Multi-center clinical study on the treatment of the low-middle frequency sudden hearing loss / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate and compare the short-term outcome of patients with low-middle frequency sudden deafness treated with alone or combination treatment.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From August 2007 to October 2011, 205 patients with the diagnosis of low-middle frequency sudden deafness who were from 33 different clinical centers were recruited. All patients were followed up for four weeks from the initial examination. Patients were treated with steroid , Ginaton, batroxobin respectively, or Ginaton and steroid combination treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total effective rate was 90.73%. In Ginaton group, the total effective rate was 87.27%, 89.19% in steroid group, 87.80% in batroxobin group, and 95.83% in Ginaton and steroid group. Considering the total effective rate, there was no statistical difference between four groups (χ(2) = 7.98, P = 0.54). The clinical cure rate for steroid alone was 81.01%, Ginaton alone 76.36%, batroxobin alone 68.29%, and Ginaton and steroid combination treatment 80.56%. There were no clinically significant differences between the different treatments (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The low-middle frequency sudden deafness tends to have a relatively favorable prognosis. The steroid played a good effect in the treatment. But different treatments either improving the microcirculation of inner ear or alleviating edema blood has undifferentiated results. Therefore the combination therapy may be more effective.</p>

Surface electromyographic study on swallowing in normal adults / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the characteristics of surface electromyography (sEMG) during swallowing in normal adults.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The sEMG during swallowing was carried out in 126 normal adults. There were 66 males and 60 females with their age ranged from 18 to 65 years. The recording electrodes were placed on the skin above the superior thyroid notch and the duration and amplitude of muscle activities during every deglutition were recorded. Swallowing styles were dry swallow, 20 ml water swallow and 40 ml water swallow.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The durations of sEMG at dry swallow, 20 ml water swallow and 40 ml water swallow were (1.133 ± 0.209)s (x¯ ± s), (1.097 ± 0.208)s, and (1.510 ± 0.432)s, while the amplitudes were (0.332 ± 0.115)mV, (0.308 ± 0.095)mV, and (0.399 ± 0.139)mV in normal male group. The durations of sEMG at dry swallow, 20 ml water swallow and 40 ml water swallow were (1.118 ± 0.170)s, (1.085 ± 0.209)s, and (1.765 ± 0.463)s, while the amplitudes were (0.292 ± 0.100)mV, (0.261 ± 0.113)mV, and (0.342 ± 0.129)mV in normal female group. The amplitudes of sEMG in male were higher than those in female (P < 0.05) and the durations had no statistically significant difference between male and female (P > 0.05) in all swallow styles except that the duration of 40 ml water swallow in female was longer than that in male (P < 0.05). In all volunteers, the durations of sEMG at 40 ml water swallow were longer than those at dry swallow and 20 ml water swallow, and there was no statistically significant difference between dry swallow and 20 ml water swallow. The amplitude of sEMG at 40 ml water swallow was higher than that at dry swallow. The amplitude of sEMG in dry swallow was higher than that at 20 ml water swallow. There was no statistically significant difference in durations and amplitudes of sEMG among four different age groups of male. In the female groups, there was no statistically significant difference in durations and amplitudes of sEMG among four different age groups except that the duration at 40 ml water swallow was longer in younger group (<30 years old) than in older groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Surface EMG of swallowing is a simple and noninvasive method for evaluating the swallowing function. The sEMG data of swallowing in normal adults obtained in this study may be used to provide reference for screening swallowing function in adults in the future.</p>

Protection from noise-induced hearing loss by a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor and neurotrophin 3 in the guinea pig cochlea / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the protective effect of nitric oxide synthase inhibitor-N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) with or without neurotrophin 3 (NT3) on hearing in acoustic trauma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighty pigmented male guinea pigs were randomly divided into two groups: sham-exposed group (n=20) and noise-exposed group. The latter was divided into three subgroups: saline group (n=20), L-NAME group (n=20) and L-NAME + NT3 group (n=20). Two days consecutively and 30 min before noise exposure (4 kHz octave band noise at 115 dB SPL for 5 h), subjects in L-NAME and L-NAME + NT3 groups received an intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/kg; animals in saline group received the same dosage of physiological saline at the same time. Four days before noise exposure, NT3 in artificial perilymph was delivered to the right scala tympani via a mini-osmotic pump in noise + L-NAME + NT3 group. Auditory brainstem responses (ABR) were measured before and 10 days following noise exposure. The cochlear tissue was assayed for nitric oxide (NO) level 3 days after noise exposure. Protection was assessed physiologically by the change in ABR threshold shift, and histologically by outer hair cell (OHC) survival.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The hearing thresholds and the number of OHC were relatively stable in sham-exposed group. The obvious threshold shift and OHC loss were observed in the noise-exposed groups. The hearing thresholds, NO level of cochlear tissue and OHC loss in the noise + saline group were significantly higher than those in the noise + L-NAME group (P < 0.01) and noise + L-NAME + NT3 group (P < 0.01). NT3 provided an additive functional (P < 0.01), but not morphological protection with L-NAME (P = 0.095).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compared to L-NAME alone, a combination of L-NAME and NT-3 can provide an additional protection against acoustic trauma in the guinea pig cochlear.</p>