UNASSIGNED: To assess the effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) in reducing vertigo, tinnitus, and hearing loss among patients with Meniere\'s disease (MD).
UNASSIGNED: The following databases were utilized in this scoping review: Ovid Medline, PubMed-NCBI, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Clinicaltrials.gov.
UNASSIGNED: Studies were identified through the following search phrases: \"serotonin specific reuptake inhibitors\" OR \"tricyclic antidepressants\" AND \"Meniere\'s disease.\" References from included manuscripts were examined for possible inclusion of additional studies.
UNASSIGNED: The literature search yielded 23 results, which were screened by three independent reviewers. Seventeen studies and three duplicates were excluded. An examination of references from the included studies yielded two additional publications. A total of four published studies assessing SSRIs and TCAs among 147 patients with MD were ultimately included. Four studies described significant reductions in vertigo attack frequency among patients treated with either SSRIs or TCAs compared to their pretreatment baseline. Three studies assessed the drugs\' effects on hearing, of which none found a significant difference among patients treated with SSRIs or TCAs. One study found a significant decrease in patient-reported tinnitus following treatment with TCAs or SSRIs compared to their pretreatment baseline.
UNASSIGNED: Data exploring SSRIs and TCAs among patients with MD suggests that these medications may reduce the frequency of tinnitus and vertigo, although there was significant heterogeneity in outcome reporting. There remains a need for larger-scale prospective studies that emphasize objective data to evaluate their effectiveness in reducing common MD symptoms.

Musical hallucinations (MH) represent a rare and complex auditory phenomenon where individuals perceive music without external stimuli. This case study explores auditory Charles Bonnet syndrome (ACBS) in a 51-year-old male with a history of bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The patient reported hearing recognizable prayer chants, initially perceived as external sounds from a nearby temple. Over time, these hallucinations persisted and interfered with his daily activities, prompting medical consultation. Despite the absence of psychiatric illness, the patient was diagnosed with ACBS and treated with risperidone, an atypical antipsychotic. The intervention led to a significant reduction in the frequency and intensity of the hallucinations, alongside improved sleep and concentration. The patient also experienced a recurrence of symptoms upon discontinuation of the medication, highlighting the importance of adherence to treatment. This case underscores the need for awareness and understanding of non-psychotic auditory hallucinations in individuals with hearing impairments. The pathophysiology of MH is not fully understood but is believed to involve abnormal activity in the auditory associative cortices due to sensory deprivation. Treatment approaches often include both pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies, such as optimizing hearing with aids and providing psychoeducation. This study contributes to the limited literature on ACBS and emphasizes the efficacy of antipsychotics in managing MH. Further research is essential to explore the underlying mechanisms and to develop comprehensive management plans for patients experiencing these distressing auditory phenomena. The findings advocate for a multidisciplinary approach to treatment, integrating audiological and psychiatric care to improve patient outcomes.

UNASSIGNED: Knowledge of the cochlear anatomy in individual patients is helpful for improving electrode selection and placement during cochlear implantation, as well as in surgical planning. The aim of this study was to develop a model-free automated segmentation algorithm to obtain 3D surfaces from clinical computed tomography (CT) scans that describe an individual\'s cochlear anatomy and can be used to quantitatively analyze the cochlea\'s vertical trajectory.
UNASSIGNED: Clinical CT scans were re-oriented and re-sliced to obtain mid-modiolar slices. Using these slices, we segmented the cross-section of the cochlea.
UNASSIGNED: 3D surfaces were obtained for the first 1.5 turns of 648 cochleae. Validation of our algorithm against the manually segmented ground truth obtained from 8 micro-CT scans showed good agreement, with 90 % area overlap and an average distance of 0.11 mm between the segmentation contours. The average cochlear duct length for the basal turn was 16.1 mm along the central path and 22.4 mm along the outer wall. The use of an intrinsic, observer-independent coordinate system and principal component analysis enabled unambiguous quantitative evaluation of the vertical trajectory of the cochlea, revealing only a weak correlation between the symmetry of the commonly used basal turn diameters (B-ratio of A and B diameters) and the profile of the vertical trajectory.
UNASSIGNED: A model-free segmentation algorithm can achieve similar accuracy as previously published methods relying on statistical shapes. Quantitative analysis of the vertical trajectory can replace the categorization into rollercoaster, sloping, or intermediate vertical trajectory types.

UNASSIGNED: Inflammatory diets can trigger chronic inflammation and affect gut microbiota. However, the relationship between dietary preferences and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) remains unclear. This study aims to elucidate the relationship between different dietary preferences and sensorineural deafness.
UNASSIGNED: The Dietary Inflammation Index (DII) and SNHL were defined by data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and exploring their relationship. Using Mendelian randomization (MR) to analyze the relationship between 34 dietary preferences, 211 gut microbiota, and SNHL.
UNASSIGNED: Smooth curve fitting indicated that the risk of SNHL increased with increasing DII score when the DII score was greater than 5.15. MR results suggest that a diet including both oily and non-oily fish can substantially reduce the risk of SNHL. Additionally, six specific gut microbiota were found to have significant causal relationship with SNHL.
UNASSIGNED: An inflammatory diet may increase the risk of developing SNHL. The observed relationship between fish consumption, gut microbiota, and SNHL suggests the existence of a gut-inner ear axis.

