed Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) meta-analysis using genotype and audiometric data (hearing thresholds at 0.25, 0.

TCERG1L allelic variation is associated with cisplatin-induced hearing loss in childhood cancer, a PanCareLIFE study.

In children with cancer, the heterogeneity in ototoxicity occurrence after similar treatment suggests a role for genetic susceptibility. Using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach, we identified a genetic variant in TCERG1L (rs893507) to be associated with hearing loss in 390 non-cranial irradiated, cisplatin-treated children with cancer. These results were replicated in two independent, similarly treated cohorts (n = 192 and 188, respectively) (combined cohort: P = 5.

Steroid-resistant human inflammatory ILC2s are marked by CD45RO and elevated in type 2 respiratory diseases.

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) orchestrate protective type 2 immunity and have been implicated in various immune disorders. In the mouse, circulatory inflammatory ILC2s (iILC2s) were identified as a major source of type 2 cytokines. The human equivalent of the iILC2 subset remains unknown.

Assessing hearing loss in older adults with a single question and person characteristics; Comparison with pure tone audiometry in the Rotterdam Study.

Introduction: Hearing loss (HL) is a frequent problem among the elderly and has been studied in many cohort studies. However, pure tone audiometry-the gold standard-is rather time-consuming and costly for large population-based studies. We have investigated if self-reported hearing loss, using a multiple choice question, can be used to assess HL in absence of pure tone audiometry.

Genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies five novel loci for age-related hearing impairment.

Previous research has shown that genes play a substantial role in determining a person's susceptibility to age-related hearing impairment. The existing studies on this subject have different results, which may be caused by difficulties in determining the phenotype or the limited number of participants involved. Here, we have gathered the largest sample to date (discovery n = 9,675; replication n = 10,963; validation n = 356,141), and examined phenotypes that represented low/mid and high frequency hearing loss on the pure tone audiogram.

Somatostatin Receptor Expression in GH-Secreting Pituitary Adenomas Treated with Long-Acting Somatostatin Analogues in Combination with Pegvisomant.

Background: Growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenomas (somatotroph adenoma) predominantly express somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) subtypes 2 and 5. Higher SSTR2 expression on somatotroph adenomas results in a better response to somatostatin analogues (SSAs), which preferentially bind, but also downregulate, SSTR2. The effect of the combined treatment with SSAs and the GH receptor antagonist pegvisomant (PEGV) on SSTR expression in somatotroph adenomas is currently unknown.

Using the Digits-In-Noise Test to Estimate Age-Related Hearing Loss.

Objective: Age-related hearing loss is common in the elderly population. Timely detection and targeted counseling can lead to adequate treatment with hearing aids. The Digits-In-Noise (DIN) test was developed as a relatively simple test to assess hearing acuity.

Cockayne syndrome group B (Csb) and group a (Csa) deficiencies predispose to hearing loss and cochlear hair cell degeneration in mice.

Sensory hair cells in the cochlea, like most neuronal populations that are postmitotic, terminally differentiated, and non-regenerating, depend on robust mechanisms of self-renewal for lifelong survival. We report that hair cell homeostasis requires a specific sub-branch of the DNA damage nucleotide excision repair pathway, termed transcription-coupled repair (TCR). Cockayne syndrome (CS), caused by defects in TCR, is a rare DNA repair disorder with a broad clinical spectrum that includes sensorineural hearing loss.

A novel QTL underlying early-onset, low-frequency hearing loss in BXD recombinant inbred strains.

The DBA/2J inbred strain of mice has been used extensively in hearing research as it suffers from early-onset, progressive hearing loss. Initially, it mostly affects high frequencies, but already at 2-3 months hearing loss becomes broad. In search for hearing loss genes other than Cadherin 23 (otocadherin) and fascin-2, which make a large contribution to the high-frequency deficits, we used a large set of the genetic reference population of BXD recombinant inbred strains.

Accelerated loss of hearing and vision in the DNA-repair deficient Ercc1(δ/-) mouse.

Age-related loss of hearing and vision are two very common disabling conditions, but the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. Damage by reactive oxygen species and other reactive cellular metabolites, which in turn may damage macromolecules such as DNA, has been implicated in both processes. To investigate whether DNA damage can contribute to age-related hearing and vision loss, we investigated hearing and vision in Ercc1(δ/-) mutant mice, which are deficient in DNA repair of helix-distorting DNA lesions and interstrand DNA crosslinks.

In vivo dynamic clamp study of I(h) in the mouse inferior colliculus.

Approximately half of the cells in the mouse inferior colliculus have the hyperpolarization-activated mixed cation current I(h), yet little is known about its functional relevance in vivo. We therefore studied its contribution to the processing of sound information in single cells by making in vivo whole cell recordings from the inferior colliculus (IC) of young-adult anesthetized C57Bl/6 mice. Following pharmacological block of the endogenous channels, a dynamic clamp approach allowed us to study the responses to current injections or auditory stimuli in the presence and absence of I(h) within the same neuron, thus avoiding network or developmental effects.

Assessing the search for and implementation of the Three Rs: a survey among scientists.

A survey among scientists into the current practice of searching for Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (Three Rs) alternatives, highlights the gap between the statutory required need to apply the Three Rs concept whenever possible and the lack of criteria for searching for Three Rs alternatives. A questionnaire was distributed to 342 scientists (Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations [FELASA] Category C and B individuals), of which 67 responded. These scientists are customers of the Central Animal Laboratory of Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre.

Matching for HLA antigens of A, B, and DR loci in renal transplantation by Eurotransplant.

79 patients and their respective cadaveric kidney donors were typed for HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-DR antigens using frozen stored spleen lymphocytes and fresh peripheral-blood lymphocytes. The kidney-graft survival-rate at 3 to 18 months was highest when donor and recipient shared one or two DR antigens and three or four A and B antigens. The graft-survival rate was significantly higher (87 +/- 6%) at 18 months in these patients than in less well matched patients (48 +/- 9%).