BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patulous Eustachian tube (PET) causes troublesome autophony. We treated PET using tragal cartilage chip insertion to fill in the concavity within the tubal valve and evaluated the feasibility of this method. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study used a prospective design. Eleven patients with PET disorder were included. Tragal cartilage chip insertion via a transcanal approach into the Eustachian tube (ET) was performed in 14 ears of those patients. They were followed-up for at least 12 months after surgery and were evaluated by symptom questionnaire scores. RESULTS: The average follow-up was 16.4 months. Thirteen of fourteen ears received immediate complete relief of autophony symptoms. Autophony symptoms at the last follow-up were as follows: four ears (28.6%) had complete relief; five ears (35.7%) showed satisfactory improvement; four ears (28.6%) showed significant but unsatisfactory improvement; and one ear (7.1%) was unchanged. The PET symptom questionnaire in the affected ears showed a significant reduction in autophony (p=0.047) and improvement in breathing sound conduction (p=0.047). There were no complications such as otitis media or occlusion symptom. CONCLUSIONS: Transtympanic cartilage chip insertion into the ET provides a safe and accessible surgical option for the treatment of PET.
Cartilage ; Ear ; Eustachian Tube ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Methods ; Otitis Media ; Prospective Studies ; Respiratory Sounds

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of revision cochlear implant (CI) surgery for better speech comprehension targeting patients with low satisfaction after first CI surgery. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Eight patients who could not upgrade speech processors because of an too early CI model and who wanted to change the whole system were included. After revision CI surgery, we compared speech comprehension before and after revision CI surgery. Categoies of Auditory Performance (CAP) score, vowel and consonant confusion test, Ling 6 sounds, word and sentence identification test were done. RESULTS: The interval between surgeries ranged from eight years to 19 years. Same manufacturer’s latest product was used for revision surgery in six cases of eight cases. Full insertion of electrode was possible in most of cases (seven of eight). CAP score (p-value=0.01), vowel confusion test (p-value=0.041), one syllable word identification test (p-value=0.026), two syllable identification test (p-value=0.028), sentence identification test (pvalue=0.028) had significant improvement. Consonant confusion test (p-value=0.063), Ling 6 sound test (p-value=0.066) had improvement but it is not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Although there are some limitations of our study design, we could identify the effect of revision (upgrade) CI surgery indirectly. So we concluded that if patient complain low functional gain or low satisfaction after first CI surgery, revision (device upgrade) CI surgery is meaningful even if there is no device failure.
Cochlear Implants ; Comprehension ; Electrodes ; Equipment Failure ; Humans

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aims to verify that one of the causes of tinnitus is the malfunction of outer hair cells and, on the basis of this, to investigate the usefulness of otoacoustic emissions by performing transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) and distor-tion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE). SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Included in the study were forty-one patients who had normal hearing in the range from 0.5 to 8 kHz, and complained of unilateral tinnitus. In these patients, hearing in bilateral ears, TEOAE, DPOAE, as well as the frequency & amplitude of their tinnitus were measured. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was found in bilateral hearing in patients who complained of unilateral tinnitus. However, TEOAE and DPOAE showed a statistically significant difference with their p-values at 0.04 and 0.004, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggested that TEOAE testing and DPOAE testing provide an important clue for verifying that the loss of outer hair cells contributed to the development of symptoms suffered by tinnitus patients with normal hearing.
Ear ; Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Methods ; Tinnitus*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aims to evaluate the usefulness of customized vestibular exercise through literature review. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We searched several literature database such as Ovid-MEDLINE, Ovid-EMBASE, and Cochrane Library etc., with the following inclusion criteria: 1) studies of patients with dizziness and balance disorders, 2) studies in which a customized vestibular exercise was performed, and 3) studies in which one or more of the appropriate medical outcomes have been reported. At the same time, we excluded the following: 1) non-human studies and pre-clinical studies, 2) non-original articles, for example, non-systematic reviews, editorial, letter and opinion pieces, 3) research not published in Korean and English, 4) grey literature (thesis, congress or conference materials, abstract etc.), and 5) case studies. Finally, 10 studies were selected and analyzed. RESULTS: The safety of customized vestibular exercise was reported in three documents which reported no side effects related to the procedure. The effectiveness of customized vestibular exercise was proven by the assessment of symptom change, functional change, and other physiological measures based on a total of 10 randomized clinical trial studies. CONCLUSION: For patients with vestibular dysfunction, a customized vestibular exercise can be a safe and effective technique for improving dizziness and balance function.
Dizziness ; Humans ; Methods

