Intratympanic corticosteroids for Ménière's disease.

Background: Ménière's disease is a condition that causes recurrent episodes of vertigo, associated with hearing loss and tinnitus. Corticosteroids are sometimes administered directly into the middle ear to treat this condition (through the tympanic membrane). The underlying cause of Ménière's disease is unknown, as is the way in which this treatment may work.

Anaesthesia for ear surgery in remote or resource-constrained environments.

Background: The successful provision of middle-ear surgery requires appropriate anaesthesia. This may take the form of local or general anaesthesia; both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Local anaesthesia is simple to administer and does not require the additional personnel required for general anaesthesia.

Fibrous dysplasia of the temporal bone: systematic review of management and hearing outcomes.

Objectives: The management options for otologic symptoms (i.e., hearing loss, otorrhea) in patients with fibrous dysplasia of the temporal bone (FDTB) include either observation or otologic surgery.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the risk factors for sudden sensorineural hearing loss in adults.

Objectives/hypothesis: To review the medical literature evidence of potential risk factors for sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) in the adult general population.

Study Design: Systematic review of prospective and retrospective studies; meta-analysis of case-controlled studies.

Methods: Three researchers independently reviewed MEDLINE (January 1, 1950-November 30, 2010), Embase (January 1, 1980-November 30, 2010), and Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews databases in addition to conducting a manual reference search.

Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) for tinnitus.

Background: Tinnitus is described as the perception of sound or noise in the absence of real acoustic stimulation. Although an outright cure for tinnitus remains elusive, various management strategies have been developed to help to lessen the impact of the symptom. Following the publication of a neurophysiological model of tinnitus, Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) was developed.

Holiday review. How random is the toss of a coin?

Background: The toss of a coin has been a method used to determine random outcomes for centuries. It is still used in some research studies as a method of randomization, although it has largely been discredited as a valid randomization method. We sought to provide evidence that the toss of a coin can be manipulated.

A systematic review of pediatric sensorineural hearing loss in congenital syphilis.

Introduction: Congenital syphilis is a known cause of progressive sensorineural hearing loss. The prevalence of syphilitic sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in childhood is not clearly defined.

Objective: To determine the frequency and characteristics of pediatric SNHL following intrauterine infection with or exposure to Treponema pallidum in order to develop evidence-based guidelines for audiologic monitoring.

Is the healthy middle ear a normally sterile site?

Objective: To systematically evaluate the presumption that the healthy middle ear becomes colonized with organisms via the patent eustachian tube using modern microbiologic techniques.

Study Design: Sterile saline washings were obtained from the middle ear of patients in a prospective fashion.

Setting: Tertiary/quaternary referral centers.

A systematic review of the incidence of sensorineural hearing loss in neonates exposed to Herpes simplex virus (HSV).

Objective: To develop evidence-based guidelines for appropriate audiological monitoring of children born following exposure to or infection with Herpes simplex virus (HSV) for development of immediate or delayed-onset of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).

Data Sources: A Medline search of the 1966-July 2007 database was supplemented by search of the additional database Embase (1980-July 2007). Manual search was conducted of references of identified papers and book chapters.

Prevalence of hearing loss in primary school children in Zimbabwe.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of significant hearing impairment in children attending primary school in the country of Zimbabwe.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of the prevalence of hearing impairment in primary school children was undertaken as part of The Rotary Hearing Health Care Program in Zimbabwe. The sampling unit was primary schools in Manicaland, a province of Zimbabwe.