The Effect of Covid-19 on the Efferent Auditory System in Adults.

BACKGROUND: It was evaluated the effects of COVID-19 on the cochlea and auditory efferent system with Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission (TEOAE) and Contralateral Suppression (CS) Test in this research. PURPOSE: We aimed to evaluate the pre- and post-COVID-19 Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission and Contralateral Suppression results in the same participants to reveal the effect of COVID-19 on the efferent auditory system. STUDY DESIGN: The CS measurement was performed twice for each participant before a diagnosis of COVID-19 and after treatment of COVID-19 as a within-subjects study design. All participants had normal hearing at all frequencies (≤ 25 dB HL at 0.25 - 8 kHz) and had normal middle ear functions in both ears. The tests were performed in the linear mod by using double-probe on the Otodynamics ILO292-II device. The CS of the OAEs was measured at 65 dB peSPL TEOAE stimulus and 65 dB SPL broadband noise. All parameters including reproducibility, noise, and stability were considered during the measurements. STUDY SAMPLES: The study included 11 patients [8 female and 3 male] aged between 20 and 35 years (mean age is 26 ± 3.66). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and Spearman's correlation test were used for statistical analysis via Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. RESULTS: The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test showed that there was no significant difference between the pre-and post-COVID-19 TEOAE CS results in all tested frequencies and measurement parameters, 1000 Hz to 4000 Hz, respectively Z= -0.356, -0.089, -0.533, -0.533, -1.156 and p<0.05. Although not statistically significant, the CS results obtained post-COVID-19 at all frequencies except 4000 Hz were lower than that pre- COVID-19. According to the overall TEOAE results after COVID-19, a statistically significant decrease was observed at 3000 Hz (Z=-2.847, p<0.01) and 4000 Hz (Z=-2.401, p<0.05) compared to the pre-measurement. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings show that SARS-CoV-2 can affect the cochlea and the auditory efferent system in adults. Post-COVID-19 audiological evaluation can also be considered part of the general medical examination. KEY WORDS: Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, efferent system, contralateral suppression, otoacoustic emission.

Bone-Anchored Hearing Implants: Surgical and Audiological Comparison of Different Surgical Techniques

Abstract Introduction The bone-anchored hearing implant system (BAHS) is an effective amplification system that transmits the sounds received by an external operating system to the inner ear by bypassing the middle ear placed in the temporal bone. Objective This study compares the results of patients who underwent bone-anchored hearing implant system (BAHS) surgery using two different surgical methods in terms of preoperative and postoperative complications, surgical time, audiological findings, and patient satisfaction. Methods The results of 22 patients who underwent BAHS were evaluated retrospectively from video records and audiological results, The Turkish Version of the Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI) questionnaire were evaluated. Two different surgical approaches were used for implantation: the linear incision technique (n = 9) and the punch technique (n = 13). Results Mean surgical durations were 9.67 ± 2.85 and 47.65 ± 6.13 minutes for Groups A and B, respectively, and these were significantly different (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the groups' speech recognition scores for a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of +5 (p = 0.173), SNR of 0 (p = 0.315), or SNR of -5 (p = 0.360) and results of the GBI scores. Conclusion The punch technique has a significant advantage due to a shorter surgery duration without increased surgical complications. Additionally, the punch technique showed no significant difference in hearing performance or satisfaction compared with linear incision.

Bone-Anchored Hearing Implants: Surgical and Audiological Comparison of Different Surgical Techniques.

Introduction The bone-anchored hearing implant system (BAHS) is an effective amplification system that transmits the sounds received by an external operating system to the inner ear by bypassing the middle ear placed in the temporal bone. Objective This study compares the results of patients who underwent bone-anchored hearing implant system (BAHS) surgery using two different surgical methods in terms of preoperative and postoperative complications, surgical time, audiological findings, and patient satisfaction. Methods The results of 22 patients who underwent BAHS were evaluated retrospectively from video records and audiological results, The Turkish Version of the Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI) questionnaire were evaluated. Two different surgical approaches were used for implantation: the linear incision technique ( n = 9) and the punch technique ( n = 13). Results Mean surgical durations were 9.67 ± 2.85 and 47.65 ± 6.13 minutes for Groups A and B, respectively, and these were significantly different ( p < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the groups' speech recognition scores for a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of +5 ( p = 0.173), SNR of 0 ( p = 0.315), or SNR of -5 ( p = 0.360) and results of the GBI scores. Conclusion The punch technique has a significant advantage due to a shorter surgery duration without increased surgical complications. Additionally, the punch technique showed no significant difference in hearing performance or satisfaction compared with linear incision.

