A randomized prospective trial of a novel device for measuring perforation size during inlay ‘butterfly’ myringoplasty

Aim

This study introduces a new device to facilitate perforation size measurement during “butterfly” myringoplasty. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of ‘otological compass’ on short-term results of inlay cartilaginous ‘butterfly’ tympanoplasty technique in adult patients.

Study design

Prospective, randomized, controlled, blinded.

Patients and methods

This study included 25 patients who underwent inlay cartilage myringoplasty. All operations were performed under general anesthesia by the same surgeon with a microscope-assisted approach. The patients were divided randomly and consecutively into two groups: Group 1 (n = 12) had perforation dimensions and shape measured using the Otologic Compass (OC) and the control group (n = 13) had perforation measured by means of a Fisch elevator. The duration of surgery, number of trials for correct placement of the cartilage graft, results and complications of the surgery were evaluated and compared.

Results

The mean follow-up duration was 6 months. Groups were similar in terms of age and perforation diameters (p > 0.05). Average number of cartilage shaping before satisfactory graft fitting was significantly fewer in the OC group: 1.1 ± 0.3 and 2.2 ± 0.6 trials for OC and control groups, respectively (p < 0.001). Mean duration of preparation and satisfactory graft fitting was 9.6 ± 4.2 minutes in the OC group whereas it was 18.1 ± 5.2 minutes for the control group. Operative duration was significantly shorter in the OC group (p < 0.001). At the end of the follow-up period, successful closure occurred 91.7% and 84.6% patients in the OC and control groups, respectively (p > 0.05). The mean preoperative to postoperative three-tone air-bone gap improved 7.9 dB and 9.0 dB in OC and control groups, respectively (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

This study shows that OC presents as a useful tool that expedites and refines butterfly myringoplasty procedure. The number of cartilage shaping prior to satisfactory graft fitting revealed significantly better results: almost all surgeries in the OC group were complete after a single cartilage shaping attempt.     

Audiological findings in pediatric perineal allergic rhinitis (house dust mite allergy) patients

Allergic rhinitis is the type 1 hypersensitivity reaction of the nasal mucosa and its primary mediator is Ig E. It is most frequently observed in children and adolescents. Our purpose in this study is to investigate the impact of allergy on hearing functions in children with perineal allergic rhinitis (house dust mite allergy). 50 perineal allergic rhinitis (house dust mite allergy) patients (33 male, 17 female patients, aged between 6 and 15, average age 10.4) and 20 control patients (12 male, 8 female, aged between 6 and 15, average age 11.2) underwent high frequency pure tone audiometry, acoustic reflex, otacoustic emission (OAE) and auditory brainstem potentials to assess their auditory functions. No statistically significant difference was detected between the study group and the control group with respect to their hearing thresholds (250–16,000 Hz). No statistically significant difference was detected as a result of the comparison between the study group and control group in terms of their signal–noise ratios at Distortion Product OAE in all frequencies (996–8,004 Hz). No statistically significant difference was detected between the study group and the control group in terms of the 1st, 3rd and 5th wave latencies and 1–3, 3–5 and 1–5 inter-peak values. This study is the first study where the audiological functions of the pediatric perineal allergic rhinitis (house dust mite allergy) patients were assessed. No significant difference was detected between the group of pediatric perineal allergic rhinitis (house dust mite allergy) patients and the control group with respect to their audiological functions.     

Temperament and character profiles of male COPD patients

Background

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a respiratory disorder, and is characterized by persistent airflow obstruction. These patients are exposed to severe physical limitations and substantial psychosocial trouble. The aims of this study were to determine the temperament and character profiles of personality in patients with COPD and to compare the results with those of healthy controls.

Methods

Thirty-nine male COPD patients and 67 age- and gender-matched healthy controls completed the self-administered 240-item temperament and character inventory (TCI) and 14-item hospital anxiety and depression scale. The relationships between temperament and character personality profiles and clinical factors such as severity of COPD, anxiety, and depression were evaluated.

Results

COPD patients had significantly higher mean scores of Harm avoidance and lower mean score of Self-directedness than those of healthy controls. In the COPD patients, the anxiety score was significantly higher (P=0.03) and the depression score was found to be insignificantly higher than that of control group. The TCI profiles were not correlated with the severity of COPD. In COPD patients, Self-directedness and Cooperativeness traits of TCI character negatively correlated with anxiety, but any of traits did not correlate with depression.

