Steroid and vasoactive treatment for acute deafness after attempted hearing preservation acoustic neuroma surgery.

<i>Objective:</i> To investigate whether intravenous steroid and vasoactive therapy in the acute postoperative period improves hearing outcome in patients who develop acute deafness after attempted hearing preservation surgery for acoustic neuroma (AN) through a retrosigmoid or a middle cranial fossa approach. <i>Study Design and Setting:</i> Retrospective controlled study in a tertiary care center. Thirty-six patients who had developed acute deafness after hearing preservation surgery for treatment of an AN were reviewed. Preoperative AAOHNS hearing class was A in 2, B in 2 and D in 32 patients. Twenty-seven patients were treated with prednisolone, hydroxyethyl star…

Intratympanic Dexamethasone/Hyaluronic Acid Mix as an Adjunct to Intravenous Steroid and Vasoactive Treatment in Patients With Severe Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

To evaluate differences in effectiveness (hearing recovery rates) between idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) patients treated with intravenous therapy alone and patients treated with a combination of intravenous and intratympanic therapy.Retrospective case review.Tertiary referral hospital center.Ninety-four patients with moderate ISSNHL treated with an intravenous steroid and vasoactive regimen (duration of therapy, 9 ± 2.76 d) and 76 patients with severe ISSNHL treated with a combination regimen of intravenous and intratympanic therapy (duration of therapy, 10 ± 2.71 d) were reviewed. In the latter patients' group, a series of 3 intratympanic injections of a dexamethaso…

The effect of short-term immunotherapy with molecular standardized grass and rye allergens on eosinophil cationic protein and tryptase in nasal secretions.

Activation of mast cells and eosinophils under pollen exposure can be inhibited by specific immunotherapy.The effect of short-term immunotherapy with 7 preseasonal injections of molecular standardized allergens from grass and rye pollen on eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and tryptase levels in nasal secretions has been compared with symptomatic drug treatment in an open, randomized study with 48 patients.Nasal reactivity and mediator levels in nasal secretions were measured at baseline, before season, in season, and after season.Symptom scores in the immunotherapy group were 134.5 (95% CI, 65 to 336) versus 386. 0 (95% CI, 185 to 563), significantly lower as in the drug-treated group. ECP…

15. Mainzer Allergie-Workshop 2003

Nasal allergen provocation with Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus in patients with chronic rhinitis referred to a rhinologic surgical center.

Background Skin tests and specific immunoglobulin (Ig)E determinations identify the presence of some immune response to allergens, but frequently do not correlate to allergic disease in vivo. Objective To compare clinical history, skin tests and specific IgE determinations with the results of nasal provocation tests (NPT) to confirm clinically relevant allergy to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (DP) in patients with chronic rhinitis referred to a rhinologic surgical center. Methods Clinical data of 2,194 patients with chronic nasal disorders treated at two rhinologic referral centers between 1992 and 1998 were evaluated. Clinical allergy work-up was routinely performed corresponding to Germa…

Head and neck paragangliomas: Report of 175 patients (1989-2010)

Attention of the otorhinolaryngologist needs to be drawn to the versatile aspects of head and neck paragangliomas (PGLs).This study is a retrospective, nonrandomized clinical study of all 175 individuals with PGLs treated in our department between 1989 and 2010. A genetic analysis was performed on 86 patients.The 175 patients presented 224 head and neck PGLs as well as 2 thyroid papillary carcinomas. Genetic analysis resulted in 1 patient positive for a von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) gene mutation and 34 for succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) gene mutations (22 SDHD, 7 SDHC, and 5 SDHB), 12 of the latter carrying a novel mutation. Thirty-three patients (18.9%) had multiple PGLs and 11 patients (6.3%) h…

Polysomnography and ApneaGraph in patients with sleep-related breathing disorders.

