Significance of the items for Dizziness Handicap Inventory in differential diagnosis of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo / 中南大学学报(医学版)

To explore the value of items for the Chinese version of Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) in differential diagnosis of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) in patients with vertigo or dizziness first coming to the outpatient clinic.
 Methods: A total of 322 patients with vertigo or dizziness, who came from Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, were enrolled from April 2016 to February 2017. The Chinese version of DHI and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were completed by themselves. After detailed vestibular function examination, the patients were divided into a BPPV group, a normal vestibular group, and a abnormal vestibular group.
 Results: The score of DHI-2 in the BPPV group was 5.52±2.10, which was higher than that in the normal vestibular group (3.94±2.91)(t=3.847, P0.05).
 Conclusion: DHI-2 and DHI-item 13 should be included in the inquiry of disease history at the time of first diagnosis, which can be used to identify patients with BPPV quickly and effectively.

Clinical characteristics of tinnitus complaint: an analysis of 453 patients / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the clinical characteristics of tinnitus complaint.@*METHOD@#The information of 628 patients with subjective tinnitus was collected using questionnaires from October, 2013 to June, 2014. Among them, 453 cases were included in this study, whose quality of life and sleep were significantly affected. Then we elucidated the features of tinnitus, tinnitus incentives and systemic diseases and analyzed their relationship.@*RESULT@#The proportion of the patients complaint was highest in gruop ≤ 30 y. The patients with tinnitus complaint were more likely to have persistent tinnitus with higher loudness VAS scores than their counterparts. 65.4% of the total patients had at least one treatment (52.2% of patients can tolerate, and only 13. 2% can not tolerate). More patients had cranial Ming on the left than on the right ear. The proportion of patients with polyphony in bilateral tinnitus was higher than those with unilateral tinnitus (P < 0.05). Moreover, 59% patients had tinnitus inducing factors, and 44% patients had systemic comorbidities (The three most frequently involved systems were otolaryngologic, cardiovascular and digestive system). There was no significantly statistical difference of the tinnitus severity between patients with other systematic diseases and those without.@*CONCLUSION@#Patients with tinnitus complaint were younger in age (≤ 30 y) and more likely to have persistent tinnitus with higher loudness VAS scores Predisposing factors are closely associated with mental or physical trauma. The accompanied diseases can be classified by organ system.

Correlation between risk factors of hearing lose and results of initial hearing screening in 1021 neonates / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the risk factors of the newborns who failed initial hearing screening by analysing the distortion production otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) results of 1021 newborns with potential risk factors of hearing loss.@*METHOD@#All newborns, who were born in obstetrical department and admitted in the neonatal department of the Nanfang Hospital during June 2009 to January 2012 and underwent initial hearing screening, were included in this study. Their clinical data and DPOAE results were analyzed retrospectively in order to identify the risk factors for failure of initial hearing screening in infants; cases who failed the DPOAE test were followed up by telephone interviews.@*RESULT@#(1) One hundred and thirty-seven cases (13.42%) of the 1021 newborns did not pass the hearing screening. 51 cases (5.00%) did not pass the test in both ears. Meanwhile, left ear in 47 cases (4.60%) and right ear in another 39 cases (3.82%) failed the test respectively. (2) Univariate analysis showed that 14 factors had significant influence on the hearing screening results, such as birth weight, small for gestational age, multiple pregnancy, gestational age, delivery mode, oligohydramnion, oxytocin, blood sugar level of newborn, Apgar scores at 1 min, exposed prenatally to glucocorticoid, maxillofacial deformity, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, neonatal respiratory distress syndrome and neonatal asphyxia (P < 0.01). (3) Multivariate Logistic regression analysis suggested that birthweight less than 1500 g, multiple pregnancy, Apgar scores of 0-4 at 1 min, exposed prenatally to glucocorticoid and maxillofacial deformity were risk factors for failure of initial hearing screening (OR were 3.132, 1.808, 2.615, 1.827 and 12.174 respectively; 95% CI were 1.466-6.691, 1.120-2.917, 1.317-5.336, 1.130-2.953 and 1.986-74.632 respectively). (4) Results of telephone interviews revealed that Apgar scores of 0-4 at 1 min would be a risk factor of language development.@*CONCLUSION@#Birthweight less than 1500 g, multiple pregnancy, Apgar scores of 0-4 at 1 min, exposed prenatally to glucocorticoid and maxillofacial deformity are risk factors of failure of initial hearing screening among newborns with potential hearing loss. Monitoring of the hearing condition of the infants at risk should be strengthened.

The clinical efficacy of composite acoustic therapy in patients of sudden deafness with tinnitus / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To determine whether the composite acoustic therapy is effective to treat tinnitus in patients with sudden deafness and to explore the mechanisms.@*METHOD@#Ninety-six cases (96 ears) were divided into experimental group and control group, and all the patients underwent drug treatment. The patients in experimental group were given personalized composite acoustic therapy in the first 30 days, music therapy in next 31-90 days, however, the patients in control group were not given sound therapy. Additionally, pure tone audiogram, tinnitus pitch and loudness as well as questionnaires (including THI, VAS, and SAS) were conducted for each patient before treatment, at day 30 and day 90 posttreatment.@*RESULT@#Eighty-nine patients (n = 47 for experimental group and n = 42 for control group) completed the trial. The results of day 30 posttreatment showed there were no significant differences in VAS and hearing recovery rate between these two groups, but THI and SAS showed significant differences. The results of day 90 posttreatment showed significant differences in VAS (P < 0.05), THI (P < 0.01) and SAS (P < 0.01), and no significant difference of hearing recovery rate was detected. The most significant changes of VAS appeared in the first 30 days of treatment. The hearing and tinnitus recovery in experimental group were better for the first 30 days of treatment than for the next 31-90 days, and similar results were obtaind in control group. (P < 0.01).@*CONCLUSION@#Composite acoustic treatment combined with drug therapy can improve the tinnitus and anxiety symptoms of patients with sudden deafness, and the effect on hearing recovery still need to be confirmed in further studies.

Clinical significance of plasma miR-24 dysregulation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To examine the expression level of miR-24 in the plasma of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients and investigate the clinical significance of miR-24 in NPC development.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Blood samples were from 217 NPC patients admitted in our Department between December, 2007 and June, 2011, with those from 73 patients with chronic purulent otitis media or chronic sinusitis as control. The follow-up data of all the patients were reviewed and the expression of miR-24 in the plasma was examined by qRT-PCR. The correlation of miR-24 expression with clinical staging of NPC was analyzed, and miR-24 levels before and after the treatment were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the control group, the NPC patients showed significantly up-regulated level of miR-24 in the plasma (P<0.001). Plasma miR-24 level differed significantly among patients with different T stages (P=0.007) and was negatively correlated with the N stages (P=0.028) and plasma EBV-DNA (P=0.048). The expression levels of miR-24 were significantly reduced after treatment in the NPC patients and were significantly lowered in patients without relapse or metastasis (P=0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Plasma miR-24 may serve as a novel molecular biomarker for early diagnosis and prognosis of NPC.</p>