Vocal signs and symptoms related to COVID-19 and risk factors for their persistence

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Vocal signs and symptoms related to COVID-19 and risk factors for their persistence Via Journal of Voice Objective: To compare the occurrence of vocal signs and symptoms before, during, and after coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and analyze possible risk factors for the persistence of these signs and symptoms after disease resolution.Method: This was an observational, analytical, and cross-sectional study. The participants were 45 individuals of both sexes, with a mean age of 44 years, who were previously affected by COVID-19. All participants answered a questionnaire about sociodemographic data, smoking history, disease course, vocal complaints, and the vocal signs and symptoms list (SSL), referring to three timepoints (before, during, and after COVID-19). View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Vestibular paroxysmia (VP) is a condition with recurrent short bouts of vertigo and is thought to be part of a neurovascular compression syndrome caused by the vascular loop

Vascular Loops: The Innocent Bystander for Vestibular Paroxysmia
2dby Carren Sui-Lin Teh via otol rhinol

Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2021 Aug 5:34894211037211. doi: 10.1177/00034894211037211. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Vestibular paroxysmia (VP) is a condition with recurrent short bouts of vertigo and is thought to be part of a neurovascular compression syndrome caused by the vascular loop. However, this is still being debated as vascular loops are considered as normal variants with limited studies involving vertiginous patients.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this paper is to study the association between audiovestibular symptoms and the presence of vascular loops and to study the association between vestibular paroxysmia and vascular loops.

DESIGN: This is a retrospective analysis of clinical, audiological and MRI findings of patients with and without vascular loops and vestibular paroxysmia from 2000 to 2020.

RESULTS: A total of 470 MRI Internal Auditory Meatus scans were performed during the study period of which, 71 (15.1%) had vascular loops and 162 (34.5%) had normal MRI which were used as controls. From the 233 subjects recruited, there were 37 subjects with VP and 196 non VP subjects were used as controls. There was no association between the vascular loop and control groups in terms of co-morbidity and audiovestibular symptoms. The VP group had a significantly older mean age of 51.8 (SD ± 10.3) as compared to the non VP group with the mean age of 45.6 (SD ± 15.5). The VP group had higher number of patients presenting with hearing loss at 97.3% when compared with those without VP (80.1%) (P = .01). The odds of having a vascular loop giving rise to VP was not statistically significant at 0.82 (95% CI 0.3735-1.7989) P = .62.

CONCLUSION: The vascular loop is a normal variant which may or may not give rise to audiovestibular symptoms or vestibular paroxysmia. Clinical assessment is still most important tool in deriving a diagnosis of VP and MRI may be useful to rule out other central causes.

PMID:34353133 | DOI:10.1177/00034894211037211

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Medicine by Alexandros G. Sfakianakis,Anapafseos 5 Agios Nikolaos 72100 Crete Greece,00302841026182,00306932607174,alsfakia@gmail.com,

Telephone consultation 11855 int 1193,

Complications after 1002 endoscopic endonasal approach procedures at a single center: lessons learned, 2010-2018

