UNASSIGNED: To describe audiological symptoms, audiometric profile, and distortion product otoacoustic emission in symptomatic patients recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection (positive RT-PCR test) and asymptomatic patients (negative RT-PCR test).
UNASSIGNED: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted using data obtained from clinical charts, physical examination, audiometry, and distortion product otoacoustic emission on 40 patients [case patients (CP)] recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosed by a positive RT-PCR test and 22 asymptomatic participants with a negative RT-PCR test [non-case (NC)].
UNASSIGNED: Sixty-two patients (mean age: 31.1 and 28.2 years in the CP and NC groups, respectively) were included. All participants were young without significant comorbidities, risk factors for hearing loss or otological history. Vertigo (5%), tinnitus (17.5%) and aural fullness/hearing loss (35%) were found in the CP group. A statistically significant difference was found in specific frequencies (1000, 4000, and 8000 Hz) and pure tone average (low and high conversational frequencies with increased threshold in the PC group compared with the NC group), which was not found in distortion product otoacoustic emission.
UNASSIGNED: Audiovestibular symptoms are frequent in symptomatic patients recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 infection was consistently associated with an increased audiometric hearing threshold at specific frequencies and low tone average.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether scores for a speech-in-noise test were associated with the results of two electrophysiological techniques mainly targeting low spontaneous rate, high-threshold auditory fibres.Design: Cross-sectional study. Participants were evaluated with the hearing-in-noise test (HINT), along with the Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) with and without ipsilateral noise. The wave V/I amplitude ratio for the ABR without ipsilateral noise and ABR wave V latency shift in the presence of ipsilateral noise were obtained.Study sample: Twenty adults aged between 20 and 34 years (10 females) who did not report occupational exposure to noise were selected. All participants presented with normal hearing thresholds (0.250-8 kHz) and the presence of distortion product otoacoustic emissions, bilaterally.Results: A significant association between the wave V/I amplitude ratio for the left ear and the HINT scores for the left ear was found.Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, in normal-hearing listeners, the wave V/I ratio is associated with speech-in-noise performance, specifically in the left ear. This non-invasive procedure has the potential to be used in clinical populations who present with speech-in-noise difficulties despite having normal audiograms.

BACKGROUND: In a previous study, severe and cerebral malaria have been connected with acute cochlear malfunction in children, demonstrated by a decrease of transitory evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) reproducibility. This study aims to determine whether cochlear malfunction persists for 4 years after recovery from severe malaria in a subset of the previous study\'s collective. Follow-up TEOAEs were performed on site (CERMEL, Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Lambaréné, Gabon) or at the participants\' homes; 33 out of 90 participants included in the initial investigation by Schmutzhard et al. could be retrieved and were re-examined, 31/33 could be included. Of the 57 missing participants, 51 could not be contacted, 1 had moved away, 4 refused to cooperate, and 1 had died.
METHODS: As in the initial investigation, participants of this prospective follow-up study were subjected to TEOAE examination on both ears separately. A wave correlation rate of > 60% on both ears was considered a \"pass\"; if one ear failed to pass, the examination was considered a \"fail\". The results were compared to the primary control group. Additionally, a questionnaire has been applied focusing on subsequent malaria infections between the primary inclusion and follow-up and subjective impairment of hearing and/or understanding.
RESULTS: The cohort\'s mean age was 9 years, 14 children were female, 18 male. 31 had been originally admitted with severe, one with cerebral malaria. 83.8% of participants (n = 26) presented with a TEOAE correlation rate of > 60% on both ears (the cut-off for good cochlear function); in the control group, 92.2% (n = 83) had passed TEOAE examination on both ears. Recurrent severe malaria was associated with a worse TEOAE correlation rate. Age at infection and gender had no influence on the outcome.
CONCLUSIONS: Cochlear malfunction seems to be persistent after 4 years in more than 16% of children hospitalized for malaria. In a healthy control group, this proportion was 7.8%. Yet, the severity of the initial TEOAE-decrease did not predict a worse outcome.

There is substantial variability in speech recognition ability across patients with cochlear implants (CIs), auditory brainstem implants (ABIs), and auditory midbrain implants (AMIs). To better understand how this variability is related to central processing differences, the current electroencephalography (EEG) study compared hearing abilities and auditory-cortex activation in patients with electrical stimulation at different sites of the auditory pathway. Three different groups of patients with auditory implants (Hannover Medical School; ABI: n = 6, CI: n = 6; AMI: n = 2) performed a speeded response task and a speech recognition test with auditory, visual, and audio-visual stimuli. Behavioral performance and cortical processing of auditory and audio-visual stimuli were compared between groups. ABI and AMI patients showed prolonged response times on auditory and audio-visual stimuli compared with NH listeners and CI patients. This was confirmed by prolonged N1 latencies and reduced N1 amplitudes in ABI and AMI patients. However, patients with central auditory implants showed a remarkable gain in performance when visual and auditory input was combined, in both speech and non-speech conditions, which was reflected by a strong visual modulation of auditory-cortex activation in these individuals. In sum, the results suggest that the behavioral improvement for audio-visual conditions in central auditory implant patients is based on enhanced audio-visual interactions in the auditory cortex. Their findings may provide important implications for the optimization of electrical stimulation and rehabilitation strategies in patients with central auditory prostheses. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2206-2225, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

