İsTemihan Akin

BACKGROUND: To compare the quality of life scores of children with monoaural cochlear implants (CIs) aged 4-16 with those of normally hearing (NH) children and parents’ reports.METHODS: The KINDL-R questionnaire that measures health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was delivered to 72 children aged 4-16 years and their parents. The children were divided into 3 subgroups of 4-7, 8-11, and 12-16 years and asked to report their quality of life from their own perspectives. The parents were divided into 2 subgroups for 4-7 aged and 8-16 aged children and were asked to report their child’s quality of life status from their perspectives. The QoL scores of children with CI in the 3 subgroups were compared with the scores of their parents and NH peers.RESULTS: The total scores of children with CIs in all subgroups were significantly worse than NH peers. The total scores of parents and children with CIs in all subgroups revealed no statistically significant differences. In the correlation analysis, the age of implantation was negatively correlated with the total score both in 8-11 (ρ: −0.777) and 12-16 year subgroups (ρ: −0.591). Similarly, the implant usage duration was positively correlated with the total score in all age groups.CONCLUSION: Children with CI experience worse QoL status than their NH peers. The possible causes of the lower QoL scores following cochlear implantation must be investigated. Reports from parents on their children’s QoL status are reliable.

Cartilage has been used in otologic surgery for ossicular reconstruction and grafting since 1960s. Due to low metabolic rate, stiffness and stability properties with regard to fascia, it is thought to be more effective in tympanoplasty. With the help of this measurement technique, redundant oversized harvesting of cartilage can be prevented and overmanuplation during graft replacement especially after a delicate ossiculoplasty procedure can be avoided. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the preparation of optimal island cartilage composite graft with a simple sterile suture package template for the appropriate size of the tympanic membrane perforation, and to provide a functional surgery with minimal donor site defect and minimal manipulation. With this technique, 143 patients with chronic otitis have been operated in our clinic. No complications with respect to this method, have been observed up to date. Using an easily prepared template is a simple and effective method for measuring the perforation size.

Phenytoin is an anticonvulsant drug which causes fibroblast proliferation, collagen synthesis, and an increase in epidermal growth factor. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of phenytoin injection on the wound healing process in rats with vocal cord injury by histopathological methods. The vocal cords of 10 albino Wistar rats were damaged bilaterally; the left vocal cord was kept as the control group. Phenytoin was injected in the right vocal cord. Ten rats were sacrificed. The thickness of the lamina propria and density of the fibroblast and collagen were evaluated histopathologically. Thickness of the lamina propria was 18.0 ± 7.1 μm in the control group, 65.5 ± 10.7 μm in the phenytoin group. The density of fibroblast and collagen were statistically lower in the control group compared the phenytoin group (P < 0.05). Phenytoin injection in rats after vocal cord injury significantly increased the thickness of the lamina propria and density of fibroblast and regular and mature collagen in the lamina propria. The findings in our study provide a feasible scientific view for adding phenytoin treatment to vocal cord surgeries in otolaryngology practice, but further studies are needed in order to evaluate the use of phenytoin in preventing the formation of scar tissue and possible effects on vocal cord vibration in humans after vocal cord injury.

This study was conducted to determine the critical partial oxygen pressure (pO2) value that would impair hearing function by evaluating the effects of hypoxia on hearing function in subjects diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (CPOD). The study included 25 male and 5 female patients referred to our clinic who were diagnosed with COPD, according to spirometry and PaO2 values, and who did not show pathology upon autoscopic examination. The control group consisted of 14 female and 16 male patients who had no lung disease and were in the same age range as the COPD group. A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups for distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) (P < 0.001). The COPD group was divided into two groups according to pO2 levels (pO2 ≤ 70 and pO2 > 70) in order to find a critical pO2 level which might cause significant change at a certain audiological extent. Hypoxia causes long-term decline in hearing thresholds, deterioration of DPOAE results, and prolongation of I–V interpeak latency in auditory brainstem response. However, the critical oxygen level that disrupts hearing function could not be determined.