Spatial cues can facilitate segregation of target speech from maskers. However, in clinical practice, masked speech understanding is most often evaluated using co-located speech and maskers (i.e., ...without spatial cues). Many hearing aid centers in France are equipped with five-loudspeaker arrays, allowing masked speech understanding to be measured with spatial cues. It is unclear how hearing status may affect utilization of spatial cues to segregate speech and noise. In this study, speech reception thresholds (SRTs) for target speech in “diffuse noise” (target speech from 1 speaker, noise from the remaining 4 speakers) in 297 adult listeners across 9 Audilab hearing centers. Participants were categorized according to pure-tone-average (PTA) thresholds: typically-hearing (TH; ≤ 20 dB HL), mild hearing loss (Mild; >20 ≤ 40 dB HL), moderate hearing loss 1 (Mod-1; >40 ≤ 55 dB HL), and moderate hearing loss 2 (Mod-2; >55 ≤ 65 dB HL). All participants were tested without aided hearing. SRTs in diffuse noise were significantly correlated with PTA thresholds, age at testing, as well as word and phoneme recognition scores in quiet. Stepwise linear regression analysis showed that SRTs in diffuse noise were significantly predicted by a combination of PTA threshold and word recognition scores in quiet. SRTs were also measured in co-located and diffuse noise in 65 additional participants. SRTs were significantly lower in diffuse noise than in co-located noise only for the TH and Mild groups; masking release with diffuse noise (relative to co-located noise) was significant only for the TH group. The results are consistent with previous studies that found that hard of hearing listeners have greater difficulty using spatial cues to segregate competing speech. The data suggest that speech understanding in diffuse noise provides additional insight into difficulties that hard of hearing individuals experience in complex listening environments.
Objectives/Hypothesis
PENTOCLO treatment, associating pentoxifylline, tocopherol, and clodronate, resolves radiation‐induced fibrosis. The main aim of the present study was to prospectively assess ...efficacy in mandibular osteoradionecrosis (ORN).
Study Design
Prospective cohort study.
Methods
Twenty‐seven patients with mandibular ORN were included in the Pentoclauvergne Study between January 2014 and February 2016. After an initial 28‐day phase of antibiotic, antifungal, and corticosteroid therapy, they received the PENTOCLO association daily until cure or a maximum of 24 months. The main assessment criterion was exposed bone area (EBA); secondary criteria comprised the Subjective, objective, management, and analytic (SOMA) score.
Results
Under PENTOCLO, EBA decreased by 28% at 2 months, 55% at 6 months, and 92% at 24 months; the SOMA score decreased by 23%, 38%, and 50%, respectively. A complete treatment course cured 76.5% of patients at a mean 9.6 months.
Conclusions
PENTOCLO is a simple, well‐tolerated, and effective treatment for mandibular ORN.
Level of Evidence
4 Laryngoscope, 130:E559–E566, 2020
Ménière's disease is a chronic illness characterized by intermittent episodes of vertigo associated with fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus and aural pressure. This pathology strongly ...correlates with a dilatation of the fluid compartment of the endolymph, so-called hydrops. Dexamethasone is one of the therapeutic approaches recommended when conventional antivertigo treatments have failed. Several mechanisms of actions have been hypothesized for the mode of action of dexamethasone, such as the anti-inflammatory effect or as a regulator of inner ear water homeostasis. However, none of them have been experimentally confirmed so far. Aquaporins (AQPs) are transmembrane water channels and are hence central in the regulation of transcellular water fluxes. In the present study, we investigated the hypothesis that dexamethasone could impact water fluxes in the inner ear by targeting AQP2. We addressed this question through molecular dynamics simulations approaches and managed to demonstrate a direct interaction between AQP2 and dexamethasone and its significant impact on the channel water permeability. Through compartmentalization of sodium and potassium ions, a significant effect of Na+ upon AQP2 water permeability was highlighted as well. The molecular mechanisms involved in dexamethasone binding and in its regulatory action upon AQP2 function are described.
Objectives
To determine whether deterioration of dental condition at the outset of management of head and neck cancer (HNC) is a nutritional risk and whether social deprivation is a cause of the poor ...dental condition observed in HNC patients.