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss refers to a condition wherein thresholds increase only at low frequencies in pure-tone audiometry. Systemic steroid treatment is commonly used for acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss without vertigo, but there has been no established treatment in most clinical researches. The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the short-term effects of high- and half-dose oral steroid therapy on patients suffering from acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss without vertigo. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Forty-six patients diagnosed with acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss were divided into two groups and treated with high-dose (24 patients) and half-dose (22 patients) steroids, respectively. A retrospective analysis was conducted on their medical records. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two groups in any of the following: age, sex ratio, duration of symptoms before treatment, pure-tone hearing thresholds, low frequency hearing thresholds and speech intelligibility. However, both groups showed significant differences in hearing thresholds before and after treatment. In addition, no significant difference was noted in the recovery and recurrence rate between the two groups. CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, there is no difference in treatment effect between the high- and half-dose groups. Therefore, half-dose steroids may be used as a treatment option for acute low tone sensorineural hearing loss.
Audiometry, Pure-Tone ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural* ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Speech Intelligibility ; Steroids ; Therapeutic Uses* ; Vertigo

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aims to verify the usefulness of Centor scores to diagnose the Group A Streptococcal pharyngitis. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: The subjects of this study were 379 patients who had been examined by the rapid antigen detection test (RADT) for Group A Streptococcus. We analyzed their medical records and laboratory test results retrospectively and compared the results of Centor symptom scores with those of RADT. Then we analyzed the association of RADT, the Centor score and the laboratory test results statistically. RESULTS: There were no correlation between the RADT results and fever, cough, tonsillar enlargement, nasal symptoms, myalgia or chilling (p>0.05). In the RADT positive group, there were more patients with tonsillar exudate, neck lymph node enlargement, tenderness and pharyngeal abscess formation significantly (p<0.05). The Centor score and C-reactive protein were significantly higher in the RADT positive group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that Centor symptom scores can be used to determine which antibiotics to use. The Centor score system can help reduce medical costs and detect the problematic Group A Streptococcal pharyngitis.
Abscess ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cough ; Decision Making ; Diagnosis ; Exudates and Transudates ; Fever ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Myalgia ; Neck ; Pharyngitis ; Retrospective Studies ; Streptococcus ; Streptococcus pyogenes

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aims to verify the usefulness of Centor scores to diagnose the Group A Streptococcal pharyngitis.SUBJECTS AND METHOD: The subjects of this study were 379 patients who had been examined by the rapid antigen detection test (RADT) for Group A Streptococcus. We analyzed their medical records and laboratory test results retrospectively and compared the results of Centor symptom scores with those of RADT. Then we analyzed the association of RADT, the Centor score and the laboratory test results statistically. RESULTS: There were no correlation between the RADT results and fever, cough, tonsillar enlargement, nasal symptoms, myalgia or chilling (p>0.05). In the RADT positive group, there were more patients with tonsillar exudate, neck lymph node enlargement, tenderness and pharyngeal abscess formation significantly (p<0.05). The Centor score and C-reactive protein were significantly higher in the RADT positive group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest that Centor symptom scores can be used to determine which antibiotics to use. The Centor score system can help reduce medical costs and detect the problematic Group A Streptococcal pharyngitis.

These guidelines were developed as part of the 2016 Policy Research Servicing Project by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A multidisciplinary approach was taken to formulate this guideline to provide practical information about the diagnosis and treatment of adults with acute upper respiratory tract infection, with the ultimate aim to promote the appropriate use of antibiotics. The formulation of this guideline was based on a systematic literature review and analysis of the latest research findings to facilitate evidence-based practice, and focused on key questions to help clinicians obtain solutions to clinical questions that may arise during the care of a patient. These guidelines mainly cover the subjects on the assessment of antibiotic indications and appropriate selection of antibiotics for adult patients with acute pharyngotonsillitis or acute sinusitis.
Adult* ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Diagnosis ; Evidence-Based Practice ; Humans ; Korea ; Pharyngitis ; Respiratory Tract Infections* ; Sinusitis ; Tonsillitis