Validation of the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation Scale in Mexican Adults.

BACKGROUND: Nasal obstruction is a feeling of impaired airflow through the nose, caused by diverse factors with high prevalence. There are numerous methods to study it, being the most important subjective instrument the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation score, NOSE, with good structural validity and internal consistency. It has been translated and validated in several languages, including European Spanish, but hasn't been validated in Mexico. AIM: Adapt and validate the NOSE scale to the Spanish language for a Mexican adult population. METHODS: This study was conducted from May-August 2015. The scale was translated from English to Spanish and assessed by two experts to confirm its acceptability, being retranslated later. Adult subjects with native Mexican Spanish were recruited from the outpatient clinic, with chronic rhinopathy and without evidence of respiratory pathology. Both groups filled the scale, and anthropometric data were collected. A subgroup completed the instrument again after one month. STATA 15.1 was used for analysis. RESULTS: The sample were 261 subjects. Cronbach alpha was 0.89, intraclass correlation coefficient 0.84, agreement limits -9.62 to 16.29. There was a statistically significant difference in score between groups. The area under the ROC curve was 0.855, with 83% sensibility and 76% specificity for a 20 total score. Moderate to strong item-total association was found with Spearman. The response model showed moderate item discrimination. In the factorial analysis, one factor was found, with an Eigenvalue of 3.21. CONCLUSION: The adaptation of the NOSE scale is reliable and valid for its application in Mexican adult population.

Incidence and management of gusher in cochlear implantation.

OBJECTIVE: To present a report on the incidence and management protocol of cerebrospinal fluid gusher in cochlear implantation in the national institute of respiratory diseases. METHOD: We conducted a clinical, longitudinal, retrospective investigation of all the medical charts from implanted patients between October 1999 and December 2016 in the national institute of respiratory diseases to evaluate the incidence of gusher, management protocol and evolution after surgery. Statistical analysis was conducted using Fishers test to find out if there was a relationship between the number of inner ear malformations and gusher severity and between the surgical access to the inner ear (cochleostomy or round window) and gusher severity. RESULTS: 276 patients were evaluated, 12 (4.3%) presented gusher during cochlear implantation. Seven had minimal gusher that stopped completely with a fascia seal, three had moderate gusher that required fascia and cartilage and two had severe gusher that required middle ear packing and obliteration of the eustachian tube. There was no statistically significant relationship between the number of inner ear malformations or the surgical access to the inner ear with gusher severity. CONCLUSIONS: A thorough evaluation of the imaging study should always be conducted, it should include specific measurements and an individualized management in accordance with gusher severity should always be performed.

OBJETIVO: Presentar un reporte de la incidencia y del protocolo de manejo del gusher del líquido cefalorraquídeo durante la implantación coclear en el Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias. MÉTODO: Se realizó una investigación clínica, longitudinal y retrospectiva de los expedientes clínicos de todos los pacientes con implantación coclear entre octubre de 1999 y diciembre de 2016, para valorar la incidencia de Gusher, el protocolo de manejo y la evolución posterior. Se realizó el análisis estadístico utilizando la prueba exacta de Fisher para buscar si había relación entre el número de malformaciones de oído interno y el grado de Gusher, y entre la vía de abordaje al oído interno (cocleostomía o ventana redonda) y el grado de Gusher. RESULTADOS: Se valoraron 276 pacientes, de los cuales 12 (4.3%) presentaron Gusher durante la implantación coclear. De estos, siete fueron Gusher mínimo y cedió totalmente con el sellado con fascia, tres fueron Gusher moderado que ameritó el sellado con fascia y cartílago, y dos fueron Gusher grave que ameritó empaquetamiento de oído medio y obliteración de la trompa de Eustaquio. No se encontró una relación estadísticamente significativa entre el número de malformaciones del oído interno o la vía de abordaje al oído interno con el grado de Gusher. CONCLUSIONES: Debe realizarse una minuciosa evaluación del estudio de imagen prequirúrgico, que incluya la toma de mediciones específicas, y brindar un manejo individualizado según la gravedad del Gusher.

Effect of Probe-Tone Frequency on Ipsilateral and Contralateral Electrical Stapedius Reflex Measurement in Children With Cochlear Implants.

OBJECTIVES: The upper loudness limit of electrical stimulation in cochlear implant patients is sometimes set using electrically elicited stapedius reflex thresholds (eSRTs), especially in children for whom reporting skills may be limited. In unilateral cochlear implant patients, eSRT levels are measured typically in the contralateral unimplanted ear because the ability to measure eSRTs in the implanted ear is likely to be limited due to the cochlear implant surgery and consequential changes in middle ear dynamics. This practice is particularly limiting in the case of fitting bilaterally implanted pediatric cases because there is no unimplanted ear option to choose for eSRT measurement. The goal of this study was to identify an improved measurement protocol to increase the success of eSRT measurement in ipsilateral or contralateral or both implanted ears of pediatric cochlear implant recipients. This work hypothesizes that use of a higher probe frequency (e.g., 1000 Hz compared with the 226 Hz standard), which is closer to the mechanical middle ear resonant frequency, may be more effective in measuring middle ear muscle contraction in either ear. DESIGN: In the present study, eSRTs were measured using multiple probe frequencies (226, 678, and 1000 Hz) in the ipsilateral and contralateral ears of 19 children with unilateral Advanced Bionics (AB) cochlear implants (mean age = 8.6 years, SD = 2.29). An integrated middle ear analyzer designed by AB was used to elicit and detect stapedius reflexes and assign eSRT levels. In the integrated middle ear analyzer system, an Interacoustics Titan middle ear analyzer was used to perform middle ear measurements in synchrony with research software running on an AB Neptune speech processor, which controlled the delivery of electrical pulse trains at varying levels to the test subject. Changes in middle ear acoustic admittance following an electrical pulse train stimulus indicated the occurrence of an electrically elicited stapedius reflex. RESULTS: Of the 19 ears tested, ipsilateral eSRTs were successfully measured in 3 (16%), 4 (21%), and 7 (37%) ears using probe tones of 226, 678, and 1000 Hz, respectively. Contralateral eSRT levels were measured in 11 (58%), 13 (68%), and 13 (68%) ears using the three different probe frequencies, respectively. A significant difference was found in the incidence of successful eSRT measurement as a function of probe frequency in the ipsilateral ears with the greatest pair-wise difference between the 226 and 1000 Hz probe. A significant increase in contralateral eSRT measurement success as a function of probe frequency was not found. These findings are consistent with the idea that changes in middle ear mechanics, secondary to cochlear implant surgery, may interfere with the detection of stapedius muscle contraction in the ipsilateral middle ear. The best logistic, mixed-effects model of the occurrence of successful eSRT measures included ear of measurement and probe frequency as significant fixed effects. No significant differences in average eSRT levels were observed across ipsilateral and contralateral measurements or as a function of probe frequency. CONCLUSION: Typically, measurement of stapedius reflexes is less successful in the implanted ears of cochlear implant recipients compared with measurements in the contralateral, unimplanted ear. The ability to measure eSRT levels ipsilaterally can be improved by using a higher probe frequency.