Vocal morbidity resulting from damage to the motor branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) after endocrine surgery is well known, but diagnosis is often delayed. The present study aimed to ...quantify these vocal changes acoustically (main objective), and correlate this with the vocal complaints of patients with suspected SLN motor impairment (secondary objective).
Thirty females patients with suspected injury of the SLN cricothyroid branch (CT−) were compared to 30 patients without postoperative vocal impairment (CT+) and to 30 control subjects. Mean, minimal and maximal fundamental frequencies (F0mean, F0min and F0max) and vocal range were measured on /e/ at high frequency, sirens (glissandi), a reading text, and minimal intonation pairs. Subjective vocal impairment was evaluated on the Voice Handicap Index (VHI).
A lowering of F0mean associated with vocal range reduction by one fifth (in the reading text) seemed to be specific to CT− patients. Production of questions was affected, with differences in melodic curve and attack. Thyroidectomy within 2 months in itself (without suspected SLN cricothyroid branch injury) also affected these parameters, but to a lesser degree. CT− patients reported greater voice impairment than CT+ patients or controls (P=0.0004).
Alterations in speech intonation, quantified on minimal pair test, and self-assessed vocal handicap (VHI) are tools that can easily be used in daily practice to screen for SLN motor branch lesion.
Cochlear implants work well, yet the outcome is not fully accounted by the data routinely available to the clinician, and remains unpredictable. A more in-depth understanding of the neural mechanisms ...that determine the clinical recovery after cochlear implantation is warranted, as they may provide the background for an accurate individual prognosis. In this study in post-lingually deaf adults, we show that while clinical data offer only prognosis trends, fMRI data can prospectively distinguish good from poor implant performers. We show that those deaf cochlear implant (CI) candidates who will become good performers rely on a dorsal phonological route when performing a rhyming task on written regular words. In contrast, those who will become poor performers involve a ventral temporo-frontal route to perform the same task, and abnormally recruit the right supramarginal gyrus, a region that is contralateral to classical phonological regions. These functional patterns reveal that deafness either enhances “normal” phonological processing, or prompts a substitution of phonological processing by lexico-semantic processing. These findings thus suggest that a simple behavioral pre-operative exploration of phonological strategies during reading, to determine which route is predominantly used by CI candidates, might fruitfully inform the outcome.
► Non-speech sound processing decreases with duration of auditory deprivation. ► It indicates declining in these sound representations for postlingual deaf subjects. ► The cortical dorso-ventral ...dissociation was predictive of outcome. ► Non-speech sound representations need to be maintained to ensure implantation success.
Neurofunctional patterns assessed before or after cochlear implantation (CI) are informative markers of implantation outcome. Because phonological memory reorganization in post-lingual deafness is predictive of the outcome, we investigated, using a cross-sectional approach, whether memory of non-speech sounds (NSS) produced by animals or objects (i.e. non-human sounds) is also reorganized, and how this relates to speech perception after CI. We used an fMRI auditory imagery task in which sounds were evoked by pictures of noisy items for post-lingual deaf candidates for CI and for normal-hearing subjects. When deaf subjects imagined sounds, the left inferior frontal gyrus, the right posterior temporal gyrus and the right amygdala were less activated compared to controls. Activity levels in these regions decreased with duration of auditory deprivation, indicating declining NSS representations. Whole brain correlations with duration of auditory deprivation and with speech scores after CI showed an activity decline in dorsal, fronto-parietal, cortical regions, and an activity increase in ventral cortical regions, the right anterior temporal pole and the hippocampal gyrus. Both dorsal and ventral reorganizations predicted poor speech perception outcome after CI. These results suggest that post-CI speech perception relies, at least partially, on the integrity of a neural system used for processing NSS that is based on audio–visual and articulatory mapping processes. When this neural system is reorganized, post-lingual deaf subjects resort to inefficient semantic- and memory-based strategies. These results complement those of other studies on speech processing, suggesting that both speech and NSS representations need to be maintained during deafness to ensure the success of CI.