UNASSIGNED: Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) children have difficulty living and limited movement due to impaired vestibular function and reduced balance ability.
UNASSIGNED: The present study evaluated the effects of Latin dance training on the vestibular function and balance of SNHL children.
UNASSIGNED: Thirty SNHL children with no difference in vestibular function and balance ability were randomly divided into two groups, the Latin dance training group (LTG, n = 15) and the control group (CONG, n = 15). Vestibular function, timed eyes-closed static (ECS) and functional reach test (FRT) were measured before and after the intervention, and a two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was performed.
UNASSIGNED: After training, the vestibular function performance of LTG was higher than that of CONG (CONG: 16.425 ± 3.616 vs. LTG: 12.241 ± 2.610, p = 0.0411, ES = 1.3914), the left foot ECS performance of LTG was higher than that of CONG (CONG: 2.765 ± 0.872 vs. LTG: 4.688 ± 1.113, p = 0.0026, ES = 1.9857), the right foot ECS performance of LTG was higher than that of CONG (CONG: 3.113 ± 0.639 vs. LTG: 4.797 ± 1.071, p = 0.0137, ES = 2.01), the FRT performance of LTG was higher than that of CONG (CONG: 32.009 ± 6.134 vs. LTG: 43.797 ± 6.616, p = 0.0021, ES = 1.9135).
UNASSIGNED: After Latin dance training, SNHL children improved vestibular function and balance. The static balance ability of the left foot has been improved significantly than right foot.

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), characterized by damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve, is a prevalent auditory disorder. This study explores the potential of Castanopsis echinocarpa (CAE) as a therapeutic agent for SNHL. In vivo experiments were conducted using zebrafish and mouse models. Zebrafish with neomycin-induced ototoxicity were treated with CAE, resulting in otic hair cell protection with an EC50 of 0.49 µg/mL and a therapeutic index of 1020. CAE treatment improved auditory function and protected cochlear sensory cells in a mouse model after noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). RNA sequencing of NIHL mouse cochleae revealed that CAE up-regulates genes involved in neurotransmitter synthesis, secretion, transport, and neuronal survival. Real-time qPCR validation showed that NIHL decreased the mRNA expression of genes related to neuronal function, such as Gabra1, Gad1, Slc32a1, CaMK2b, CaMKIV, and Slc17a7, while the CAE treatment significantly elevated these levels. In conclusion, our findings provide strong evidence that CAE protects against hearing loss by promoting sensory cell protection and enhancing the expression of genes critical for neuronal function and survival.

BACKGROUND: Preserving the cochlear structures and thus hearing preservation, has become a prominent topic of discussion in cochlear implant (CI) surgery. Various approaches and soft surgical techniques have been described when approaching the inner ear. Robot-assisted cochlear implant surgery (RACIS) reaches the round window in a minimally invasive manner by following a trajectory of minimal trauma. This involves the drilling of a keyhole trajectory to the round window, through the facial recess, with no need for a complete mastoidectomy. It involves less drilling, less drilling time and less structural damage. A lot of attention has been paid to the structural traumatic causes of hearing loss but acoustic trauma during the exposure of the inner ear appears to be neglected topic.
OBJECTIVE: The aim was to measure the noise exposure of the inner ear during the robotic drilling of the mastoid and bony overhang of the round window. The results were compared with the milling in conventional cochlear implantation surgery.
METHODS: RACIS on fresh frozen human cadavers.
METHODS: The equivalent frequency-weighted and time-averaged sound pressure level LAF in dB and the noise dose in % derived from a noise damage model, both obtained during RACIS.
METHODS: The robotic drilling of 6 trajectories towards the inner ear were performed, including 4 trajectories through round window access and 2 trajectories through cochleostomy. The results were compared with the data of 7 cases of conventional CI surgery that have been described in literature. The induced equivalent sound pressure level LAF was determined via an accelleration sensor at the zygomatic arch and a calibration according to bone conduction audiometry. A noise dose for the whole procedure was calculated from the equivalent sound pressure level LAF and the exposure time using a noise damage model. A noise dose of 100% is considered a critical exposure limit and values above are considered potentially harmful, with the risk of hearing impairment.
RESULTS: The maximum LAF was 82 dB during fiducial screw placement; 87 dB during middle ear access; 95 dB for the accesses through the round window and 88 dB for the accesses through cochleostomy. The noise dose due to the HEARO®-procedure was always far below the critical value of 100%. There was no acoustic trauma of the inner ear in all cases with the noise dose being smaller than 0.1% in five out of the six cases. The maximum LAF in the seven cases of conventional CI surgery was 118 dB with a maximum cumulative noise dose of 172.6%. The critical exposure limit of 100% was exceeded in three cases of conventional CI surgery.
CONCLUSIONS: RACIS provokes significantly less acoustic trauma than conventional mastoid surgery in our findings. There were no observable differences in noise exposure levels between a cochleostomy or a round window approach where the bony overhang needed to be drilled.

