Jugular bulb diverticulum (JBD) is a rarely reported vascular anomaly, which is an extraluminal outpouching from the jugular bulb. Especially, there exists a lack of reported cases involving JBD encroaching the internal auditory canal (IAC) in Korea. Subjects with JBD may be asymptomatic or have variable symptoms based on its location and size. In this article, we report a unique case of JBD eroding into the IAC that was presented as sudden sensorineural hearing loss with vertigo.
Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A1 ; Diverticulum ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Korea ; Vertigo

Pulsatile tinnitus arising from an aberrant internal carotid artery at the level of the nasopharynx is rarely found. We present a case of a 74-year-old woman complaining of pulsatile tinnitus in the right ear. The tinnitus was not audible by auscultation. Endoscopic examination revealed pulsating swelling of the nasopharyngeal wall on the right side. Computed tomography angiography of the head and neck region showed medial and superficial transposition of the right internal carotid artery at the level of the nasopharynx. The artery was located right next to the orifice of the Eustachian tube and coursed along the distal portion of the tube. The patient's perception of tinnitus was improved after explaining the cause of the tinnitus and reassuring her about thecondition.
Aged ; Angiography ; Arteries ; Auscultation ; Carotid Arteries ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Ear ; Eustachian Tube ; Female ; Head ; Humans ; Nasopharynx ; Neck ; Tinnitus

Although the occurrence of otogenic brain abscess has been considerably reduced through improvements to antibiotics, brain abscesses remains one of the most significant life threatening complications of chronic otitis media. We report the case of a 67-year-old male patient who presented with gait ataxia and dizziness. Imaging studies revealed a left cerebellar abscess and extensive destructive changes to the labyrinth due to chronic otitis media. We conclude that otogenic brain abscess should be considered as differential diagnosis in patients with chronic otitis media who develop central vertigo.
Abscess ; Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Brain ; Brain Abscess ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Dizziness ; Ear, Inner ; Gait ; Gait Ataxia ; Humans ; Male ; Otitis Media ; Vertigo

Middle ear adenoma can be a rare cause of a middle ear mass. These benign tumors can have epithelial and/or neuroendocrine differentiation. In 1976, Hyams was the first to describe a series of these tumors. It is still thought that these tumors are indistinguishable in composition from each other. We report a case of middle ear adenoma, the clinical and pathologic findings of which illustrate the biological behavior of the middle ear. A 17-year-old male presented with a history of recurrent, bloody otorrhea and high-pitched tinnitus. We diagnosed him with congenital cholesteatoma and performed surgery to remove the entire tumor as well as the incus. However, on postoperative pathology examination, we finally diagnosed the tumor as middle-ear adenoma with neuroendocrine differentiation. In the two years following surgery, the patient's adenoma has not recurred, although long-term observation will be required.
Adenoma ; Adolescent ; Cholesteatoma ; Ear Neoplasms ; Ear, Middle ; Humans ; Incus ; Male ; Tinnitus

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of middle ear lesions on pre and postoperative hearing in patients with chronic otitis media (COM) and to assess the relationship between various prognostic factors and pre and postoperative hearing using more than 2000 COM surgery records retrieved from a computerized database released by the Korean Otologic Society in 2005. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Data of 2312 COM surgeries, which had been conducted by a single surgeon from 1989 to 2009, were reviewed retrospectively. Mean preoperative and postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) was analyzed using a four-frequency (500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 Hz) pure tone average (PTA). Pre and postoperative ABGs were compared with regard to several prognostic factors, including disease duration, age, Eustachian tube function, existence of otorrhea, size of tympanic membrane perforation, degree of ossicular destruction, presence of cholesteatoma, and its type. RESULTS: Mean pre and postoperative ABGs of PTA in the 2079 cases studied were 27.88+/-13.33 dB and 17.38+/-15.64 dB, respectively, with a hearing success rate of 69%. The results suggested that preoperative ABGs were affected by Eustachian tube function, Griffin grade, presence of cholesteatoma and its type, and the degree of ossicular destruction. Hearing gains differed significantly among the groups when compared with factors of Griffin grade, presence or type of cholesteatoma, and the degree of ossicular destruction. CONCLUSIONS: Many factors affected pre and postoperative ABGs and postoperative hearing outcomes. These results will be useful for designing future clinical studies on COM surgery, as well as for surgical planning and patient counseling in clinical practice.
Cholesteatoma ; Counseling ; Ear, Middle ; Eustachian Tube ; Hearing ; Humans ; Otitis ; Otitis Media ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Tympanic Membrane Perforation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between inhalation anesthetics and hearing in mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: As inhalation anesthetics, isoflurane was used. Auditory brainstem response and distortion product otoacoustic emission were used as measurement of hearing. Mice were divided into 2 groups. 'Isoflurane group' consisted of mice that were anesthetized with an inspired concentration of 2.0 vol% isoflurane with 2 L/min of oxygen (n=10). 'Control group' consisted of mice that were anesthetized with ketamine and xylazine (n=10). RESULTS: Auditory brainstem response thresholds in mice anesthetized with ketamine and xylazine was not different from those in mice anesthetized with isoflurane. Threshold of DPOAE was higher in mice with isolurane than with ketamine and xylazine. Changes of efferent control may be induced by isoflurane and consequently change the threshold of DPOAE in mice. CONCLUSIONS: These results infer that, there was a change of central nervous system induced by inhalation anesthetics, this change also can be applied to the strategies for prevention of hearing loss.
Anesthetics ; Anesthetics, Inhalation ; Animals ; Central Nervous System ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Isoflurane ; Ketamine ; Mice ; Oxygen ; Xylazine

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Auricular masses are growths on the outer ear that have not been well characterized clinically. We assessed the clinical nature and treatment of auricular benign masses in patients at our institution. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively identified 63 patients with auricular benign masses who underwent excision and biopsy from May 1970 to April 2011. We determined the site, cause, size, pathology and postoperative results of these auricular masses. RESULTS: Auricular benign masses occurred most commonly on the lobule (44.4%), followed by the tragus (20.6%), crus of helix (11.1%), triangular fossa (6.3%), crus of antihelix-antitragus (3.1%) and scapha (1.5%). Pathologically, the most common type of auricular mass was epidermal cysts (25.3%), followed by hypertrophic scar (12.6%), fibrous tissue-accessory ear (9.5%), chronic inflammation-nevus (7.9%), keloid (6.3%), hemangioma (4.7%), and skin tag-seborrheic keratosis (3.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The most common site of auricular benign masses is the lobule and most common pathology is an epidermal cyst.
Biopsy ; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic ; Ear ; Ear, External ; Epidermal Cyst ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Keloid ; Keratosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The stimulus signals delivered in cochlear implant (CI) systems are generally derived by sampling the temporal envelope of each channel at some constant rate and using its intensity to control the stimulation current level delivered to the corresponding electrode site. The objective of the study was to investigate speech recognition performance of cochlear implant users in quiet and noisy environments using either moderate or high rates of electrical stimulations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six post-lingually deafened adult users of the Nucleus CI24 cochlear implant (Contour(R) electrode array, Cochlear(TM), Macquarie Park, Australia) with the Freedom(R) speech processor participated in the study. Stimulation rates of 900 and 2400 pulses-per-second/channel (pps/ch) were used after both stimulation programs were balanced for loudness. Monosyllabic word and sentence recognition scores in quiet and noisy environments were evaluated for each stimulation program after two months of practice. Subjects were also asked to respond to a questionnaire to examine their preference to any stimulation rate in different hearing conditions. RESULTS: Word recognition scores for monosyllabic words in quiet conditions with the 900 stimulation rate was better than that of the 2400 stimulation rate, although no significant differences between them were found for sentence test in noise. A survey questionnaire indicated that most subjects preferred the 900 stimulation rate to the 2400 stimulation rate, especially in quiet conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Most subjects indicated a preference for 900 pps/ch rate in quiet conditions. It is recommended to remap at 900 pps/ch for those CI users whose performance in quiet conditions is less than ideal.
Adult ; Cochlear Implants ; Correction of Hearing Impairment ; Electric Stimulation ; Electrodes ; Hearing ; Humans ; Noise ; Speech Perception ; Sydnones ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The main objective of this review is to describe the new sequencing technologies called next generation sequencing (NGS) and its utility as a molecular genetic diagnosis tool in a medical field. Sanger method has dominated the genome sequencing industry for the past 30 years since its invention in 1975. It produced first human genome and still remains the gold standard for genome sequencing. However, it cannot meet the needs for enormous genetic data gathering and process because of its relatively long sequencing time and high cost per sample. NGS which parallelise the sequencing process, thereby increasing processing speed at a reduced cost per sample emerged to compensate for the weakness of the previous method. Currently NGS is used in some medical areas and its use is being widened. NGS also plays an important role in a study of genetically heterogenous hearing diseases. NGS is expected to mark a significant milestone in genomic research filed in a near future.
Deafness ; Genome ; Genome, Human ; Hearing ; Humans ; Inventions ; Molecular Biology

Preauricular sinuses are common congenital malformations that usually occur at the anterior margin of the ascending limb of the helix. There are rare cases in which the location of the preauricular sinus is posterior to the tragus, and the direction of the sinus tract is toward the posterior. This variant type of preauricular sinus is called, 'postauricular sinus'. Postauricular sinus is uncommon. Thus, diagnosis and treatment may be delayed due to its location of its opening and atypical clinical symptoms. Typical treatment is a single stage operation through bidirectional skin incision. However, we found out that according to the length and invasion depth of the sinus tract, there was an option between unidirectional and bidirectional skin incisions that we may choose from.
Extremities ; Skin