Investigating the Impacts of Cochlear Implantation on the Happiness and Self-Esteem of Mothers of Children with Severe Hearing Loss

Children with severe hearing loss often struggle to communicate. Mothers of children with hearing loss may also suffer psychologically in their caregiving due to this communication barrier. Cochlear implant surgery improves child’s hearing sense, parent and children’s psychological well-being, and communication between children and their mothers. The aim of the present study is to compare happiness and self-esteem among the mothers of children with severe hearing loss before and after cochlear implantation. This cross sectional study was conducted with 40 mothers of children under the age of 7 with severe hearing loss, all of who were candidates for cochlear implant surgery in Imam Hospital, Ahvaz, Iran. A consecutive non-probabilistic sampling method was used. Mothers of children awaiting cochlear implantation completed the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory before and after their child’s surgery, in addition to a demographic information form. Paired t tests and Wilcoxon tests were used. A significant difference was observed between the happiness and self-esteem scores before and after surgery (p?<?0.001). Cochlear implantation surgery increases happiness and self-esteem in mothers of children with hearing loss. When a child with hearing loss goes through cochlear implant surgery, all family members will benefit from improved hearing in their child and thus, improved family communication overall.     

Prognostic value of pre-treatment F-18-FDG PET-CT in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing radioembolization

AIM To evaluate the value of pre-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with HCC following liver radioembolization.METHODS We identified 34 patients with HCC who underwent an FDG PET/CT scan prior to hepatic radioembolization at our institution between 2009 and 2013. Patients wereseen in clinic one month after radioembolization and then at 2-3 mo intervals. We assessed the influence of FDG tumor uptake on outcomes including local liver control(LLC), distant liver control(DLC), time to distant metastases(DM), progression free survival(PFS) and overall survival(OS).RESULTS The majority of patients were males(n = 25, 74%), and had Child Pugh Class A(n = 31, 91%), with a median age of 68 years(46-84 years). FDG-avid disease was found in 19(56%) patients with SUVmax ranging from 3 to 20. Female patients were more likely to have an FDG-avid HCC(P = 0.02). Median follow up of patients following radioembolization was 12 months(1.2-62.8 mo). FDG-avid disease was associated with a decreased 1 year LLC, DLC, DM and PFS(P 0.05). Using multivariate analysis, FDG avidity predicted for LLC, DLC, and PFS(all P 0.05).CONCLUSION In this retrospective study, pre-treatment HCC FDGavidity was found to be associated with worse LLC, DLC, and PFS following radioembolization. Larger studies are needed to validate our initial findings to assess the role of F-18-FDG PET/CT scans as biomarker for patients with HCC following radioembolization.     

The effects of ultrasound-guided corticosteroid injection compared to oxygen–ozone (O2–O3) injection in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial

Clinical Rheumatology - Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic multifactorial disease characterized by progressive joint degeneration. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of...     

Accuracy of linear vs spiral tomography: Alveolar crest to sinus/nasal floor height

AIM: To determine the accuracy of tomography in the linear measurement of alveolar bone at maxillary sinus/nose location. METHODS: Two dry skulls each marked with 10 pairs of guttaperchas placed on buccal and lingual sides of the maxillary ridge were used in this in vitro study. The distance between the alveolar crest and the sinus/nasal floor was measured on tomographic views, prepared by linear and spiral techniques. The ridges were then sectioned so that each section would include one pair of buccal and lingual guttaperchas. The actual distances directly measured on the sections were compared to those of the equivalent tomographic sections (the magnification co-efficient was applied). Paired t-test was used to statistically analyze the data. RESULTS: The measurement error with the application of linear tomography and spiral tomography was shown to be 0.455 ± 0.838 mm (P = 0.029) and 0.17 ± 0.78 mm (P = 0.347), respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the liner tomography values and actual values (P = 0.029). This difference was representative of underestimation. McNamara’s test was used to assess the ± 1 mm error; 73.7% of the linear values and 84.2% of the spiral values were within the ± 1 mm error limit. McNamara’s test did not show any significant differences between the 2 methods in this regard (P = 0.625). The linear values were significantly different to the actual values (P = 0.029) but not to the spiral values (P = 0.185). CONCLUSION: Spiral tomography has enough accuracy for the measurement of alveolar ridge height. Although linear tomography somewhat underestimates the actual values it provides satisfactory accuracy.     

Survivin as a diagnostic and therapeutic marker for thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer (TC) is known as the most prevalent form of endocrine malignancy. With regard to high heterogeneity of the nodules, problem of discriminating between benign and malignant ones in terms of pathological characteristics, as well as lack of appropriate molecular markers; significant efforts are being made to identify molecular markers that able to detect tumorous lesions. Survivin, the newest member of the family of proteins inhibiting cell apoptosis, has been recently considered as a novel molecule marker for cancer. Studies on TC have also demonstrated distinctive expression of survivin and its splice variants in cancer cells compared to normal ones. Therefore, detection of survivin expression and its new splice variants can be utilized to identify tumor nodules and distinguish them from non-cancerous ones, along with other routine laboratory methods.