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Copyright of Acta Oto-Laryngologica is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Acta Oto-Laryngologica is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Conclusions: This pilot study shows that transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), if combined with sound therapy (ST), reduces the seventy of tinnitus and tinnitus-associated distress. Our maguetoencephalography (MEG) results show that auditory cortical activation can be modulated by the application of tVNS. Thus, tVNS might offer a new avenue to treat tinnitus and tinnitus-associated distress. Objectives: Recent studies suggest that tinnitus can be improved by tailored ST or by VNS plus ST. Our aims were to study whether tVNS has therapeutic effects on patients with tinnitus and, additionally, if tVNS has effects on acoustically evoked neuronal activity of the auditory cortex. Methods: The clinical efficacy was studied by a short-term tVNS plus ST trial in 10 patients with tinnitus using disease-specific and general well-being questionnaires, tVNS was delivered to the left tragus. The acute effects of tVNS were evaluated in eight patients in the MEG study in which the Nlm response was analyzed in terms of source level amplitude and latency in the presence or absence of tVNS. Results: The treatment with tVNS plus ST produced improved mood and decreased tinnitus handicap scores, indicating reduced tinnitus seventy. The application of tVNS decreased the amplitude of auditory N1m responses in both hemispheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In acute acoustic trauma (AAT), excessive noise exposure causes rupture of cell membranes and decreased cochlear blood flow. This leads to decreased oxygen tension in inner ear fluids and reduction of a variety of different oxygen-dependent cellular activities. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBO) may help the cells suffering from hypoxia to survive. We exposed male Wistar rats to 60 impulses of 162-dB SPL from a 7.62-mm assault rifle equipped with a blank adaptor. After the exposure, 15 animals were given HBO treatment for 90 min daily for 10 consecutive days at 0.25 MPa. After a survival time of 4 weeks, auditory brainstem responses were measured and the left cochleae processed for light microscopy. The impulse noise caused permanent damage to the cochlea of all animals, with the most severe lesions in the lower middle coil, where a significantly smaller number of hair cells was missing in the HBO-treated group. The morphological damage was also reflected in function, as measured by auditory brainstem responses, which showed the greatest threshold shifts at 6.0, 8.0 and 10.0 kHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]