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Background/aim We aimed to revealthe incidence and predictive role of insulin resistance and distorted oral glucose tolerance test in nondiabetic patients withBell’s Palsy (BP). Materials and methods Eighty-sixpatients with BP and 28 control subjects; all with normal blood glucose levels and no history of diabetes, were enrolled in the study. We investigated insulin resistance (IR) in all subjects, in terms of HOMA-IR greater than 2.7. Sixty-two of the patients also underwent an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Results The mean HOMA-IR value was significantly increased in patients, compared to the control group (3.2 vs 1.6; P < 0.01). IR was detected more in BP patients than in controls (P < 0.05). The patients with higher HOMA-IR values had more severe facial dysfunction at the initial presentation and complete recovery time took longer than the patients with normal HOMA-IR value (75 days vs 42 days; P < 0.05). Following a 2h-OGTT, impaired glucose tolerance and newly diagnosed DM were found in 60% of the patients. Recovery time was significantly longer in prediabetics and newly diagnosed diabetic patients than in patients with normal glycemia (68 days, 52 days, and 32 days, respectively; P < 0.01). Conclusion There is a strong linkage between HOMA-IR value and BP prognosis so HOMA-IR value may have a significant role of predicting BP prognosis at presentation.

Conclusion: This method is an easy, non-expensive, and effective technique in bilateral vocal cord paralysis to improve glottic airway and clinical performance. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of ‘suture arytenoid laterofixation’ surgery in bilateral vocal cord paralysis. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of patients’ medical history undergoing ‘suture arytenoid laterofixation’ surgery for bilateral vocal cord paralysis. This technique was applied under general anesthesia with both microlaryngoscopy and video-monitoring. Two 16 g needles and one 1/0 nylon thread were used for the procedure with 1 cm skin incision; no tracheotomy or tissue excision was required. Pre–post-operative photographs of the glottic region were taken from the endoscopic records, and the areas of rima glottis openings were calculated with the Image-J programme. Results: Forty-seven patients were analyzed. The mean pre–post-operative rima glottis areas were 1.11 ± 0.56 and 2.24 ± 0.93 mm 2 , respectively (p < 0.001). Five patients with previous tracheotomy were decannulated within a few days after the operation. In three patients, mild complications developed in the early post-operative period (two laryngeal edemas, one submucosal hematoma). Tracheotomy was performed to only one pregnant patient in the post-operative first day. None of the patients had granulation formation or synechia.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effect of acupuncture treatment on hearing and tinnitus in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss SNHL refractory to treatment. Patients and Methods: Between January 2013 and May 2015, a total of 25 patients 8 males, 17 females; median age: 43.3 years; range, 18 to 65 years resistant to medical treatment who underwent acupuncture as salvage therapy were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were evaluated with pure-tone audiometry, Speech Discrimination Score SDS , and Tinnitus Handicap Inventory THI at pre-treatment T0 , and after 10th T1 and 20th sessions T2 of acupuncture. Results: Hearing loss evaluated according to the four-frequency pure-tone average PTA; 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 kHz showed a statistically significant improvement at the end of the 10th session of acupuncture p=0.017 . There was also a significant improvement in the PTA values of the worst three consecutive frequencies at the end of the 20th session p=0.034 . A significant improvement in SDS p=0.022 and THI p