Conclusions

The present study defined the Harm avoidance score was higher and Self-directedness was lower in COPD patients and the COPD severity did not correlate with any of the personality trait. We suggest that during evaluation of COPD patients for treatment, personality trait should also be considered in clinical practice.KEY WORDS : Temperament, character, personality, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)     

Reproducibility of the measurements of the optic nerve head topographic variables with a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope

PURPOSE: To determine the optic nerve head topographic parameters with the least variability in repeat measurements. METHODS: We randomly selected and evaluated 1 eye each of 20 healthy subjects, a total of 20 eyes. We used the confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope (CSLO) for optic nerve head analysis. The disc area and a total of 13 parameters were determined by Top SS. Each subject was examined five times, each time on a different day, during a 2-month period. We obtained a series of five 10 x 10 degrees images for each eye per visit. Three of the five images were randomly selected to create a mean image. Coefficients of variation of each of the 13 variables studied were calculated separately by using those five different optic nerve head topographic measurements. RESULTS: The subjects were 11 women and 9 men. The mean age of the subjects was 30.5 +/- 6.9. The mean optic disc areas were 2.26 +/- 0.39 mm(2) and 1.96 +/- 0.37 mm(2) for the men and the women, respectively (P >.05). The mean coefficient of variation for measurement of the variables was found to range between 1.2% and 9.8%. The variables, cup shape, volume above, average depth, and volume below, were found to yield the best reproducible measurements. CONCLUSION: The CSLO with its highly reproducible measurements (<10% error) offers a highly objective, safe, and effective method for clinical use in measurements of the topography of the optic nerve head. The subtle differences in the variables, cup shape, volume above, average depth, and volume below, may be of vital importance in the follow-up of those diseases requiring longitudinal monitoring of the optic nerve head, namely ocular hypertension and glaucoma.     

Medical ozone therapy for the inner ear acoustic trauma

Objectives

The goal of the study was to look at the potential protective effect of ozone therapy by studying its antioxidant and vasodilatation effects against hearing loss caused by acoustic trauma.

Methods

Thirty-two male Wistar Albino rats were divided into four groups of eight. The 1st group was exposed to acoustic trauma, the 2nd group was treated with ozone initially, and was exposed to acoustic trauma 24 h later, the 3rd group received ozone without trauma, while the 4th group was the control group. The 1st and 2nd groups were exposed to acoustic trauma with 105 dB SPL white band noise for 4 h. DPOAE and ABR tests were conducted in all groups on the 1st, 5th, and 10th days after trauma.

Results

In the 1st group, the effects of acoustic trauma continued on days 1, 5 and 10. The 2nd group's DPOAE and ABR results on days 5 and 10 showed significant improvement at all frequencies compared to deterioration on day 1, and the readings were comparable to baseline measurements.

Conclusion

Acoustic trauma is a pathology that is experienced frequently and leads to many problems in terms of health and cost. Ozone was demonstrated to be a reparative substance against acoustic trauma and, in addition, it can be supplied and applied easily.     

The risk of overweight and obesity in children after tonsillectomy: a cross-sectional study

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of tonsillectomy among secondary school children and to investigate whether tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy is a risk factor for childhood obesity. A total of 27 secondary schools with 12,296 students between the ages 11 and 17 were screened in Denizli, Turkey. We determined 129 students who had undergone tonsillectomy; each student was matched with two healthy control subjects of the same age and sex (n = 258). A 28-item questionnaire on nutrition and physical exercise was completed by the parents. Age-adjusted body mass index and waist circumference percentiles of Turkish boys and girls were used for the assessment of overweight and obesity. The prevalence of tonsillectomy was 1.0 %. There was no significant relationship between having tonsillectomy and being overweight or obese and physical exercise and screen time (p > 0.05 for each). Logistic regression analyses suggested no significant effect of tonsillectomy on overweight or obesity of the subjects (p > 0.05). It seems that tonsillectomy had no effect on overweight and obesity among children.     

Clinical and Radiological Evaluation of Ejaculatory Duct Obstruction

Ejaculatory duct obstruction (EDO) is a rare but surgically correctable cause of male infertility. With the advent and increased use of transrectal ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging, abnormalities of the ejaculatory duct (ED) related to infertility have been diagnosed more frequently. Recently, with the increased awareness of functional obstruction of ED, reports have been focusing on the diagnosis of partial or functional EDO. We present 2 review of the ED pathologies, imaging modalities and treatment options.