Material and methods
A nutritional assessment form (NAF) and the Nutrition Risk Index (NRI) were used to standardize the nutritional status of 108 patients at the outset of management of HNC (2017-2019). The NAF includes assessment of weight loss over the past 3 months, the amount and difficulty of food intake, and the presence of digestive disorders. Dental condition was assessed by the decayed, filled, and missing teeth acopre (DFM) index and the masticatory coefficient (MC). Dental status and social deprivation were correlated with the EPICES score.
Results
A correlation was found between the extent of weight loss and dental condition. The MC was higher in absence of weight loss (46% vs. 27%,
p
= 0.03) and the DMF lower when weight loss was less than 5% (22.3 vs. 26.9 if > 5% loss of weight,
p
= 0.005). No correlation was found between dental status and nutritional status. Social deprivation was associated with a lower MC (26% vs. 50%,
p
< 0.001).
Conclusion
Dental condition is a risk factor for weight loss at the outset of management of HNC but is not a determinant of nutritional status.
Clinical relevance
Dental condition is no longer considered simply as a source of potential complications after radiotherapy but also as an important factor for nutritional status.
The cochlear implant is an implanted auditory prosthesis that can restore severe and profound hearing loss. About 20% of patients with congenital sensorineural hearing loss have a malformation of the ...inner ear. These abnormalities must be investigated before a cochlear implant because they can lead to intra and postoperative complications and/or anomalies. Most labyrinthine malformations are well known; some are less frequent and can be underdiagnosed at the preoperative computed tomography. This report presents the case of bilateral cochlear-facial dehiscence, bony dehiscence between the facial nerve labyrinthine segment, and cochlear basal turn. In our 56-year-old patient, this malformation was misdiagnosed before the cochlear implant and revealed afterward because of abnormal facial nerve stimulation during intraoperative electrophysiological checking.
Radiotherapy (RT) plays an important role in the therapeutic management of vestibular schwannoma (VS). Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT) or radiosurgery (SRS) are the two modalities ...available. The purpose of this article is to review the results of VS RT studies carried out over the last ten years.
A literature search was performed with PubMed and Medline by using the words vestibular schwannoma, acoustic neuroma, radiotherapy, and radiosurgery.
In small (<3 cm) VS, SRS offers a local control rate of >90%, which seems similar to microsurgery, with a favorable tolerance profile. Hypofractionated FSRT (three to five fractions) is a relatively recent modality and has shown similar outcomes to normofractionated FSRT. Hearing preservation may highly differ between studies, but it is around 65% at 5 years.
SRS and FRST are non-invasive treatment options for VS. SRS is often preferred for small lesions less than 3 cm, and FSRT for larger lesions. However, no randomized study has compared these modalities.
Investigation of long-term satisfaction and correlation with audiometric measurements after osseointegrated bone-conduction device (OBCD) surgery for patients with single-sided deafness (SSD).
...Thirty-six patients implanted with an OBCD for SSD.
Retrospective review in a university medical center.
Rehabilitative. The patients were implanted after a test with an OBCD worn on a headband during 15 days in a daily use. The patients were implanted if the test gave us satisfaction.
A series of audiometric tests, including speech perception in noise, prosthetic gain, and sound localization measurements, with and without OBCD on headband before surgery and on the transcutaneous implant remote from the surgery. Assessment of benefit and satisfaction using the modified Entific Medical System Questionnaire (EMSQ), the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB), and the Glasgow Benefit Index (GBI).
The mean follow-up is 2.2 years. Approximately 64% of the patients use their OBCD more than 8 hours per day and 82% more than 4 hours per day. Mean satisfaction score is 7.3/10. The APHAB and GBI show a significant benefit (APHAB ease of communication before and after implantation, +21; GBI total score, +17). These results show an improvement in speech perception in noise with the OBCD, but no differences between the preoperative and postoperative tests. There is no improvement in sound localization. A high level of satisfaction is correlated with good results on the pre operative speech perception in noise.
