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Background and Objective: Age of cochlear implantation (CI) is an important factor for restoring normal auditory processing and different language skills so that early diagnosis of hearing loss significantly influences the rate of developmental skills in these children. The present study aimed to investigate different factors affecting the age of hearing loss diagnosis and CI in children with hearing loss. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional trial conducted on the children with hearing loss that underwent CI (n=252) in the Khuzestan Cochlear Implant center, Ahvaz, Iran during 2012 to 2015. The demographic data of children and parents, age of diagnosis, application of hearing aid, and rehabilitation therapy were collected through a questionnaire during the regular visits of the patients. The data were analyzed using statistical package SPSS (Windows, version 18).The normality of data and homogeneity of variances were evaluated through Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Leven tests, respectively. Then, T-test was used to evaluate the statistically significance of the difference and Pearson correlation coefficient to determine the relationship between the quantitative variables. Results: The mean age of diagnosis was 10.7 months (range 0.1 to 60 months). Of 252 patients, 131 (52%) were male and 121 (48%) were female (p=0.98) and 123 patients (50.2%) had a positive family history of hearing loss or deafness (p<0.0001). In addition, 17 patients (6.9%) had a favorable economic status, while 96 (38.9%) had a moderate and 134 (53.2%) a low economic status. Interestingly, 78.8% of the deaf children were from parents of consanguineous marriages, and 12.2% from non-consanguineous unions. Of the six studied variables, only family history and family relationship variables showed significant relationship with age of diagnosis of hearing loss. Conclusion: Providing comprehensive basic information and increased awareness may help all parents, even those with low socioeconomic status and educational level, to detect hearing loss in their newborns as early as possible. This approach could prevent the consequent adverse effects of hearing loss on psychological, social, and social dimensions as well as on educational achievement in childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Purpose: Recurrent and chronic infections of the ear, throat and nose are one of the most important health problems worldwide, and they clearly affect the quality of life in adults and children. In spite of proper diagnosis and proper treatment, groups of these patients do not respond to routine treatment and are still being symptomatic and have chronic complications in these patients. Various studies have shown that the immune system is defective in some patients with frequent and chronic infections of the ear, throat and nose. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the relative frequency of primary immunodeficiency diseases in children with sinusitis and recurrent middle ear infections. Methods & Materials: This study evaluated underlying immune defects in patients with otitis media or recurrent sinusitis. Serum levels of IgA, IgG and IgM were evaluated by nephlometric test. In addition, a complete count of blood cells was also evaluated. The rate of humoral response to diphtheria and tetanus was also assessed. NBT was used to evaluate the immune system. Results: Out of 62 patients, 12 patients (19%) had defects in at least one antibody class. Five patients with IgA deficiency (which 2 of them have also showed IgG concurrent deficiency) were seen. Also, 4 patients had IgG deficiency and 3 patients showed IgM deficiency. None of the patients had abnormal cell count. NBT response was also normal in all patients. Conclusion: In general, the findings of the present study in line with previous studies showed that a large proportion of children with recurrent otitis media and sinusitis have abnormal immunologic function. Therefore, it is recommended that the evaluation of immune deficiency be considered in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to investigate plasticity of auditory system following cochlear implants (CI) in prelingually severe to profound hearing-impaired children using cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) and correlate it with auditory perception performance. Methods: A total of 28 (15 boys, 13 girls) children with profound hearing loss, who underwent CI at Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Iran, were included in this study. Their mean age at the time of implantation was 21.3 months. All children were evaluated before implantation and 3 months after implantation using the CAEPs and categorical auditory performance (CAP). For CAEP measurement, the stimuli on the HEARLab system (/m/, /g/, and /t/) were extracted from running speech and presented at 65 dB SPL. Results: The mean CAP and P1 amplitude values were increased from pre-CI condition to 3-month post-CI condition (Paired t-test, p<0.001). We found a positive correlation between P1 amplitude and CAP score changes from pre- to post-implantation stages (Pearson's r=0.62, p=0.018). There was no significant difference in CAP and P1 amplitude values between boys and girls (p >0.05). Conclusion: The present study indicated that early cochlear implantation, will improve cortical auditory plasticity and auditory performance ability in pre-lingual hearing-impaired children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]