Category Ranking

98%

Total Visits

921

Avg Visit Duration

2 minutes

Citations

20

Article Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to demonstrate that the positivity of nonspecific immunological tests could be found not only in bilateral hearing loss but also in unilateral cases, either sudden or progressive.

Method: An observational case series study included subjects suffering from unilateral or bilateral, sudden or progressive, symmetric or asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). All the patients underwent pure tone audiometry and the following battery of blood exams: anti-nuclear antibody (ANA), extractable nuclear antigen (ENA) antibody screening, anti-thyroperoxidase (anti-TPO), anti-thyroglobulin and anti-smooth muscle antibody (ASMA).

Results: The positivity to nonspecific immunological test was found in nearly 70% of the study groups. ASMA and ANA were found to be present in both bilateral and unilateral cases, without statistical difference. Considering the correlation between positivity/negativity and systemic autoimmune pathologies, in the bilateral forms of hearing loss, a high incidence of thyroid pathologies has been identified, with a higher percentage of systemic autoimmune diseases in respect to the normal population.

Conclusions: The nonspecific autoimmune tests are worth to be performed also when SNHL is not bilateral and progressive, since an immunological mechanism could also underlie unilateral and sudden SNHL cases.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00016489.2017.1286035DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

hearing loss
16
positivity nonspecific
8
nonspecific immunological
8
unilateral cases
8
systemic autoimmune
8
unilateral
5
bilateral
5
unilateral progressive
4
sudden
4
progressive sudden
4

Similar Publications

Individuals with tinnitus hear sounds that are not present in the external environment. Whereas hearing difficulties at frequencies near those matching the tinnitus pitch are a common complaint for individuals with tinnitus, it is unclear to what extent the internal tinnitus sounds interfere with the detection of external sounds. We therefore studied whether pure-tone detection at the estimated frequency corresponding to the tinnitus pitch (f) was affected by confusion with the tinnitus percept.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Alexithymia is characterized by difficulties in identifying and describing one's own emotions. Alexithymia has previously been associated with deficits in the processing of emotional information at both behavioral and neurobiological levels, and some studies have shown elevated levels of alexithymic traits in adults with hearing loss. This explorative study investigated alexithymia in young and adolescent school-age children with hearing aids in relation to (1) a sample of age-matched children with normal hearing, (2) age, (3) hearing thresholds, and (4) vocal emotion recognition.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: School-based hearing screening serves as a critical resource for children in rural areas to be screened and connected to hearing healthcare. Telemedicine interventions in schools have shown promise in connecting children to providers; however, there is limited research on systematic adaptation and deployment of telemedicine in rural schools. Obtaining community perspectives and preferences on school-based telemedicine hearing evaluation is essential to ensure such interventions are deployable in a rural context.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fully Endoscopic Microvascular Decompression for Hemifacial Spasm Using 2-Dimensional/3-Dimensional Endoscopy: Clinical Analysis of 204 Cases.

Oper Neurosurg

September 2025

Department of Neurosurgery and the Training Base of Neuroendoscopic Physicians under the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Jiangsu Clinical Medicine Center of Tissue Engineering and Nerve Injury Repair, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China.

Background And Objectives: Microvascular decompression (MVD) for hemifacial spasm (HFS) is commonly conducted under a microscope. We report a large series of fully endoscopic MVDs for HFS and describe our initial experience with 3-dimensional (3D) endoscopy.

Methods: Clinical data of 204 patients with HFS who underwent fully endoscopic MVD using 2-dimensional (2D) and 3D endoscopy (191 and 13 patients, respectively) from July 2017 to October 2024 were retrospectively analyzed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Comparative Cochlear Transcriptomics in Echolocating Bats and Mouse Reveals Hras as Protector Against Noise-Induced Hearing Loss.

Adv Sci (Weinh)

September 2025

ENT Institute and Otorhinolaryngology Department of Eye & ENT Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disorders and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200031, China.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), caused by irreversible cochlear hair cell (HC) damage, lacks effective therapies due to a limited understanding of endogenous protective mechanisms. The echolocating bats exhibit natural resistance to intense noise, and this suggested novel insights into methods to protect against NIHL. Here, through comparative transcriptomic analysis of noise-exposed cochleae from the eastern bent-winged bats (Miniopterus fuliginosus) and mice, the specific transcriptional dynamics in noise-resistant Miniopterus fuliginosus are revealed, thus highlighting potential mechanisms for preventing cochlear damage that mouse models cannot replicate, with Hras emerging as the most significant hub upregulator.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF