4,007 research outputs found
Immune-mediated inner ear disease
No full textThe incidence of autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED) is difficult to determine: probably it is a rare disease, accounting for <1% of all cases of hearing impairment or dizziness. Nevertheless, the diagnosis of AIED might be overlooked because of the lack of a specific diagnostic test. The hallmark of this clinically diagnosed condition is the presence of a rapidly progressive, often fluctuating, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) over a period of weeks to months. The progression of hearing loss is too rapid to be diagnostic for presbycusis and too slow to conclude a diagnosis of sudden SNHL. Vestibular symptoms, such as generalized imbalance, ataxia, positional vertigo and episodic vertigo may be present in almost 50% of patients. Occasionally only one ear is affected initially, but bilateral hearing loss occurs in most patients, with symmetric or asymmetric audiometric thresholds. Almost 25-50% of patients also have tinnitus and aural fullness, which can fluctuate. Systemic autoimmune diseases coexist in 15-30% of patients
A case of Type 1 Neurofibromatosis involving the external auditory canal
No full textIntroduction: Type 1 Neurofibromatosis (NF1) is a rare pathology with heterogeneous clinical presentation and only a few cases involving the external auditory canal (EAC) have been reported so far (1-3).
Objective: To report a case of NF1 with EAC involvement and literature review
Discussion and Conclusions: Size and location of tumors in NF1 most influence presentation of clinical symptoms. Complete tumor resection is possible only in patients with small tumors. Patients with single neurofibromas of the head and neck can benefit from surgery in order to 1) exclude malignancy in a rapidly enlarging mass; 2) enhance cosmesis in those with disfiguring disease; 3) provide relief from neurogenic pain; 4) improve symptoms caused by compression
Disturbi dell’equilibrio nell’anziano: inquadramento diagnostico e diagnosi differenziale
No full textParathyroid function study in patients submitted to laryngeal surgery for squamous cell carcinoma
No full textAim of this study was to investigate any eventual quantitative variations in the serological concentration of parathormone in a homogenous sample of patients suffering from laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent only surgery. A total of 12 patients (2 female, 10 male), aged between 58 and 76 years, were treated between June 2002 and June 2003. The patients were all affected by T2-T3 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Serum intact parathyroid hormone and calcaemia were measured pre- and post-operatively. Of these patients, 2 underwent total laryngectomy (including thyroid isthmectomy), 5 patients received partial supraglottic laryngectomy, while the remaining 5 were submitted to supracricoid laryngectomy. Results showed a progressive regression of parathyroid hormone level, in only one case and was not, however, below normal limits. Contrary to data reported in the literature, this study indicated that the incidence of hypoparathyroidism following laryngeal surgery, even in radical surgical approaches, proved to be closer to zero
Metastasi tiroidea da carcinoma squamo-cellulare della tonsilla palatina = Thyroid's metastasis of tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma
No full textThe authors describe the case of a 58 years old man, affected by squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil, who underwent left tonsillectomy with bilateral neck dissection, followed by radiotherapy. After a 6 months period, the patient began to suffer from dysphonia, dysphagia and loss of weight: a painless neoformation was detected at the right lobe of the tyhroid, resulted a metastasis of the tonsillar neoplasm. The search for intranodular thyroglobulin was negative; the patient underwent thyroidectomy which showed a massive infiltration of the right cricothyroid space, cricoid and thyroid wing cartilage necrosis and intralaryngeal tumor infiltration. The authors describe the thyroid metastasis treatment, present an up-to-date review of the literature and suggest a thyroid careful clinical evaluation in every patient with a previous history of oropharyngeal cance
Preoperative and postoperative electroneurographic facial nerve monitoring in patients with parotid tumors
No full textOBJECTIVE: To assess the value of clinical (House-Brackmann grading) and neurophysiological (conventional electroneurography) monitoring of the facial nerve before and after (at day 10 and day 80) microsurgical parotidectomy in a group of patients with parotid tumors. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: From January 7, 1999, to February 27, 2001, 33 patients were evaluated for parotid neoplasms confirmed by cytologic examination: 27 were benign and 6 were malignant epithelial tumors. All patients underwent preoperative electroneurography of the affected side and the normal contralateral side. RESULTS: Preoperatively, 27 of 33 patients with benign lesions had normal facial nerve function on clinical and neurophysiological evaluation, while 3 of 6 patients with malignant lesions showed compound muscle action potential abnormalities of amplitude and latency, in the absence of facial nerve deficits. At the first postoperative evaluation, 2 of 6 patients with epithelial cancer and 4 of 27 patients with benign tumors had an absence of voluntary activity and compound muscle action potentials after nerve stimulation at the stylomastoid foramen; 1 patient with a malignant lesion and 5 patients with benign tumors had a transient facial palsy with amplitude reduction or latency prolongation of compound muscle action potential. This abnormality persisted in 2 of 27 patients at the second evaluation performed at day 80 after surgery. In 2 of 6 patients with malignant lesions, the day-80 electroneurogram showed a complete absence of nerve conduction. CONCLUSION: Electroneurography is a sensitive tool for monitoring clinically silent facial nerve function deficits in the context of preoperative tumor-induced damage and postsurgical early and late follow-up of nerve function
Cochlear malformation and sensorineural hearing loss in the Walker-Warburg Syndrome.
No full textWe would like to present the
case of a 16-month-old male baby, affected by
Walker-Warburg Syndrome, characterized by lissencephaly
and hydrocephalus, posterior encephalocele,
cerebellar tonsils herniation into the foramen
magnum
Sensorineural hearing loss and endothelial dysfunction due to oxidative stress: is there a connection?
No full textSensorineural hearing loss(SNHL) is a common disorder that effects millions of people in the world. Hearing losso has many different presentations, ranging in severity from mild to profound, including low and high pitch patterns, and can affect people of any age. SHNL is caused by loss of coechlear hair cells or neurons and this damage is irreversibl
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