Summary The cochlear implant (CI), by enabling oral communication in severely to profoundly deaf subjects, is one of the major medical advances over the last fifty years. Despite the globally very ...satisfactory results, individual outcomes vary considerably. The objective of this review is to describe the various factors influencing the results of CI rehabilitation with particular emphasis on the better understanding of neurocognitive mechanisms provided by functional brain imaging. The following aspects will be discussed: 1. Peripheral predictors such as the degree of preservation of nerve structures and the positioning of the electrode array. 2. The duration of auditory deprivation whose influence on brain reorganization is now becoming more clearly understood. 3. The age of initiation of hearing rehabilitation in subjects with pre-lingual deafness influencing the possibility of physiological maturation of nerve structures. 4. The concepts of sensitive period, decoupling and cross-modality. 5. In post-lingually deaf adults, brain plasticity can allow adaptation to the disability induced by deafness, subsequently potentiating CI rehabilitation, particularly as a result of audiovisual interactions. 6. Several studies provide concordant evidence that implanted patients present different phonological analysis and primary linguistic capacities. The results of CI rehabilitation are dependent on factors situated between the cochlea and cortical associative areas. The importance of higher cognitive influences on the functional results of cochlear implantation justify adaptation of coding strategies, as well as global cognitive management of deaf patients by utilising brain plasticity capacities.
Day surgery (DS) in otology in France is insufficiently implemented compared to other countries of comparable socio-economic level. The aim of the present study was to evaluate changes in surgical ...practice in “major otology” cases in a hospital center after launching a dedicated ENT DS unit.
This new unit, designed in collaboration with the surgeons, was inaugurated in 2014. Number of procedures, patient demographics, surgery durations, and rates of crossover from DS to conventional management were recorded prospectively for the year before and the year after the launch. All otologic surgery procedures with at least tympanomeatal flap elevation were included; minor surgeries such as grommet insertion were excluded.
Between the two time periods, major otology day cases increased from 106 to 153 procedures (+43%). In 2013, the DS rate was 27%, versus 56% in 2015. Otosclerosis surgeries represented 7% in 2013 and 15% in 2015, and type II and III tympanoplasties 3% and 24% respectively. Difference in patient age between DS and conventional surgery was lower in 2015. Crossover rates were 10% in 2013 and 21% in 2015, mainly due to nausea/vertigo (56%) and surgery ending too late in the day (33%).
Major otologic cases are suitable for DS. Launching this dedicated unit with its specific organization enabled a very significant increase in DS rates, probably due to greater patient satisfaction and surgeons’ growing confidence. The main pitfall was in scheduling, with surgery ending too late in the day for discharge home; this has since been corrected.
To assess the CT scan aspect of cement bridges used to repair incudostapedial joint discontinuity (ISD) and correlate these observations to audiometric data over time.
A retrospective study in 12 ...patients with cement rebridging for ISD compared pre- and post-operative pure-tone average thresholds, Hounsfield units (HU), and bridge size and position on postoperative CT scans.
Mean pre- and post-operative air-bone gap (ABG) was 24.5 and 16dB, respectively. HU did not vary over time post-surgery, with no significant correlation between HU and time to postoperative CTnscan up to 24months (p=0.219). However, a “suggestive” correlation was found between postoperative ABG and HU (p=0.004, r=−0.7). High cement density correlated with good functional outcome: HU <500 indicating functional failure and >1000 indicating ABG closure.
Immediate cement polymerization quality (high HU) was stable over time and a marker of ossiculoplasty success, correlating with good functional outcome. Particular care should be taken in preparing the cement, and solidification needs to be on dry mucosa-free ossicles.
Background: Epithelial damage and modifications of cell differentiation are frequent in airway diseases with chronic inflammation, in which transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) plays an important ...role. The aim of this study was to evaluate the differentiation of human nasal epithelial cells (HNEC) after wound healing and the potential effects of TGF‐β1.
Methods: Basal, mucus, and ciliated cells were characterized by cytokeratin‐14, MUC5AC, and βIV tubulin immunodetection, respectively. Their expression was evaluated in situ in nasal polyps and in an in vitro model of wound healing in primary cultures of HNEC after wound closure, under basal conditions and after TGF‐β1 supplementation. Using RT‐PCR, the effects of TGF‐β1 on MUC5AC and DNAI1 genes, specifically transcribed in mucus and ciliated cells, were evaluated.
