Strengthening of hearing ear representation reduces binaural sensitivity in early single-sided deafness.

Single-sided deafness initiates extensive adaptations in the central auditory system, with the consequence that a stronger and a weaker ear representation develops in the auditory brain. Animal studies demonstrated that the effects are substantially stronger if the condition starts early in development. Sequential binaural cochlear implantations with longer interimplant delays demonstrate that the speech comprehension at the weaker ear is substantially compromised.

Alterations in auditory change detection associated with tinnitus residual inhibition induced by auditory electrical stimulation.

Background: Residual inhibition (RI) is a temporary phenomenon that happens following offset of appropriate complete or partial acoustical and electrical masking stimulations in people who experience tinnitus. The biologic mechanisms associated with RI are not yet fully understood. Few studies have been focused on RI.

Indications for cardiovascular magnetic resonance in children with congenital and acquired heart disease: an expert consensus paper of the Imaging Working Group of the AEPC and the Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Section of the EACVI.

This article provides expert opinion on the use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in young patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) and in specific clinical situations. As peculiar challenges apply to imaging children, paediatric aspects are repeatedly discussed. The first section of the paper addresses settings and techniques, including the basic sequences used in paediatric CMR, safety, and sedation.

Predicting survival of patients with metastatic epidural spinal cord compression from cancer of the head-and-neck.

Aim: To develop an instrument for estimating survival after irradiation for metastatic epidural spinal cord compression (MESCC) from head and neck cancer.

Patients And Methods: In 58 patients, eleven factors were evaluated for influence on survival: age, gender, performance status, tumor site, time from cancer diagnosis until MESCC, affected vertebrae, walking ability, further osseous lesions, organ metastases, time developing motor deficits and radiation regimen. Factors with significant association with survival or a trend (multivariate analysis) were used for scoring.

The MK2/3 cascade regulates AMPAR trafficking and cognitive flexibility.

The interplay between long-term potentiation and long-term depression (LTD) is thought to be involved in learning and memory formation. One form of LTD expressed in the hippocampus is initiated by the activation of the group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). Importantly, mGluRs have been shown to be critical for acquisition of new memories and for reversal learning, processes that are thought to be crucial for cognitive flexibility.

Movement induced tremor in musicians and non-musicians reflects adaptive brain plasticity.

Evidence exists that motor dexterity is associated with a higher tremor amplitude of physiological tremor. Likewise, lower frequencies are associated with motor control. So far only case reports of a higher amplitude of physiological tremor in musicians exist.

Reduction of PCR-amplifiable DNA by ethylene oxide treatment of forensic consumables.

A reliable method to provide molecular biology products free of contaminating DNA is of forensic interest. Ethylene oxide (EO) treatment has been demonstrated as an effective method in published studies. This study aimed to address some additional experiments that are closer to forensic practice.

Characteristics of Task-specific Tremor in String Instrument Players.

Background: In recent studies primary bowing tremor has been described; however, tremor frequency has never been quantitatively assessed. In addition to describing phenomenological aspects of tremor we thus aimed at assessing tremor frequency. Our hypothesis was that primary bowing tremor is similar to the phenomenological aspects and frequency of primary writing tremor.

Analysis of dystonic tremor in musicians using empirical mode decomposition.

Objective: Test the hypotheses that tremor amplitude in musicians with task-specific dystonia is higher at the affected finger (dystonic tremor, DT) or the adjacent finger (tremor associated with dystonia, TAD) than (1) in matched fingers of healthy musicians and non-musicians and (2) within patients in the unaffected and non-adjacent fingers of the affected side within patients.

Methods: We measured 21 patients, 21 healthy musicians and 24 non-musicians. Participants exerted a flexion-extension movement.

Consensus statement on round window vibroplasty.

Objective: This study aimed to review current knowledge regarding implantation of the Vibrant Soundbridge floating mass transducer (FMT) at the round window (round window vibroplasty) as well as to form a consensus on steps for a reliable, stable surgical procedure.

Data Sources: Review of the literature and experimental observations by the authors.

Conclusion: Round window (RW) vibroplasty has been established as a reliable procedure that produces good and stable results for patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss.

Who is the best hematopoietic stem-cell donor for a male patient with acute leukemia?

Background: Female donors for male recipients worsen the outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. We wanted to find out whether a male human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched unrelated donor (MUD, 8/8, n=2,014) might be an alternative to a female HLA-identical sibling donor (n=2,656) for male patients with acute leukemia.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis from the Acute Leukaemia Working Party of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Optimal gating strategy for determining CD4+ recent thymic emigrants in human immunodeficiency virus-1 infected patients.

Alterations of the frequencies of recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) in blood have been demonstrated to be associated with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) disease progression and immune reconstitution following antiretroviral therapy. Flow cytometry is a technology that offers many advantages over T-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) quantification to determine the RTE subset in blood. However, the gating strategies for identifying RTEs by flow cytometry have not been evaluated and compared in much detail.

Variations in microanatomy of the human cochlea.

The human cochlea shows considerable interindividual variability in size and morphology. In order to develop atraumatic cochlear implant (CI) electrodes, high-precision details of the variability of human anatomy are required. Sixteen human temporal bones were cut around the cochlea in blocks of approximately 3.

Prognostic role of the number of involved extraspinal organs in patients with metastatic spinal cord compression.

Objective: This study was investigated the prognostic role of the number of involved extraspinal organs in the survival of patients with metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC).

Methods: Data of 552 patients treated with 30Gy in 10 fractions of radiotherapy (RT) alone for MSCC were retrospectively analyzed. In addition to the number of involved extraspinal organs, eight potential prognostic factors were investigated including age, gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance score (ECOG-PS), primary tumor type, number of involved vertebrae, interval from cancer diagnosis to RT, pre-RT ambulatory status, and time developing motor deficits.

