Effect of Tinnitus in Distortion Products Otoacoustic Emissions (DPOAEs) in Normal Hearing Patients.

Tinnitus is a symptom whose pathophysiology remains still unclear. Its diagnosis and treatment is complicated, due to its subjectivity. The generation of tinnitus is commonly linked with the impaired functioning of the outer hair cells (OHC) inside the cochlea. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) are the objective test used to assess their activity. This study investigates the cochlear outer hair cell function in patients with tinnitus and normal hearing using DPOAEs. We performed a prospective study of the cochlear function in normal hearing patients complaining of tinnitus by analysing DPOAEs amplitude and signal/noise (S/N) ratio. We gathered a sample of 21 ears from adults that attended to the ENT Department complaining of tinnitus with normal hearing. We compared their results with a control group of 21 ears, with the same demographic characteristics, presenting normal hearing but without tinnitus in order to exclude the influence of age in DPOAEs results. A decreased mean of S/N levels in DPOAEs was found in tinnitus and normal hearing group comparing with control group, although these differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Based on the results, OHC dysfunction is not necessary to experience tinnitus. The majority of the patients that present OHC dysfunction do not present a tinnitus at the moment. Other mechanisms in auditory pathway may be evaluated in the tinnitus development.

Cepstral analysis in patients with a vocal fold motility impairment: advantages of the cepstrum over time-based acoustic analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the usefulness of the smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) in sustained vowel as objective measure of dysphonia. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort study. 49 patients presenting a vocal cord motility impairment between 2012 and 2018 were included. METHODS: Classical acoustic parameters, including jitter, shimmer and NHR, as well as the CPPS were obtained for each patient with a vocal cord motility impairment confirmed by means of a fiberoptic laryngoscopy. We calculated the S/E ratio of each patient to establish the glottal efficiency. An independent sample t test and a Pearson correlation test were used to compare data. RESULTS: Patients presenting a vocal cord motility impairment present abnormal values of the CPPS. Those patients presenting a vocal cord paralysis present lower values of those presenting a vocal cord paresis, with statistically significant difference (P < 0.005). CPPS and the S/E ratio present a moderate negative correlation (- 0.29). CONCLUSIONS: Subjects with a vocal cord motility impairment present abnormal values for CPPS and those values are lower, the greater the motility impairment is. Therefore, CPPS presents as an objective, measurable and reproducible acoustic parameter of dysphonia that will improve the evaluation of patients presenting vocal pathologies.

Multicentric recurrent parotid pleomorphic adenoma in a child

Mixed tumours of the parotid gland are rare in childhood and recurrence of this tumour is infrequent. Some authors report a higher rate of recurrence with some histological subtypes, like hypocellular variant. Female sex and young age at initial treatment are also risk factor for recurrence. Also the first surgical treatment, tumoure nucleation or parotidectomy, has been implicated as a cause for recurrence. We present a case of a multicentric doubly recurrent parotid pleomorphic adenoma, 7 and 14 years after tumour enucleation, in a 9-year-old child. All the nodules resected showed the hypocellular variant of pleomorphic adenoma. We consider the relationships between the choice of treatment, the histologic subtypes of pleomorphic adenomas and multifocal tumours and recurrence. In this case, we believe the recurrence was related to surgical enucleation previously performed and the hypocellular histological subtype. We conclude that tumour enucleation is a risk factor for recurrence and total parotidectomy is the treatment of choice for pleomorphic parotid adenoma also in childhood (AU)

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Multicentric recurrent parotid pleomorphic adenoma in a child.

Mixed tumours of the parotid gland are rare in childhood and recurrence of this tumour is infrequent. Some authors report a higher rate of recurrence with some histological subtypes, like hypocellular variant. Female sex and young age at initial treatment are also risk factor for recurrence. Also the first surgical treatment, tumour enucleation or parotidectomy, has been implicated as a cause for recurrence. We present a case of a multicentric doubly recurrent parotid pleomorphic adenoma, 7 and 14 years after tumour enucleation, in a 9-year-old child. All the nodules resected showed the hypocellular variant of pleomorphic adenoma. We consider the relationships between the choice of treatment, the histologic subtypes of pleomorphic adenomas and multifocal tumours and recurrence. In this case, we believe the recurrence was related to surgical enucleation previously performed and the hypocellular histological subtype. We conclude that tumour enucleation is a risk factor for recurrence and total parotidectomy is the treatment of choice for pleomorphic parotid adenoma also in childhood.