Results: In situ, high TGF‐β1 expression was associated with low MUC5AC and βIV tubulin expression. In vitro, under basal conditions, MUC5AC expression remained stable, cytokeratin‐14 expression was strong and decreased with time, while βIV tubulin expression increased. Transforming growth factor‐β1 supplementation downregulated MUC5AC and βIV tubulin expression as well as MUC5AC and DNAI1 transcripts.
Conclusion: After a wound, differentiation into mucus and ciliated cells was possible and partially inhibited in vitro by TGF‐β1, a cytokine that may be involved in epithelial remodeling observed in chronic airway diseases.
Summary Introduction Salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) is an uncommon entity of salivary gland cancers with a poor prognosis due to local aggressiveness or distant recurrences involving lymph nodes, ...lung, and long bones, in which secondary lesions are usually osteolytic. The authors report the first case of mandibular SDC, atypical due to its osteosclerotic presentation and its site, attributed to aggressive neural spread of the tumor along the trigeminal nerve. Case study This asymptomatic osteosclerotic bone involvement was diagnosed based on pathological enhancement of the trigeminal nerve demonstrated on MRI and was accompanied by facial nerve involvement up to its third intracranial portion. Radical surgery ensured disease control with continued good quality of life at the 4-year follow-up visit. Conclusion Nerve enhancement on MRI and determination of specific tumor markers (HER-2/ neu and p53) should be taken into account to evaluate the prognosis of SDC and to propose appropriate surgical treatment.
The "silent sinus syndrome" (SSS) also known as imploding antrum syndrome or chronic maxillary sinus atelectasis consists of painless enophthalmos and inward retraction of the ipsilateral maxillary ...sinus walls. The aims of the present study were: i) to look for a correlation between the level of volume asymmetry of the maxillary sinuses and the presence of ophthalmological and rhinosinusitis signs, ii) to determine the benefits of a middle meatal antrostomy in SSS cases, and iii) to evaluate the preventive role of neuronavigation surgery in the morbidity of this specific surgery.
We retrospectively analyzed the data of 13 patients operated on for a SSS by middle meatal antrostomy, with the aid of neuronavigation in 7 cases. The median follow up was 30 months. No reconstruction of the orbital floor was performed. Morphometric analysis and modeling of the sinus volume from the preoperative CT scanners were performed to assess the impact of the loss of sinus volume on the symptoms.
all patients displayed a retraction of the orbital floor. There was a significant correlation between the magnitude of the decrease in sinus volume and clinical manifestations. Surgical treatment allowed rhinosinusitis symptom disappearance in 53% of patients. Ophthalmological symptoms did not decrease, but stayed stable after the surgical treatment. When neuronavigation surgery was performed, no complications were observed.
SSS symptoms correlated with the reduction of volume of the maxillary sinuses. This measure may be related to the severity of the disease. The middle meatal antrostomy seemed sufficient to stop the evolution of the SSS, avoiding the occurrence of severe enophthalmos. Neuronavigation surgery helped preventing serious eye complications.
Combustible tobacco users appear to be at greater risk for serious complications from COVID-19. This study examined cigar smokers' perceived risk of COVID-19, quit intentions, and behaviors during ...the current pandemic. We conducted an online study between 23 April 2020 to 7 May 2020, as part of an ongoing study examining perceptions of different health effects of cigars. All participants used cigars in the past 30 days (n = 777). Three-quarters of the sample (76.0%) perceived they had a higher risk of complications from COVID-19 compared to non-smokers. The majority of participants (70.8%) intended to quit in the next six months due to COVID-19, and almost half of the sample (46.5%) reported making a quit attempt since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Far more participants reported increasing their tobacco use since COVID-19 started (40.9%) vs. decreasing their tobacco use (17.8%). Black or African American participants, participants who reported using a quitline, and participants with higher COVID-19 risk perceptions had higher intentions to quit using tobacco due to COVID-19, and higher odds of making a quit attempt since COVID-19 started. More research is needed to understand how tobacco users are perceiving COVID-19 risks and changing their tobacco use behaviors.
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