Does topical use of autologous serum help to reduce post-tonsillectomy morbidity? A prospective, controlled preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effects of autologous serum usage on throat pain, haemorrhage and tonsillar fossa epithelisation in patients after tonsillectomy. METHODS: Thirty-two patients (aged 4-15 years) were included in the study. Tonsillectomy was performed and autologous serum was administered topically to the right tonsillar fossa during the operation, and at 8 and 24 hours post-operatively. The left side served as the control. A visual analogue scale was used to record the patient's pain every day. Each patient's oropharynx was observed on the 5th and 10th post-operative days to examine bleeding and epithelisation. RESULTS: The pain scores for the side administered autologous serum were significantly lower than those for the control side, on the night following the operation and on the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th post-operative days. Tonsillar fossa epithelisation was significantly accelerated on the study side compared with the control side on the 5th and 10th post-operative days. CONCLUSION: In tonsillectomy patients, topically administered autologous serum contributed to throat pain relief and tonsillar fossa epithelisation during the post-operative period.

Influence of noise exposure on antioxidant system and TEOAEs in rabbits.

Noise exposure may cause hearing loss. The precise mechanism leading to cochlear damage in aco trauma is not known. Eight rabbits were used in this study. Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) were recorded in all animals and blood malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels were determined. All rabbits were then exposed to 100 dB SPL broadband noise for 1 h. TEOAEs were recorded again and blood MDA and GSH levels determined following noise exposure. The reproducibility scores of the TEOAE measurements were found to be significantly lower (P < 0.01), whereas the amplitudes and signal-to-noise values of emissions decreased (P > 0.01) in rabbits exposed to noise. The TEOAE energies were poor at 4 kHz. During this threshold shift, GSH blood levels decreased and MDA levels increased,indicating that there is a close relationship between noise-induced hearing loss and the antioxidant system. These findings indicate that TEOAE recording is an excellent test for detecting effects of noise on hearing.

Etiology of deafness in Afyon school for the deaf in Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: Otolaryngologists play an important role in the evaluation of children with a hearing impairment. The group of unknown cause still has a high incidence. The purposes of this study were to determine the etiology of deafness in Afyon School for the Deaf in Turkey and to compare the results with the other studies from Turkey and other countries. METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis of 130 deaf students, aged 5-16 years. Medical and family histories of the children were obtained. Clinical and laboratory examinations were carried out. RESULTS: Etiological groups showed the following distribution: febril convulsion, 26.9%; cause unknown, 26.1%; hereditary group, 23.8%; meningitis, 10%; measles, 6.1%; and miscellaneous, 6.6%. A total of 90.3% of the students with hereditary deafness were from consanguineous families. A marital consanguinity was noted in the parents of 64 (49.2%) of all children in the school and this rate was higher than the average in Turkey (P<0.05). Neither syndromic deafness nor maternal rubella was identified. A total of 27.6% of the cases were diagnosed after the age of 30 months. CONCLUSION: Febril convulsions and hereditary factors were the major causes of hearing loss in the present study. The high incidence of consanguineous marriage among the parents of the children with hereditary deafness seemed a strong evidence of genetic origin, indicating a close relationship between them. Congenital rubella syndrome did not appear as a significant etiology of deafness in Turkey.