<i>Purpose:</i> To evaluate whether ApneaGraph (AG) and polysomnography (PSG) deliver comparable results in patients with sleep-related breathing disorders. <i>Procedures:</i> A prospective study was performed, which included 14 patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), hypopnea index (HI), apnea index (AI), obstructive, central and mixed apnea, oxygen saturation (SaO<sub>2</sub>), pulse and body position were simultaneously assessed by PSG and AG in each individual. <i>Results:</i> There was a good correlation between measurements of AG and PSG for AHI, pulse, SaO<sub>2</sub>, body position and ce…

Increased in vitro cvsteinvl leukotriene release from blood leukocytes in patients with asthma, nasal polyps, and aspirin intolerance

In vitro cysteinyl leukotriene (cLT) release from blood leukocytes was measured in eight normal individuals (NI), nine patients with nasal polyps (NP) without aspirin intolerance, and eight patients with NP, asthma, and aspirin intolerance (AI). Blood leukocytes were prestimulated with interleukin-3 (IL-3) and incubated with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) (10 and 100 micrograms/ml) together with C5a (10(-8) mol/l) for 18 h. cLT release (LTC4, LTD4 and LTE4) from blood leukocytes was measured with a competitive enzyme-linked immunoassay. Background cLT release was 259 +/- 66 pg/ml (mean +/- SEM) in the NI group, 185 +/- 33 pg/ml in the NP group, and 578 +/- 136 pg/ml in the AI group (P = 0.1). A…

Hearing results after hypotympanotomy for glomus tympanicum tumors.

We postulate, that glomus tympanicum tumors (GTTs) may be safely removed without interference with the ossicular chain via a hypotympanotomy approach.Prospective, nonrandomized anatomic and clinical study.Tertiary referral center.All 17 patients between 1989 and 2009 with GTTs without involvement of the lumen of the jugular bulb.We used a modified hypotympanotomy approach. Our technique is a modification of the one first published by Shambaugh (1955). Pure-tone audiograms were performed in all patients. Preoperative and postoperative audiograms were modeled in a linear mixed model evaluating hearing threshold for air and bone conduction and air-bone gap at 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 Hz. I…

The effects of short-term immunotherapy using molecular standardized grass and rye allergens compared with symptomatic drug treatment on rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms, skin sensitivity, and specific nasal reactivity.

The efficacy and safety of short-term immunotherapy with molecular standardized allergens (STI) has been demonstrated by double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trials. The aim of this study was to compare STI with symptomatic drug treatment.Forty-eight patients with rhinoconjunctivitis to grass and/or rye pollen were treated either with STI (ALK(7), n = 24) plus anti-allergic drugs or anti-allergic drugs, alone (n = 24) in a prospective, randomized study. Symptoms and use of drugs were reported in patient diaries and titrated nasal provocation and skin prick tests were performed at baseline, before, and after season.Median overall symptom (P = 0.022, U test) and medication scores (P = 0.0…

Minimal Reporting Standards for Active Middle Ear Hearing Implants.

There is currently no standardized method for reporting audiological, surgical and subjective outcome measures in clinical trials with active middle ear implants (AMEIs). It is often difficult to compare studies due to data incompatibility and to perform meta-analyses across different centres is almost impossible. A committee of ENT and audiological experts from Germany, Austria and Switzerland decided to address this issue by developing new minimal standards for reporting the outcomes of AMEI clinical trials. The consensus presented here aims to provide a recommendation to enable better inter-study comparability.

Diffusion-weighted MRI of cholesteatomas of the petrous bone

Purpose To investigate if primary cholesteatomas of the petrous bone show high signal in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Materials and methods In this blinded study, we compared 15 patients with clinically certain cases and later surgically proven cholesteatomas vs. 12 patients with clinically acute otitis of the middle ear and 20 volunteers without petrous bone disease. Two blinded readers without knowledge of the clinical data decided in consensus agreement whether there was a pathologic signal increase in the petrous bone in an anisotropic single-shot echo-planar imaging (EPI) DWI sequence, an artifact, or no signal increase. Results Thirteen of 15 patients with cholesteatomas showed b…