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Complications after 1002 endoscopic endonasal approach procedures at a single center: lessons learned, 2010-2018 Via leak of cerebrospinal fluid J Neurosurg. 2021 Aug 6:1-12. doi: 10.3171/2020.11.JNS202494. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: The endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) has evolved into a mainstay of skull base surgery over the last two decades, but publications examining the intraoperative and perioperative complications of this technique remain scarce. A prior landmark series of 800 patients reported complications during the first era of EEA (1998-2007), parallel to the development of many now-routine techniques and technologies. The authors examined a single-institution series of more than 1000 consecutive EEA neurosurgical procedures performed since 2010, to elucidate the safety and risk factors associated with surgical and postoperative complications in this modern era. METHODS: After obtaining institutional review board approval, the authors retrospectively reviewed intraoperative and postoperative complications and their outcomes in patients who underwe nt EEA between July 2010 and June 2018 at a single institution. RESULTS: The authors identified 1002 EEA operations that met the inclusion criteria. Pituitary adenoma was the most common pathology (n = 392 [39%]), followed by meningioma (n = 109 [11%]). No patients died intraoperatively. Two (0.2%) patients had an intraoperative carotid artery injury: 1 had no neurological sequelae, and 1 had permanent hemiplegia. Sixty-one (6.1%) cases of postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak occurred, of which 45 occurred during the original surgical hospitalization. Transient postoperative sodium dysregulation was noted after 87 (8.7%) operations. Six (0.6%) patients were treated for meningitis, and 1 (0.1%) patient died of a fungal skull base infection. Three (0.3%) patients died of medical complications, thereby yielding a perioperative 90-day mortality rate of 0.4% (4 deaths). High-grade (Clavien-Dindo grade III-V) complications were identified after 103 (10%) EEA procedures, and multiv ariate analysis was performed to determine the associations between factors and these more serious complications. Extradural EEA was significantly associated with decreased rates of these high-grade complications (OR [95% CI] 0.323 [0.153-0.698], p = 0.0039), whereas meningioma pathology (OR [95% CI] 2.39 [1.30-4.40], p = 0.0053), expanded-approach intradural surgery (OR [95% CI] 2.54 [1.46-4.42], p = 0.0009), and chordoma pathology (OR [95% CI] 9.31 [3.87-22.4], p < 0.0001) were independently associated with significantly increased rates of high-grade complications. CONCLUSIONS: The authors have reported a large 1002-operation cohort of EEA procedures and associated complications. Modern EEA surgery for skull base pathologies has an acceptable safety profile with low morbidity and mortality rates. Nevertheless, significant intraoperative and postoperative complications were correlated with complex intradural procedures and meningioma and chordoma pathologies. PMID:34359021 | DOI:10.3171/2020.11.JNS202494 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Effect of Progressive Head Extension Swallowing Exercise on Lingual Strength in the Elderly: A Randomized Controlled Trial

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Effect of Progressive Head Extension Swallowing Exercise on Lingual Strength in the Elderly: A Randomized Controlled Trial Via swallowing exercises J Clin Med. 2021 Jul 31;10(15):3419. doi: 10.3390/jcm10153419. ABSTRACT Lingual strengthening training can improve the swallowing function in older adults, but the optimal method is unclear. We investigated the effects of a new progressive resistance exercise in the elderly by comparing with a conventional isometric tongue strengthening exercise. Twenty-nine participants were divided into two groups randomly. One group performed forceful swallow of 2 mL of water every 10 s for 20 m in, and a total of 120 swallowing tasks per session at 80% angle of maximum head extension. The other group performed five repetitions in 24 sets with a 30 s rest, and the target level was settled at 80% of one repetition maximum using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI). A total of 12 sessions were carried out by both groups over a 4-week period. Blinded measurements (for maximum lingual isometric pressure and peak pressure during swallowing) were obtained using IOPI before exercise and at four weeks in both groups. After four weeks, both groups showed a significant improvement in lingual strength involving both isometric and swallowing tasks. However, there was no significant difference between the groups in strength increase involving both tasks. Regardless of the manner, tongue-strengthening exercises substantially improved lingual pressure in the elderly with equal effect. PMID:34362202 | DOI:10.3390/jcm10153419 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

The real-world efficacy and safety of anlotinib in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader The real-world efficacy and safety of anlotinib in advanced non-small cell lung cancer Via oral multi-targeted angiogenesis inhibitor J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2021 Aug 6:1-15. doi: 10.1007/s00432-021-03752-x. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT PURPOSE: Anlotinib is an anti-angiogenetic multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) in the real world. METHODS: Patients with aNSCLC receiving anlotinib were enrolled in two cohorts (treatment naive and previously treated). The endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and anlotinib-related adverse events (ar-AEs). RESULTS: 203 patients accrued in the study. In the treatment-naïve cohort (n = 80), the PFS was 7.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.1-10.7) and OS was 10.8 (95% CI 5.8-15.8) months of monotherapy group (immature survival for combination group). In previously treated cohort (n = 123), the PFS was 8.0 months (95% CI 6.1-9.9) in the combination group and 4.3 months (95% CI 2.1-6.6) in the monotherapy group (hazard ratio [HR] 0.49; 95% CI 0.29-0.83; p = 0.007), respectively. The OS was 18.5 months (95% CI 10.5-26.6) in the combination group and 7.8 months (95% CI 7.1-8.4) in the monotherapy group (HR 0.38; 95% CI 0.22-0.66; p = 0.001), respectively. The ar-AEs of grade ≥ 3 in the monotherapy and the combination groups were hypertension (9.0 and 8.7%), fatigue (8.1 and 7.6%), hand-foot syndrome (8.1 and 6.5%), diarrhea (5.4 and 8.7%), proteinuria (5.4 and 5.4%), and mucositis oral (6.3 and 8.7%). CONCLUSION: In aNSCLC, anlotinib monotherapy has a promising efficacy in the first-line setting. It may be an option for those who are ineligible for chemotherapy; anlotinib combination therapy in a ≥ second-line setting showed manageable toxicities and encouraging efficacy, indicating a good application prospect. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was retrospectively registered with ISRCTN Registry (ID ISRCTN35543977) on January 26th, 2021 and Chi nese Clinical Trial Register (ChiCTR2000032265) on April 4th, 2020. PMID:34357411 | PMC:PMC8343360 | DOI:10.1007/s00432-021-03752-x View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Remote assessments for bone conduction hearing devices during the COVID-19 pandemic

