Diagnostics

Cochlear Implants in Previously Radiated Ears

Patients with neurofibramatosis type 2 (NF2) require individual and challenging management/treatment decisions that may include observation, surgery, or stereotactic radiation therapy (RT). Although the majority of cases appear to have genetically inherited NF2, some 40 percent of new cases are spontaneous mutations. In NF2 patients, bilateral tumors represent multiple and complex management dilemmas.

Electrocochleography

Electrocochleography (ECochG) has been part of the audiologist's armamentarium since the 1930s. Ferraro (2010) offers a new and insightful review of the many applications for ECochG. In particular, he notes that external recordings (extratympanic, ET) are the most popular and optimal non-invasive method, as they avoid puncturing the tympanic membrane while providing the same features (summating potential, SP and action potential, AP) as transtympanic (TT) recordings.

When Cochlear Implants and Hearing Aids Overlap

Zhang, Spahr, and Dorman (2010) assessed speech recognition in eight adult, post-lingually deafened, monaurally fitted cochlear implant (CI) patients. Seven of the patients wore hearing aids (HAs) in the contralateral ear. An area of "frequency overlap" between HA and CI perceptions was present between approximately 250 and 750 Hz as all eight patients had residual hearing less than or equal to 65 dB HL at 500 Hz and below, and had residual hearing greater than or equal to 65 dB HL at 1000 Hz and higher.

Cochlear Implants and Hearing Preservation

For many patients with poor word recognition abilities, good low-frequency hearing and poor high-frequency hearing, cochlear implantation has historically been dismissed. These patients have typically not been implanted due to the potential for additional hearing loss (i.e., loss of residual hearing) through trauma sustained during deep electrode insertion. Further, It is well known that low-frequency hearing contributes to pitch and spectral resolution, as well as interaural timing differences (ITDs).

Predicting Acoustic Neuroma Growth

If one could predict which acoustic neuroma (AN) was likely to grow, which might remain stable, and which might regress, it would significantly impact treatment protocols. ANs represent 6 percent of all intracranial tumors and 85 percent of all tumors in the cerebellopontine angle (CPA). In the United States, roughly 2000 to 3000 new cases are diagnosed annually.

The Clinical Utility of Electrocochleography

Nguyen, Harris, and Nguyen (2010) examined the clinical utility of electrocochleography (ECoG) as revealed through a 13-item survey from members of the American Otological Society (AOS) and the American Neurotology Society (ANS). The authors sent out 344 surveys that produced 143 responses (42 percent).

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss and Musicians

Presbyacusis is the most common sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the second most common. NIHL has a multitude of possible causes and risk factors including traumatic impulse sounds, repeated exposure to high intensity sounds, chemical exposure, ototoxic medications, smoking, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, kidney failure, and more. However, susceptibility to NIHL varies among individuals.

Complex Stimuli and ABR

Clinicians and scientists were previously taught that ABR is/was essentially dependent on brief stimuli with very fast onset times, such as clicks and tone pips etc.

Digital Noise Reduction and Speech Perception

It has been previously demonstrated that younger children with normal hearing and younger children with hearing loss do worse with regard to speech perception in noise, than do older children. Specifically, younger children need a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than do older children (and adults) to perform at the same/similar level. Stelmachowicz et al (2010) report that previous adult-based studies have shown noise reduction (NR) does improve listening comfort and does decrease listening effort. However, NR does not improve or impair speech recognition in noisy backgrounds.

Screening for NIHL via OAEs?

Helleman, Jansen, and Dreschler evaluated 233 workers exposed to printing office noises via pure-tone (PT) audiometry as well as transient-evoked and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs and DPOAEs, respectively) over a 17-month period. The overall median age of the employees was 42 years and included 99 percent males. Two primary issues were investigated: (1) A quality criterion of OAEs based on signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and (2) the effects of noise exposure with respect to audiograms and OAEs.