OBJECTIVE: Knowledge of cochlear trauma resulting from the implantation of electrodes is important for the development of atraumatic surgical techniques. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the advantages of micro-CT scanning, back-scattered electron microscopy (BSEM) and optical microscopy (OM) in understanding the mechanisms of cochlear trauma due to cochlear implantation.
METHODS: Our study involved six petrous bones removed from fresh human cadavers: one control specimen plus five other specimens that were surgically implanted with Neurelec Digisonic SP EVO electrode arrays. All six specimens underwent glycol methyl methacrylate embedding, were examined via micro-CT scan and were then sectioned for histological analysis of undecalcified samples via BSEM and OM.
RESULTS: The 2D micro-CT scan reconstructions did not display cochlear microtrauma due to a limited resolution and the loss of information caused by the metallic artifacts of the intracochlear electrodes. The 3D reconstructions displayed the quality of the electrode array positioning in the cochlea and enabled determining the axes on which to section the specimens for histological examination. BSEM afforded a clear view of the damage to the osseous structures of the cochlea, but did not display the soft tissue injuries. OM enabled viewing and grading the histological lesions resulting from insertion.
CONCLUSIONS: In our opinion, the combination of 3D micro-CT scan reconstructions and histological analysis using OM appears to be the best method to analyze this type of trauma.

OBJECTIVE: To present the first reported case of intraneural direct cochlear nerve stimulation in a human being.
METHODS: This is a case report.
RESULTS: A 23-year-old patient with bilateral progressive hearing loss associated with bilateral complete semicircular canal aplasia and ossified cochleas underwent cochlear implantation. During surgery, a patent cochlear lumen could not be found, and the array was positioned in the internal auditory canal adjacent to the cochlear nerve. Against our expectations, an assiduous rehabilitation and frequent fitting adjustments have led to a word recognition score, in open set speech with lip reading, of 18/25 and acceptable frequency discrimination.
CONCLUSIONS: We are aware that this was an anomalous use of the cochlear implant, and it is not our aim to suggest a new indication for cochlear array positioning. However, this case shows that auditory perception, to some degree, can be obtained with intraneural direct cochlear nerve stimulation.

The objective was to detect changes in cytokine expression within cochleae in a murine model of systemic inflammation, with or without aminoglycoside exposure. Four groups of mice received 1 of the following: saline only, systemic bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) for 6 hours to induce endotoxemia and inflammatory responses, systemic gentamicin for 3 hours, or both treatments. After exsanguination, pooled cochleae (4/group) were processed for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for 16 cytokines. Gentamicin alone did not change cochlear cytokine levels, while LPS (± gentamicin) substantially elevated cochlear expression of several cytokines, particularly interleukin-1α, interleukin-6, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, macrophage inflammatory protein-1α, and RANTES. Since cytokines increase blood-brain barrier permeability, we hypothesize that cytokine-enhanced permeability of the blood-labyrinth barrier (BLB) could potentiate aminoglycoside-induced ototoxicity. This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of detecting cytokine expression in murine cochleae using ELISA and facilitates future studies investigating BLB permeability in animal models of systemic inflammation.

BACKGROUND: According to current diagnostic criteria, patients exhibiting only cochlear symptoms without vertigo cannot be diagnosed with Ménière\'s disease (MD). The recently reported Ménière\'s Disease Index (MDI) combines audiometric and electrocochleographic parameters in a multidimensional measure correlating with the clinical degrees of MD.
METHODS: Twenty-one patients with hearing loss, tinnitus and aural fullness, but without vertigo, underwent transtympanic electrocochleography. Based on the previously reported formula, the MDI value for every patient was calculated.
RESULTS: Mean MDI value was 5.7 on a scale from 0 (mean value of non-MD patients) to 10 (mean value of definite MD patients).
CONCLUSIONS: We can thus hypothesize that, based on audiometry and electrocochleography, \'cochlear MD\' patients may represent a separate clinical entity with Ménière-like pathophysiology or underlying endolymphatic hydrops.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hypothesis of cochlear and retrocochlear damage in scrub typhus, using evoked response audiometry.
METHODS: Prospective, randomised, case-control study.
METHODS: The study included 25 patients with scrub typhus and 25 controls with other febrile illnesses not known to cause hearing loss. Controls were age- and sex-matched. All subjects underwent pure tone audiometry and evoked response audiometry before commencing treatment.
RESULTS: Six patients presented with hearing loss, although a total of 23 patients had evidence of symmetrical high frequency loss on pure tone audiometry. Evoked response audiometry found significant prolongation of absolute latencies of wave I, III, V, and wave I-III interpeak latency. Two cases with normal hearing had increased interpeak latencies. These findings constitute level 3b evidence.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings were suggestive of retrocochlear pathology in two cases with normal hearing. In other patients, high frequency hearing loss may have led to altered evoked response results. Although scrub typhus appears to cause middle ear cochlear and retrocochlear damage, the presence of such damage could not be fully confirmed by evoked response audiometry.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic hypoxia has an evident effect on cochlear function and hearing sensitivity. Otoacoustic emissions\' testing is efficient in detecting subtle cochlear dysfunction. This cross sectional study was designed to assess the cochlear function in children with chronic lung diseases who were exposed to prolonged hypoxia and prolonged use of ototoxic drugs (as aminoglycosides) using basic audiological evaluation and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions testing.
METHODS: The study was carried out on 30 Egyptian children with chronic lung disease recruited from the Pediatric Chest Clinic, Children\'s hospital, Ain Shams University. Twenty normal children were included as control.
RESULTS: Six patients (20%) showed abnormal otoacoustic emissions. A significant effect of hypoxia on otoacoustic emissions findings was found (P<0.05). However, there was no significant effect of inhaled aminoglycosides on auditory functions whether pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions testing.
CONCLUSIONS: Children with chronic lung diseases are liable to cochlear dysfunction due to prolonged hypoxia. Inhaled aminoglycosides in chronic lung diseases is relatively safe on auditory functions.