Cochlear implants (CIs) are the treatment of choice for hearing rehabilitation in children with congenital or acquired profound hearing loss or deafness in order to ensure appropriate speech development and avoid social deprivation. However, in the case of a radiologically detectable malformation of the inner ear structures and potentially associated hypo- or aplasia of the vestibulocochlear nerve, application of a CI is either not possible, or the functional outcome may be of limited predictability. In addition, the risk of surgical complications is also increased in these patients. Counseling parents and developing an appropriate individual therapeutic decision can therefore be a major challenge for the medical team. The current paper is intended to provide support in this regard. It presents criteria for various inner ear malformations and discusses possible treatment options.
UNASSIGNED: Die Versorgung mit einem Cochleaimplantat (CI) ist die Therapie der Wahl zur Hörrehabilitation von Kindern mit einer angeborenen oder erworbenen hochgradigen Schwerhörigkeit oder Taubheit, um eine altersentsprechende sprachliche Entwicklung zu gewährleisten und soziale Deprivation zu vermeiden. Bei einer radiologisch nachweisbaren Malformation der Innenohrstrukturen und einer damit möglicherweise verbundenen Hypo- oder Aplasie des N. vestibulocochlearis ist je nach Ausprägung der Deformität die Versorgung mit einem CI jedoch entweder nicht möglich oder der funktionelle Erfolg nur eingeschränkt vorhersagbar. Darüber hinaus ist bei der chirurgischen Versorgung dieser Patienten auch das Risiko von Komplikationen erhöht. Die Beratung der Eltern und die Entwicklung einer individuellen Therapieentscheidung können daher das behandelnde Team vor eine große Herausforderung stellen. Hierbei soll die vorliegende Arbeit unterstützen. Dazu werden Kriterien verschiedener Innenohrfehlbildungen dargestellt und Versorgungsmöglichkeiten diskutiert.

OBJECTIVE: Hearing loss has been reported after administration of the monoclonal antibody teprotumumab. The purpose of this study was to review available evidence regarding the patterns of teprotumumab-related ototoxicity.
METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library.
METHODS: A systematic review was performed using standardized methodology. Studies were included if they included subjects who were prescribed teprotumumab. Exclusion criteria included non-English articles, abstracts, letters/commentaries, case reports, and reviews. Subjects without both pre- and posttreatment audiometric data were also excluded. Bias was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.
RESULTS: From an initial search of 76 articles, 7 studies reporting on 109 unique patients were included. Four studies were level 4 evidence, 1 study was level 3 evidence, and 2 studies were level 2 evidence. Mean age was 55 ± 14 years with a female predominance (64%). The most commonly reported symptoms were hearing loss (22%), followed by fullness (18%) and tinnitus (14%). In total, 41% of patients with available data met criteria for ototoxicity, all exhibiting shifts in the middle frequencies or higher. Fifteen (14%) patients underwent ultrahigh frequency audiometric testing and 8 (53%, 8/15) demonstrated shifts exclusively in this range.
CONCLUSIONS: Ototoxicity may occur in patients treated with teprotumumab. Hearing loss occurs primarily in higher frequencies, and routine hearing screening with ultrahigh frequency testing may be warranted. The true incidence of ototoxicity with teprotumumab remains unknown, and more data is needed to elucidate underlying mechanisms and develop strategies to minimize risks.

BACKGROUND: Hearing loss is a common sensory disorder that impacts patients across the lifespan. Many genetic variants have been identified that contribute to non-syndromic hearing loss. Yet, genetic testing is not routinely administered when hearing loss is diagnosed, particularly in adults. In this study, genetic testing was completed in patients with known hearing loss.
METHODS: A total of 104 patients who were evaluated for hearing loss were enrolled and received genetic testing.
RESULTS: Of those 104 patients, 39 had available genetic testing, 20 had one missing allele, and 45 yielded no genetic diagnosis. Of the 39 cases with genetic testing data, 24 were simplex cases, and 15 were multiplex cases. A majority of patients presented with an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern (n = 32), 26 of whom presented with congenital hearing loss. 38% of cases were positive for GJB2 mutation with c.35delG being the most common pathogenic variant. These findings are consistent with previous literature suggesting GJB2 mutations are the most common causes of non-syndromic hearing loss.
CONCLUSIONS: Given the frequency of genetic variants in patients with hearing loss, genetic testing should be considered a routine part of the hearing loss work-up, particularly as gene therapies are studied and become more widely available.
BACKGROUND: Many genetic variants have been identified that contribute to non-syndromic hearing loss. Given the frequency of genetic variants in patients with hearing loss, genetic testing should be considered a routine part of the hearing loss work-up.