Hearing outcomes after mobile ear surgery for chronic otitis media in Greenland.

Objectives: Chronic otitis media (COM) with hearing loss (HL) occurs frequently in many populations with limited access to specialized treatment. This article reports on the hearing outcomes following mobile ear surgery in Greenland.

Study Design: The study was longitudinal and prospective with pre- and post-operative followup data compiled at 1- and 2-year intervals.

Cancer of the external auditory canal and middle ear in Denmark from 1992 to 2001.

Background: In the context of the Danish Head and Neck Cancer Group, nationwide material from 1992-2001 was analyzed to study the extent and nature of the disease, evaluate treatment, compare staging systems, and examine prognosis and survival.

Methods: Review of 68 consecutive cases: 47 squamous cell carcinoma, 10 basal cell carcinoma, and 11 other histologies. Moody (modified Pittsburgh) stages were T1 (26), T2 (9), T3 (8), T4 (23), Tx (2).

Outcome of mobile ear surgery for chronic otitis media in remote areas.

Objectives: The Inuit of Greenland, Canada and Alaska suffer from chronic otitis media (COM). In Greenland these patients used to be referred to Denmark for ear surgery. This was expensive and unsatisfactory, and the results were poor.

Intravital microlesions in the human otic capsule. Detection, classification and pathogenetic significance revisited.

Purpose Of The Study: To verify microcracks in human temporal bones by a method which distinguishes intravital lesions from artifacts, to revisit previous information derived from decalcified materials on their morphology and classification and to discuss the possible clinical significance.

Procedures: Histological analysis of 210 undecalcified adult human temporal bones bulk-stained by basic fuchsin in ethanol prior to embedding in methyl methacrylate and processing by the cutting and grinding method.

Results: Intravital crack lesions appeared in all specimens and could be distinguished from artifacts regardless of crack morphology and size.

Dynamic bone studies of the labyrinthine capsule in relation to otosclerosis.

The pathological perilabyrinthine bone remodelling of otosclerosis is associated with a genetic predisposition and triggered by mechanisms so far unknown. A proposed viral aetiology of otosclerosis originates from a similar concept of Paget's disease. However, at present, it is not clear why a virus should cause otosclerosis, confined to the bony otic capsule with no effects on the general skeleton in some patients, and systemic Paget's disease with only occasional involvement of the bony otic capsule in others.

Acute otitis media and season of birth.

Introduction: This study examines the question whether season of birth is associated with acute otitis media (AOM) and recurrent AOM (rAOM) and whether season of birth is associated with early age of AOM onset.

Methods: This was done in a population-based survey of 591 unselected Greenlandic children aged 3-5 and 8 years, living in the two largest towns in Greenland. The overall attendance rate was 86%.

In vivo visualization of endolymphatic hydrops in guinea pigs: magnetic resonance imaging evaluation at 4.7 tesla.

In order to find out whether it is possible to visualize experimental endolymphatic hydrops in the cochlea with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 4.7 T, we used 11 guinea pigs. Five normal guinea pigs were used as controls.

In vivo observation of dynamic perilymph formation using 4.7 T MRI with gadolinium as a tracer.

Objective: To investigate the pharmacokinetics of gadolinium in the perilymphatic fluid spaces of the cochlea in vivo using high-resolution MRI to obtain information concerning perilymph formation.

Material And Methods: A Bruker Biospec Avance 47/40 experimental MRI system with a magnetic field strength of 4.7 T was used.

Comparison of the protective efficacy of neurotrophins and antioxidants for vibration-induced trauma.

Background: Patients undergoing temporal bone surgery or subjects working with vibrating tools may develop vibration-induced hearing loss (VHL). The aim of this study was to characterize the effects of pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or the neurotrophic factors, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), on VHL in an animal model.

Methods: Trauma to the cochlea was created with a vibrating probe placed on the bone of the external ear canal.

The endolymphatic sac: a scanning and transmission electron microscopy study.

A recent investigation has suggested that the chief cells of the endolymphatic sac produce an endogenous inhibitor of sodium resorption in the kidneys, tentatively named saccin. In the current study, the ultrastructure of the endolymphatic sac and in particular the chief cells are described to demonstrate that this organ fulfils the morphological criteria of a potential endocrine gland. Accordingly, the chief cells are shown to exhibit all the organelles and characteristics of cells that simultaneously synthesize, secrete, absorb and digest proteins.