Standardization of the TEOAE Contralateral Suppression Test in Terms of Stimulus Intensity and Contralateral Noise Duration in Individuals with Normal Hearing.

BACKGROUND: A standard method and parameter study were performed for the contralateral suppression test. PURPOSE: Our study aimed to determine the contralateral transient-evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) suppression test method and stimulus-noise parameters that have a standard procedure and will enable the efferent system to be easily evaluated in clinics. RESEARCH DESIGN: This study was conducted in two parts with two different groups of participants as a within-subjects design. In the first part, the signal-to-noise ratio at which maximum suppression obtained was investigated with 29 participants. In the second part, the optimal contralateral noise presentation method (in terms of noise-time or noise-sweep) was examined with 21 participants. STUDY SAMPLE: In the first part 29 young adults aged between 18 and 32 (23.03 ± 2.84), 20 females and 9 males, and in the second part 21 young adults aged between 19 and 34 years (mean age: 23.71 ± 3.48 years), 16 females and 5 males, participated in the second part. All participants had normal hearing. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: To obtain maximum OAE suppression, different parameters were tested with the Otodynamics ILO292-II OAE device at both parts of the study in a double-walled audiometric test booths. Multirepeated analysis of variance, pairwise comparison, Friedman test, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: In the first part, maximum suppression was achieved at 65 dB peSPL (decibel peak-equivalent sound pressure level) TEOAE stimulus and 65 dB SPL broadband noise. In the second part, maximum suppression was obtained in noise-time method with 30 seconds "duration." CONCLUSIONS: To provide standardization in clinics, it can be recommended that the contralateral suppression of OAEs was measured at 65 dB peSPL TEOAE stimulus and 65 dB SPL broadband noise in the linear stimulation mode with Otodynamics ILO 292-II double-probe OAE device. To obtain maximum suppression, the noise-time method with 30 seconds duration can be used.

Assessment of discrimination ability in ipsilateral and contralateral ears with a unilateral bone-anchored hearing system.

This study aimed to determine the speech discriminatory ability of the contralateral ear of users of a unilateral bone-anchored hearing system (BAHS). The Oticon Medical Ponto Pro/Ponto Pro Power device brand was used for all patients. Five BAHS users (3 men, 2 women) participated in the study. Pure-tone air-conduction thresholds at 250 to 6,000 Hz, masked and unmasked bone-conduction thresholds at 250 to 4,000 Hz, and participants' speech discrimination scores in both ears were determined. Speech discrimination tests were carried out in a silent environment with monosyllabic and trisyllabic word lists. After this, the ipsilateral ear (the BAHS side) was masked with wide-band noise using an insert earphone, and the word tests were repeated. A mild decrease was observed in monosyllabic words in ipsilateral masking; however, this was not found to be statistically significant. Conversely, a decrease was not observed in the repetition of trisyllabic words in any participants, even under high-level ipsilateral masking. These results suggested that unilateral BAHS application could prevent or reduce the neural deprivation of the contralateral ear.

[Publication rates of audiology master and doctoral theses in peer-reviewed journals]. / Odyoloji alaninda yapilan yüksek lisans ve doktora tezlerinin bilimsel dergilerde yayinlanma oranlari.

OBJECTIVES: Theses are the prime indicators of the scientific productivity of a country and one of the main and strongest resources for the emergence of scientific articles. This study aims to examine, by using the survey method, how many of the audiology master and/or doctoral theses in Turkey were turned into a scientific work. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Individuals who received a master's degree in audiology were surveyed whether their theses had been reviewed as a paper or publication. RESULTS: Forty-five of the 230 audiology specialists and 22 audiologists with a doctorate degree working in Turkey participated in the study by answering the survey questions. In general, while 45.4% of master theses were presented orally or as a poster presentation in a national convention, 20.4% were presented orally or as a poster presentation in an international convention. While 18.1% of theses were published as an article in a national journal, 15.9% were published as an article in an international SCI or SCI-E journal. The distribution of the doctoral theses is 26.6%, 33.3%, 13.3% and 26.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: We found the rate of theses in audiology turning into a scientific article to be below the desired level, as in other fields. The reasons for this should be emphasized and efforts should be made to raise these rates to the desired level.