The OBCD is an effective way of rehabilitation for SSD. The BAHA improves the speech perception in noise but provided no significant improvement in sound localization as revealed in the postoperative test. With 3 questionnaires we noticed an improvement in the quality of life with the OBCD.
: In order to better understand the pathophysiology of surgically induced hearing loss after vestibular schwannoma (VS) surgery, we postoperatively analyzed the hearing status in a series of patients ...where hearing was at least partially preserved.
: Hearing was assessed through tonal audiometry, speech discrimination score, maximum word recognition score (dissyllabic word lists-MaxIS), otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), and auditory brainstem response (ABR). The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tumor characterization was also noted.
: In a series of 24 patients operated on for VS over 5 years, depending on the results of this triple hearing exploration, we could identify, after surgery, patients with either a myelin alteration or partial damage to the acoustic fibers, others with a likely partial cochlear ischemia, and some with partial cochlear nerve ischemia. One case with persisting OAEs and no preoperative ABR recovered hearing and ABR after surgery. Long follow-up (73 ± 57 months) revealed a mean hearing loss of 30 ± 20 dB with a drastic drop of MaxIS. MRI revealed only 25% of fundus invasion.
: a precise analysis of hearing function, not only with classic audiometry but also with ABR and OEAs, allows for a better understanding of hearing damage in VS surgery.
The role of secreted factors from the tumor cells in driving cancer cachexia and especially muscle loss is unknown. We wanted to study both the action of secreted factors from head and neck cancer ...(HNC) cell lines and circulating factors in HNC patients on skeletal muscle protein catabolism.
Conditioned media (CM) made from head and neck cancer cell lines and mix of sera from head and neck cancer (HNC) patients were incubated for 48 h with human myotubes. The atrophy and the catabolic pathway were monitored in myotubes. The patients were classified regarding their skeletal muscle loss observed at the outset of management.
Tumor CM (TCM) was able to produce atrophy on myotubes as compared with control CM (CCM). However, a mix of sera from HNC patients was not able to produce atrophy in myotubes. Despite this discrepancy on atrophy, we observed a similar regulation of the catabolic pathways by the tumor-conditioned media and mix of sera from cancer patients. The catabolic response after incubation with the mix of sera seemed to depend on the muscle loss seen in patients.
This study found evidence that the atrophy observed in HNC patients cannot be solely explained by a deficit in food intake.
Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a common treatment option for vestibular schwannomas. Historically, a dose de-escalation of the marginal prescribed dose from 16 Gy to 12-13 Gy has been done to ...limit toxicity without reducing local control (LC). We aimed to retrospectively report outcomes of Linac-based SRS for vestibular schwannomas treated with different doses.
Included in the study were 97 stage 1 (1%), 2 (56%), 3 (21.5%), and 4 (21.5%) vestibular schwannomas treated with Linac-based (Novalis
) SRS from 1995 to 2019. No margin was added to the GTV to create the PTV. The median marginal prescribed dose was 14 Gy (range: 12-16 Gy) before 2006 and then 11 Gy for all patients (61 pts). Mean tumor volume was 1.96 cm
, i.e., about 1.6 cm in diameter. Mean follow-up was 8.2 years.
Following SRS, LC at 3, 5, and 10 years was 100%, 98.4%, and 95.6%, respectively 100% for those with ≤ 13 Gy as the marginal prescribed dose (NS). Toxicity to the trigeminal nerve was reported in 7.2% of cases (3.3% and 0% for transient and permanent toxicity for 11 Gy). The marginal prescribed dose was the only significant predictive factor in univariate and multivariate analysis (HR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.07-3.10, p = 0.028). Toxicity to the facial nerve was reported in 6.2% of cases. The marginal prescribed dose was again the only significant predictive factor in univariate and multivariate analysis (HR = 1.31, 95% CI = 0.77-2.23, p = 0.049).
Linac-based SRS for stages 1-3 vestibular schwannomas provides excellent outcomes: a 10-year LC rate of over 95%, with a permanent facial or trigeminal toxicity rate of under 5%. A marginal prescribed dose of 11 Gy seems to decrease nerve toxicity and facial toxicity in particular, without reducing LC. Prospective studies with longer follow-up are needed.
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