Search

Background and ObjectivesZZ‘Partial deafness’, characterized by normal or slightly impaired hearing in the low frequency band and nearly total deafness in the high frequency range, is difficult to assess with conventional behavioral tests in infants and young children. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the usefulness of objective hearing tests, such as auditory brainstem response (ABR) and auditory steady state response (ASSR) in evaluating patients with partial deafness.

Received November 13, 2014 Revised December 22, 2014 Accepted January 2, 2015 Address for correspondence Yun-Hoon Choung, MD, DDS, PhD Department of Otolaryngology, Ajou University School of Medicine, 164 World cup-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon 443-380, Korea Tel +82-31-219-5263 Fax +82-31-219-5264 E-mail yhc@ajou.ac.kr Background and ObjectivesZZThis study aims to identify whether the sequential bilateral cochlear implantation in children with a long inter-implant interval provides functional benefits in everyday situation. Subjects and MethodZZSeventeen children with sequential bilateral cochlear implants (BiCIs) (mean age at first implantation, 2.6 years; mean age at second implantation, 8.5 years; mean inter-implant interval, 6.0 years) and 17 children with unilateral cochlear implants (UniCIs) were included in this study. The questionnaire SSQ (The Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of hearing scale for parents of children with impaired hearing, Galvin, 2007) was used to evaluate the performance of two groups by individually interviewing the parents of the subjects. For the BiCIs, anecdotal reports of the performance in everyday listening situation and device use were also collected in interviews. ResultsZZThe BiCI group showed significantly better performance in all three areas (speech perception, spatial hearing, and other qualities of hearing) of the SSQ than did the UniCI group. The differences between the two groups were significantly larger in performance on ‘spatial hearing’ and ‘other qualities of hearing’ than on ‘speech perception’. All subjects with bilateral cochlear implants had a positive attitude on bilateral hearing. Anecdotal reports indicated that bilateral hearing has positive effects such as reduced repeated questions, increased participation in conversation, facilitated language and learning acquisition, and improved concentration. ConclusionZZChildren who received sequential bilateral cochlear implantation with a long inter-implant interval could obtain functional benefits in daily life. Also it turned out that these benefits have positive effects on children’s communication, language, learning, and socio-emotional areas. Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2015;58(7):463-8

The effective management of tinnitus should start with an ac-curate diagnosis, but no concensus has been developed in Korea concerning how to measure the features of tinnitus. This study surveyed otologists in the training hospitals and hospitals specialized in otologic care in Korea to identify the current status in the assessment of patients with tinnitus.

Evidence based medicine is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. In terms of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), the costs to the health care system and the indirect costs of BPPV are significant. Despite its significant prevalence, and quality of life and economic impacts, consider able practice variations exist in the management of BPPV across disciplines. In this situation, to educate clinicians on evidence based approach to BPPV would be important. In this article, recent guideline by the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery will be reviewed.