Health consequences of aircraft noise.

Introduction: The ever-increasing level of air traffic means that any medical evaluation of its effects must be based on recent data.

Methods: Selective literature review of epidemiological studies from 2000 to 2007 regarding the illnesses, annoyance, and learning disorders resulting from aircraft noise.

Results: In residential areas, outdoor aircraft noise-induced equivalent noise levels of 60 dB(A) in the daytime and 45 dB(A) at night are associated with an increased incidence of hypertension.

Cochlear implants: cortical plasticity in congenital deprivation.

Congenital auditory deprivation (deafness) leads to a dysfunctional intrinsic cortical microcircuitry. This chapter reviews these deficits with a particular emphasis on layer-specific activity within the primary auditory cortex. Evidence for a delay in activation of supragranular layers and reduction in activity in infragranular layers is discussed.

Application of carbon dioxide and erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet lasers in inner ear surgery: an experimental study.

Background: Surgery of the inner ear requires atraumatic techniques to preserve the sensory structures of the inner ear. With modern laser technology, surgery can be performed without mechanical contact, reducing the risk of direct mechanical trauma. However, energy transfer by laser light has the potential to induce damage by heating, pressure waves, or direct irradiation, depending on the properties of the laser and parameters of application.

Auditory nerve fibre responses to salicylate revisited.

Ototoxicity of salicylate is accompanied by a temporary hearing loss and tinnitus and has therefore been used to study tinnitus in animal models. Salicylate induced elevated central auditory activity has been interpreted as a correlate of tinnitus. Whether this elevated activity in the central auditory system is due to an increased activity in the auditory nerve is still under discussion.

Ototoxic side-effects of the I(Ks)-channel blocker HMR1556.

The inhibitor of I(Ks)-channels, HMR1556, a potentially antiarrhythmic drug, might possess ototoxic side-effects. The I(Ks)-channels are not only expressed in the heart but also in the stria vascularis of the inner ear and in the dark cells of the vestibular organ. Therefore possible effects of HMR1556 on hearing were studied in cats.