ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The clinical utility of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) has been well established in childhood hearing screenings. As middle ear negative pressure prevails in normal children, and since all OAEs must be transmitted through the middle ear before they can be measured in the ear canal, OAEs can be affected by middle ear negative pressure. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the effect of middle ear negative pressure on the detectability of OAEs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: TEOAEs were recorded for 36 ears using click before & after tonsillectomy and, or adenoidectomy (T and, or A) operations. Before & after T and or A operations, DPOAEs were generated at six geometric mean frequencies between 1-6 kHz for two different groups, Group I (40 ears) and Group II (36 ears). Group I: 3(f2/f1) ratios (1.21, 1.22 and 1.23) were used at the fixed stimulus level (70-70 dB SPL). Group II:3 stimulus levels were used (70-70 dB SPL, 60-70 dB SPL and 30-40 dB SPL). RESULTS: The negative middle ear pressure attenuated low frequency emission more than high frequency emission. CONCLUSION: Negative middle ear pressure may increase false alarm. So pneumatic otoscopy and aural immittance testing should be utilized to predict the feasibility of applying OAEs in childhood hearing screening test.
Subject(s)
Child , Humans , Adenoidectomy , Ear , Ear Canal , Ear, Middle , Hearing , Mass Screening , Otoscopy , TonsillectomyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The eosinophil plays an important role in allergic inflammation and the eosinophil cationic proteins (ECP) is one of the major granular proteins during its activation. ECP is proved to have an eosinophil specificity and reflects the activity of the eosinophil in the target site. We tried to identify the difference in the ECP levels between the nasal secretion of allergic and nonallergic rhinitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In order to draw a correlation between the ECP level and other diagnostic methods of allergy, we examined ECP in serum and nasal secretion of 20 patients with mite allergy and 20 non-allergic rhinitis patients. We also performed symptom questionnaires, acoustic rhinometry, the Wright-Giemsa staining of nasal brushings, and total amount of IgE in nasal secretion. RESULTS: ECP level in the nasal secretion of allergic patients after allergen challenge was higher than that of non-allergic rhinitis patients (p=0.026). We also found that the ECP level of allergic patients was higher after allergen provocation than before (p=0.005). Additionally, there was a negative correlation between the minimal cross-sectional area in acoustic rhinometry and the ECP level in the nasal secretion before the challenge (r=- 0.54, p=0.01). CONCLUSION: We concluded that ECP is the soluble marker which reflects the severity of allergic inflammation in the nose and is useful for diagnosis as well as in the follow-up care of nasal allergic inflammation.