Evaluation of the Effect of Antibiotics and Splints on the Result of Septal Mucosal Culture After Septoplasty.

Purpose: Post operation infection after septoplasty is very rare, possibly due to excessive nasal blood supply. Most otorhinolaryngologists recommend antibiotics after septoplasty; however, controversial results were available. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effect of antibiotics after septoplasty. Methods: In this study, 90 patients who were candidates for septoplasty were entered the study and divided into three groups. The first group did not receive any oral antibiotics after septoplasty. The second group took 500 mg of oral cephalexin. The third group, for whom splints were used, also received cephalexin. The culture of the nasal mucosa was prepared before and two weeks after surgery and compared between groups. Then, the amount and types of mucosa microorganisms were reported. Data were analyzed using SPSS16. Results: The growth significantly increased in the first group (p = 0.051) and reduced in the second group (p < 0.001). While a decreased growth rate was observed in the third group, it was not statistically significant (p = 0.12). Conclusion: The present study highlighted the beneficial role of prophylactic antibiotics administration in patients without splints on bacterial growth, while it had no effect in patients with splints. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-023-03665-w.

Neurofeedback Training Versus Perceptual-motor Exercises Interventions in Visual Attention for Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders characterized by poor attention and subsequently lower learning abilities than normal children. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of neurofeedback and perceptual-motor exercises as two common nonpharmacological treatments for visual attention. Methods: A total of 40 combined medicated ADHD children (aged 5-12 years) were randomly allocated into two groups: neurofeedback training and perceptual-motor exercises. Visual attention and motor proficiency were assessed before and after the treatment by continuous performance test (CPT) and Bruininks-Oseretsky Test (BOT), respectively. Results: According to repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), both groups showed significant improvement in three attention-related areas of CPT, including reaction time, omission, and commission errors (P<0.001), while the difference between the two groups was not significant (P>0.05). However, in the perceptual-motor exercises group, motor proficiency improved significantly (P<0.01). Conclusion: Neurofeedback training intervention, as well as perceptual-motor exercises, are effective in improving ADHD symptoms, and given the similar effect of both interventions and their lack of side effects, perceptual-motor exercises appear to be the more appropriate option for reducing symptoms of ADHD, because of its additional effect on motor proficiency, rich content of purposeful activities, and social interactions. Highlights: Neurofeedback training intervention promote attention in ADHD;Perceptual-motor exercises improve ADHD symptoms;Perceptual-motor exercises has an additional effect on motor proficiency. Plain Language Summary: The effectiveness and cost of interventions is an important issue. The result of this study revealed although neuro-feedback training intervention as well as perceptual-motor exercises are effective in improving ADHD symptoms, perceptual-motor exercises seem more appropriate option for reducing symptoms of ADHD, due to its additional effect on motor proficiency.

The complexity of simple counting: ERP findings reveal early perceptual and late numerical processes in different arrangements.

The counting process can only be fully understood when taking into account the visual characteristics of the sets counted. Comparing behavioral data as well as event-related brain potentials (ERPs) evoked by different task-irrelevant arrangements of dots during an exact enumeration task, we aimed to investigate the effect of illusory contour detection on the counting process while other grouping cues like proximity were controlled and dot sparsity did not provide a cue to the numerosity of sets. Adult participants (N = 37) enumerated dots (8-12) in irregular and two different types of regular arrangements which differed in the shape of their illusory dot lattices. Enumeration speed was affected by both arrangement and magnitude. The type of arrangement influenced an early ERP negativity peaking at about 270 ms after stimulus onset, whereas numerosity only affected later ERP components (> 300 ms). We also observed that without perceptual cues, magnitude was constructed at a later stage of cognitive processing. We suggest that chunking is a prerequisite for more fluent counting which influences automatic processing (< 300 ms) during enumeration. We conclude that the procedure of exact enumeration depends on the interaction of several perceptual and numerical processes that are influenced by magnitude and arrangement.

Correlations among impairment, daily activities and thinking operations after stroke.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the hypothesis that ADL tests dependent on cortical functions could be used to assess outcome in stroke patients. MATERIALS AND METHOD: 27 right-handed stroke patients were evaluated on National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Barthel Index (BI), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Scale and thinking process items of Lowenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA). RESULTS: Correlations between thinking process subtests of LOTCA and different items of NIHSS such as consciousness, arm movement, aphasia, ataxia and inattention was significant. Spearman correlation of thinking process and BI tasks showed no relationship, although Structured Riska of thinking process evaluation was correlated to both self-care and mobility areas of the BI. Thinking process was strongly related to IADL total score (p = 0.004). The total NIHSS correlated significantly with BI and IADL total scores. CONCLUSION: Higher-order functions, such as categorization, sorting and reasoning, are related to IADL performance which depends on complicated cognitive abilities. In contrast, the BI depends heavily on motoric function, and does not correlate with higher-order functions. Further confirmation is needed, but our data suggest that commonly used IADL tests could serve to as valid, reliable tests of cognitive impairment and recovery in stroke victims.

The correlation of independency in activities of daily living performance with cognitive status and the intensity of neurological impairment in right-handed stroke patients.

PURPOSE: We aimed to investigate whether test performance in neurological and cognitive areas is able to predict daily task performance in stroke patients and if the two selected measures of stroke severity and cognitive function could be used as valid tools to predict functional outcomes after stroke. METHOD: We assessed 27 stroke patients (hemorrhagic and infarct) through Barthel Index (BI), Lowenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA) and National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) in the first 6 months after stroke. RESULTS: The correlation of intensity of neurological impairment (NIHSS score) and ADL performance (BI score) was significant (P < 0/05), but we found no relation between general cognitive function (the total score of LOTCA) and individual independence (total score of BI). Although ADL performance areas associated with some cognitive components. CONCLUSION: The dependency after stroke is more affected by physical symptoms of stroke than by cognitive disorders. Moreover, the intensity of neurological impairment could be a better explanation for a patient's inability to perform basic ADL independently. Low direct relations in total scores of NIHS scale and BI was found, but LOTCA is not appropriate for prediction of independency in basic ADL performance after stroke. Nevertheless, further studies and confirmation are needed.