Prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss and its association with glycemic control in Filipino patients with diabetes at the Philippine General Hospital / Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies

@#<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>BACKGROUND:</strong> Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is a form of diabetic neuropathy. Its prevalence rate varies from 21.7-73.3% among different populations. The association of this complication with long-term glycemic control has not been described extensively.<br /><strong>OBJECTIVES:</strong> The study aims to determine the prevalence of SNHL in Filipino patients with diabetes consulting in a tertiary hospital; and to determine the association of SNHL with the degree of blood sugar control as measured by the mean hemoglobin bA1c (HbA1c) for the last five years.<br /><strong>METHODOLOGY</strong>: A cross-sectional study of 128 patients in a tertiary hospital was done. Patients were recruited via stratified random sampling with the different clinics as the stratifying variable. They underwent physical examination and pure tone audiometry (PTA) to detect presence of SNHL and presence of distal peripheral neuropathy. Chart review was done to gather the HbA1c levels for the last five years, as well as data on the presence of retinopathy and nephropathy. The average HbA1c levels, and other clinical and demographic factors and their association with SNHL were analyzed using logistic regression.<br /><strong>RESULTS:</strong> The prevalence of SNHL among patients with diabetes is 45.31%. Glycemic control does not seem to be associated with SNHL (p value 0.451, OR 1.447). Age was found to be significantly associated with SNHL (p value=0.046, OR=1.035). Among patients age 60 years old and below, retinopathy was significantly associated with SNHL (p value 0.023, OR=3.564). Multivariate analysis did not show any significant predictor for SNHL. There was no observed difference in the proportion of patients with SNHL among males (48.94%) compared to females (43.21%), p value of 0.530. A more advanced age is associated with SNHL among males (p value 0.024, OR=1.095) and a family history of hearing loss is an independent predictor of SNHL (p value 0.047, OR=1.088).<br /><strong>CONCLUSION:</strong> There is a high prevalence rate of SNHL among Filipino patients with diabetes. SNHL does not seem to be associated with glycemic control. Screening for SNHL maybe warranted for patients with diabetes due to its high prevalence rate regardless of glycemic control. Hearing care, focusing on prevention of hearing loss, should be advocated for patients with diabetes mellitus</p>

Granulation tissue mimicking a glomus tumor in a patient with chronic middle ear infection

@#<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>OBJECTIVE:</strong> To present an unusual cause of pulsatile tinnitus, presenting in a young adult suffering from chronic recurrent foul-smelling discharge from the same ear.<br /><strong>METHODS:</strong><br /><strong>Design:</strong> Case Report<br /><strong>Setting:</strong> Tertiary National University Hospital<br /><strong>Patient:</strong> One<br /><strong>RESULTS:</strong> A 24 year-old woman presented with pulsatile tinnitus on a background of chronic recurrent foul-smelling discharge. Clinico-radiologic findings seemed consistent with a glomus tympanicum coexisting with chronic suppurative otitis media with cholesteatoma. She underwent tympanomastoidectomy with excision of the mass. Histopathologic evaluation revealed the mass to be granulation tissue.<br /><strong>CONCLUSION:</strong> Pulsatile tinnitus is rarely associated with chronic middle ear infection. Granulation tissue arising at the promontory may mimic glomus tumors when accompanied with this symptom. Despite this revelation, it would still be prudent to prepare for a possible glomus tumor intraoperatively so that profuse bleeding and complications may be avoided.</p>

Preliminary results of static tests of balance among asymptomatic normal Filipino adult volunteers

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of age, ex and body index on selected static tests of balance and to generate referance normtive data among the different population groups. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 100 asymptomatic normal adult Filipino volunteers, aged 20 to 69 years were tasked to perform selected static balance tests. These tests included classic Romberg (CR), Romberg with Jendrassik (RJ) maneuver, tandem Romberg (TR), standing on foam with feet apart (SOFFA), standing on foam with feet together (SOFFT) and standing on one leg (SOL). All tests were done with eyes opened (EO) followed by eyes closed (EC) for 30 seconds each. Volunteers were grouped into age groups by decades, normative values were obtained and effects of age, sex and body mass index, if any, on performance of the various tests were determined. RESULTS: All volunteers were able to do the CR and RJ maneuver for 30 seconds. All were able to perform for 30 seconds the TREO, SOFFA EO and SOFFT EO procedures. Some volunteers were unable to complete the TREC, SOFFA EC, SOFFT EC, SOL EO and SOL EC procedures. The mean performance duration values for TREC, SOFFA EC, SOFFT EC, SOL EO AND SOL EC were significantly negatively correlated with age. Although majority of tests were negatively correlated with body mass index, the correlations were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Age significantly affects selected static balance performance whereas sex and body mass index do not significantly affect selected static balance performance. The normative values generated in this study are inconclusive because of inadequate sample size, particularly in the older age group. The results, however, showed the potential value of the 5th percentile as a normative norm in systematically assessing the involvement of the vesticular, visual and proprioceptive organs i balance function.