Platysma myocutaneous flap - its current role in reconstructive surgery of oral soft tissue defects.

Reconstruction of oral soft-tissue defects following resection of oral carcinomas can be achieved using various techniques including microsurgical tissue transfer. However, there seems to be a role for regional or local flaps. Small to medium-size defects can be functionally reconstructed with the platysma myocutaneous flap as an excellent choice particularly in medically compromised patients not being eligible for free tissue transfer.

Alcohol consumption, helmet use and head trauma in cycling collisions in Germany.

Cycling, being easy, inexpensive and healthy, is becoming one of the most popular means of transport. Cyclists, however, are among the most vulnerable road users in traffic collisions. The aims of this study were to establish which cyclist and cycling accident characteristics are associated with alcohol consumption and helmet use in Germany and to identify risk factors related to head trauma sustained in cycling accidents.

Guideline on allergen-specific immunotherapy in IgE-mediated allergic diseases: S2k Guideline of the German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology (DGAKI), the Society for Pediatric Allergy and Environmental Medicine (GPA), the Medical Association of German Allergologists (AeDA), the Austrian Society for Allergy and Immunology (ÖGAI), the Swiss Society for Allergy and Immunology (SGAI), the German Society of Dermatology (DDG), the German Society of Oto- Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (DGHNO-KHC), the German Society of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ), the Society for Pediatric Pneumology (GPP), the German Respiratory Society (DGP), the German Association of ENT Surgeons (BV-HNO), the Professional Federation of Paediatricians and Youth Doctors (BVKJ), the Federal Association of Pulmonologists (BDP) and the German Dermatologists Association (BVDD).

The present guideline (S2k) on allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) was established by the German, Austrian and Swiss professional associations for allergy in consensus with the scientific specialist societies and professional associations in the fields of otolaryngology, dermatology and venereology, pediatric and adolescent medicine, pneumology as well as a German patient organization (German Allergy and Asthma Association; Deutscher Allergie- und Asthmabund, DAAB) according to the criteria of the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften, AWMF). AIT is a therapy with disease-modifying effects. By administering allergen extracts, specific blocking antibodies, toler-ance-inducing cells and mediators are activated.

Investigation of a new electrode array technology for a central auditory prosthesis.

Ongoing clinical studies on patients recently implanted with the auditory midbrain implant (AMI) into the inferior colliculus (IC) for hearing restoration have shown that these patients do not achieve performance levels comparable to cochlear implant patients. The AMI consists of a single-shank array (20 electrodes) for stimulation along the tonotopic axis of the IC. Recent findings suggest that one major limitation in AMI performance is the inability to sufficiently activate neurons across the three-dimensional (3-D) IC.

Neural representation in the auditory midbrain of the envelope of vocalizations based on a peripheral ear model.

The auditory midbrain implant (AMI) consists of a single shank array (20 sites) for stimulation along the tonotopic axis of the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC) and has been safely implanted in deaf patients who cannot benefit from a cochlear implant (CI). The AMI improves lip-reading abilities and environmental awareness in the implanted patients. However, the AMI cannot achieve the high levels of speech perception possible with the CI.

Central auditory processing during chronic tinnitus as indexed by topographical maps of the mismatch negativity obtained with the multi-feature paradigm.

This study aimed to compare the neural correlates of acoustic stimulus representation in the auditory sensory memory on an automatic basis between tinnitus subjects and normal hearing (NH) controls, using topographical maps of the MMNs obtained with the multi-feature paradigm. A new and faster paradigm was adopted to look for differences between 2 groups of subjects. Twenty-eight subjects with chronic subjective idiopathic tinnitus and 33 matched healthy controls were included in the study.

Pattern of brain blood perfusion in tinnitus patients using technetium-99m SPECT imaging.

Background And Purpose: Tinnitus is associated with an increased activity in central auditory system as demonstrated by neuroimaging studies. Brain perfusion scanning using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was done to understand the pattern of brain blood perfusion of tinnitus subjects and find the areas which are mostly abnormal in these patients.

Materials And Methods: A number of 122 patients with tinnitus were enrolled to this cross-sectional study.

CD20+ T cell numbers are decreased in untreated HIV-1 patients and recover after HAART.

To elucidate if CD20(+) T cells are affected by HIV-1 infection and may have a prognostic value for the course of disease, numbers of CD20(+) T cells were determined in healthy controls, untreated and HAART-treated HIV-1 patients. Coexpression patterns of CD4, CD8, and CD38 were analysed on CD3(+)CD20(+) and CD3(+)CD20(-) T cells. We found a significant decrease of CD20(+) T cell numbers in untreated HIV-1 patients (1.

Coactivation of different neurons within an isofrequency lamina of the inferior colliculus elicits enhanced auditory cortical activation.

The phenomenal success of the cochlear implant (CI) is attributed to its ability to provide sufficient temporal and spectral cues for speech understanding. Unfortunately, the CI is ineffective for those without a functional auditory nerve or an implantable cochlea required for CI implementation. As an alternative, our group developed and implanted in deaf patients a new auditory midbrain implant (AMI) to stimulate the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC).

An evaluation of face-bow transfer for the planning of orthognathic surgery.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the error magnitude in the clinical application of face-bow devices. Technical and methodologic inaccuracies, as well as deviations from reference planes, were determined.

Materials And Methods: The presented method is part of a 3-dimensional virtual planning procedure for orthognathic surgery and included 15 patients with dentoskeletal deformities.