[Reliability and validity analysis of simplified Chinese version of QOL questionnaire of olfactory disorders].

Objective:To cross-culturally translate the questionnaire of olfactory disorders(QOD)into a simplified Chinese version, and evaluate its reliability and validity in clinical.Method:A simplified Chinese version of the QOD was evaluated in test-retest reliability, split-half reliability and internal consistency.Then it was evaluated in validity test including content validity, criterion-related validity, responsibility. Criterion-related validity was using the medical outcome study's 36-item short rorm health survey(SF-36) and the World Health Organization quality of life-brief (WHOQOL-BREF) for comparison. Result: A total of 239 patients with olfactory dysfunction were enrolled and tested, in which 195 patients completed all three surveys(QOD, SF-36, WHOQOL-BREF). The test-retest reliabilities of the QOD-parosmia statements(QOD-P), QOD-quality of life(QOD-QoL), and the QOD-visual simulation(QOD-VAS)sections were 0.799(P<0.01),0.781(P<0.01),0.488(P<0.01), respectively, and the Cronbach' s α coefficients reliability were 0.477,0.812,0.889,respectively.The split-half reliability of QOD-QoL was 0.89. There was no correlation between the QOD-P section and the SF-36, but there were statistically significant correlations between the QOD-QoL and QOD-VAS sections with the SF-36. There was no correlation between the QOD-P section and the WHOQOL-BREF, but there were statistically significant correlations between the QOD-QoL and QOD-VAS sections with the SF-36 in most sections.Conclusion:The simplified Chinese version of the QOD was testified to be a reliable and valid questionnaire for evaluating patients with olfactory dysfunction living in mainland of China.The QOD-P section needs further modifications to properly adapt patients with Chinese cultural and knowledge background.

Association of olfactory bulb volume and olfactory sulcus depth with olfactory function in patients with Parkinson disease.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Olfactory dysfunction is commonly associated with IPD. We here report the association of OB volume and OS depth with olfactory function in patients with PD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Morphometric analyses by using MR imaging and the Japanese T&T olfactometer threshold test were used to evaluate olfactory structure and function in 29 patients with PD and 29 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. RESULTS: The olfactory recognition thresholds were significantly higher in patients with PD than in healthy controls (3.82 ± 1.25 versus 0.45 ± 0.65, P<.001). Olfactory atrophy with reductions in the volume of the OB (37.30 ± 10.23 mm(3) versus 44.87 ± 11.84 mm(3), P<.05) and in the depth of OS (8.90 ± 1.42 mm versus 9.67 ± 1.24 mm, P<.05) was observed in patients with PD but not in controls. Positive correlations between olfactory performance and OB volumes were observed in both patients with PD (r=-0.45, P<.0001) and in controls (r=-0.42, P<.0001). In contrast, there was no significant correlation between the depth of OS and olfactory function in either cohort. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide evidence that early olfactory dysfunction in patients with PD may be a primary consequence of damage to the OB. Neuroimaging of olfactory structures together with the assessment of olfactory function may be used to identify patients with PD.

[Nasopharyngeal stenosis following uvulopalatopharyngoplasty].

OBJECTIVE: To report nasopharyngeal stenosis following UPPP and our treatment experience. METHOD: Two clinical cases were analysised. RESULT: In this paper, the complications were attributed to excessive excision palapharyngeal arches, which juried mucous membrane of nasopharyngeal inlet during the long management time as bleeding and the laser used. Surgical management was performed in two cases. One failed. One was treated successfully by rotation palato-pharyngeal flap and prolonged nasopharyngeal stent, Follow-up 20 months there was no recurrence of stenosis. CONCLUSION: Surgical correction of nasopharyngeal stenosis following UPPP is challenging and the best treatment is prevention.

[Analyse of the site of lesion in auditory neuropathy].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinic signs, the site of lesion and terminology of a kind of hearing loss which is characterized by speech hearing loss. METHOD: The data of 11 patients were collected and analyzed including the clinic symptoms, pure tone audiometry, acoustic impedance audiometry, auditory brainstem response (ABR), electrocochleogram(ECochG), distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE), CT/MRI. RESULT: All these cases had following contradictory phenomena: Pure tone audiograms were low-frequency hearing loss; ABRs were absent or seriously abnormal, and ABR response threshold was worse than pure tone threshold and click subjective threshold; ECochG could be recorded in some patients; The stapes muscle reflex was absent; DPOAEs were normal or near normal, the average amplitude of low-frequency was higher than normal hearing group, but the average amplitude of high frequency was lower than normal hearing group; The imaging examination did not show any abnormality. CONCLUSION: All data of this group show that the sites of lesion in most patients may be in lower brainstem, but the sites of lesion in some patients may be in the spiral ganglion of cochlea. The research of this disease should be continued.

[The effect of superior cervical sympathetic ganglionectomy on cochlear blood flow in guinea pigs].

The effect of superior cervical sympathetic ganglionectomy on cochlear blood flow (CoBF) was observed in 21 guinea pigs. The CoBF was measured with Laser Doppler Flowmeter. The systemic blood pressure (BP) was simultaneously recorded. The elevation of BP as well as the increase in CoBF following ganglionectomy were not statistically significant; the change in CoBF was somewhat consistent with the variation of BP. The results imply that there is no significant effect of superior cervical sympathetic ganglionectomy on CoBF of guinea pigs.

[Cochlear pathology following chronic electrical stimulation in cats].

This study is to follow the faults during safe research of chronic electrical stimulation of auditory nerve. They were surgical trauma; electrode excursion from scala tympani in different periods after insertion, direct current trauma to the cochleas during chronic electrical stimulation due to the stimulator fault. Extensive histopathological changes were observed, including widespread hair cell and spiral ganglion loss and new bone growth. These results have important implications both in the use and design of cochlear prostheses.

[The effects of chronic electrical stimulation on cochlear nucleus in normal hearing kittens].

We examined the effects of long-term electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve on the morphology of neurons in the cochlear nucleus in young, normal hearing kittens. These animals received bilateral intra- and extra-cochlear implants and were stimulated unilaterally for periods of 1,000-1,500 hours. After sacrifice, cross-sectional areas of neuron somata of the cochlear nucleus were measured with an image-analysis system. There were no statistically significant difference among anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN), posteroventral cochlear nucleus (PVCN) and dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) neurons when stimulated sides were compared with unstimulated sides. These results indicate that there were no significant effects of long-term electrical stimulation of auditory nerve on the cross-sectional areas of neuron somata of AVCN, PVCN and DCN in normal hearing kittens.

[Experimental study of extracochlear electric stimulation].

The efficiency and feasibility of chronic extracochlear implantation and electric stimulation were studied in two adult cats and four 2-month kittens. The first electrode was placed on the round window by fixing the lead wire on the bridge of aditus between the middle ear and bulla cavity; the second electrode was placed on the surface of the tympanic promontory; the third was inserted into the temporal muscle out of the bulla and the forth fixed in transverse sinus with dental cement. ABRs and EABRs were recorded pre- and postoperatively and during electric stimulation. The results indicated that: (1) The chronic electric stimulation could be carried on with round window electrode; the fixation of round window electrode is satisfactory without the influence of postnatal skull growth. (2) EABRs evoked by electrically stimulating round window electrode were mainly generated by the auditory system, but its short response was partly generated by the vestibular system. (3) EABRs evoked by electric stimulation of round window electrode were contaminated by facial nerve response which could be inhibited by 2% xylocaine injection of foramen stylomastoid. (4) The EABRs evoked by stimulating tympanic promontory electrode is uncertain.