A Case of the Audiotory Neuropathy / 대한이비인후과학회지

Auditory neuropathy is a recently described hearing disorder in which patients demonstrate hearing loss for pure tones, impaired word discrimination out of proportion to pure tone loss, absent or abnormal auditory brainstem responses (ABR), but normal outer hair cell function as measured by otoacoustic emissions and cochlear microphonics. Auditory neuropathy affects the normal synchronous activity in the auditory nerve, without affecting the amplification function in the inner ear. There is impairment in their temporal processing in the auditory nerve. So patients can hear sounds, but can not understand speech. Auditory neuropathy occurs either in isolation or as a part of a generalized neuropathy. We have identified one pediatric patient who demonstrated hearing defects and developed signs for peripheral neuropathy. We report it with a review of literatures.

The Protective Effect of Free Oxygen Radical Inhibitors on Na-salicylate Induced Cochlear Damage in Guinea Pig / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To elucidate the mechanism of salicylate ototoxicity of free oxygen radicals (FORs), we made an animal model with Na-salicylate cochlear toxicity and evaluated the protective effect of free oxygen radical inhibitors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Na-salicylate soaked in gelfoam was placed on the round window niche of guinea pigs for 2 hours. After removal of gelfoam, electrocochleography and evoked otoacoustic emission test were performed at regular time intervals. These tests were repeated to see the protective effect of FORs inhibitors after the injection of allopurinol or superoxide dismutase (SOD). RESULTS: Hearing loss was noted after removal of gelfoam which was soaked with Na-salicylate. After 6 hours, these ototoxicity effects disappeared. The OAE test showed similar response. FORs inhibitors showed protective effects and SOD was more effective than allopurinol. CONCLUSION: These results support the idea that FORs activity contributes to ototoxicity of Na-salicylate. This damage can be diminished by treatment with drugs that scavenge and inhibit the formation of FORs.

Evaluation of Clinical Validity of Cross-Cultural Smell Identification Test (CC-SIT) in Korean / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The development of a l2-item Cross-Cultural Smell Identification Test (CC-SIT) was based upon items from the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), The selected CC-SIT items were familiar to most persons from American, European, and Asian cultures. Since there were no reports about its clinical validity for Koreans, we evaluated its identifiability in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The CC-SIT were administered to 30 normal subjects and 32 patients with decreased sense of smell, and compared with those of the Korean K-SIT and buthanol threshold test (BTT), items of which many Koreans are familiar with. RESULTS: In the normal group, the mean percent-correct scores of CC- SIT and K-SIT were 87.5+/-7.8% and 90.5+/-9.7%, respectively. In the patient group, the scores were 48.2+/-14.1 and 49.6+/-10.2%, respectively. The results of CC-SIT showed a high correlation with the K-SIT (gamma=0.822, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The CC- SIT can be used as an olfactory identification test for Koreans.