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Remote assessments for bone conduction hearing devices during the COVID-19 pandemic Via http://link.springer.com/journal/405,European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology,The European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2021 Aug 7. doi: 10.1007/s00405-021-07025-8. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in the suspension of many routine audiology services due to the risk of cross-infections in closed spaces. This has driven the need for exploring alternatives to conventional face-to-face consultations in the hospital outpatient setting. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of remote consultations and assessments for patients on the waiting list for consideration of bone conduction hearing devices (BCHDs), and whether this type of consultation could continue beyond the COVID-19 era. METHODS: This was a prospective cross-sectional study in a tertiary Neuro-otology Department. All new patients on the waiting list for assessment for BCHD as of 1 March 2020 were included. Patients' case notes were reviewed. All underwent a telephone consultation with an implant audiologist. If the patient wanted to go ahead with the remote trial, a BCHD sound processor on a headband would be mailed out and the patient would then have to use the device for two weeks and return the device after with their diary. RESULTS: There were 49 patients. The mean age was 55 (range 27-88, SD 16.3). Four did not proceed with the trial. All patients returned their devices to the department. Majority of patients (95.6%, n = 43), completed their diary. 75.6% wanted to proceed with surgery. All patients proceeding with surgery were happy with the remote assessment and would recommend this for the future. CONCLUSION: It is possible to satisfactorily assess appropriately screened patients for BCHDs remotely with a structured approach and explanation of process and expectations. It might be possible to consider this type of consultation as an option for assessing potential candidates for BCHDs beyond the COVID-19 era to reduce the number of hospital visits for patients. PMID:34363503 | DOI:10.1007/s00405-021-07025-8 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Auditory processing in normally hearing individuals with and without tinnitus: assessment with four psychoacoustic tests

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Auditory processing in normally hearing individuals with and without tinnitus: assessment with four psychoacoustic tests Via http://link.springer.com/journal/405,European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology,The European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2021 Aug 7. doi: 10.1007/s00405-021-07023-w. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT PURPOSE: In most cases, tinnitus co-exists with hearing loss, suggesting that poorer speech understanding is simply due to a lack of acoustic information reaching the central nervous system (CNS). However, it also happens that patients with tinnitus who have normal hearing also report problems with speech understanding, and it is possible to suppose that tinnitus is to blame for difficulties in perceptual processing of auditory information. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the auditory processing abilities of normally hearing subjects with and without tinnitus. METHODS: The study group comprised 97 adults, 54 of whom had normal hearing and chronic tinnitus (the study group) and 43 who had normal hearing and no tinnitus (the control group). The audiological assessment comprised pure-tone audiometry and high-frequency pur e-tone audiometry, impedance audiometry, and distortion product oto-acoustic emission assessment. To evaluate possible auditory processing deficits, the Frequency Pattern Test (FPT), Duration Pattern Test (DPT), Dichotic Listening Test (DLT), and Gap Detection Threshold (GDT) tests were performed. RESULTS: The tinnitus subjects had significantly lower scores than the controls in the gap detection test (p < 0.01) and in the dichotic listening test (p < 0.001), but only for the right ear. The results for both groups were similar in the temporal ordering tests (FPT and DPT). Right-ear advantage (REA) was found for the controls, but not for the tinnitus subjects. CONCLUSION: In normally hearing patients, the presence of tinnitus may be accompanied with auditory processing difficulties. PMID:34363504 | DOI:10.1007/s00405-021-07023-w View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.