A retrospective evaluation was performed in 112 patients treated during a 10-year period as inpatients with the diagnosis idiopathic sudden hearing loss. Excluding all patients in whom later other diagnosis were established, like Ménière's disease, collagenoses, mumps etc., 101 patients remained. 80 of them had been treated consistently according to a protocol as having idiopathic sudden hearing loss. These patients had all 5-day treatment with low molecular weight dextran and nicotinic acid and vitamin B during 1 month. 68% did completely recover or were markedly improved (> 30 dB), another 19% were fairly improved (10-30 dB). Statistical analysis showed that all retrocochlear signs or nystagmus made the prognosis less favorable. To wake up with the hearing loss was more favorable than a daytime debut. A mid-frequency loss had always a good prognosis. Because no untreated controls were included in the study, it was not possible to evaluate the specific effect of the treatment. The results obtained from this study have changed the treatment policy in our clinic.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Accumulation of 14C-lidocaine in the inner ear. Preliminary clinical experience utilizing intravenous lidocaine in the treatment of severe tinnitus.

Clinical experience has demonstrated that intravenously administered local anaesthetics have a mitigating effect on severe tinnitus. In an attempt to gain some insight into the mechanism of this effect, autoradiography of the inner ear of young pigmented rats was performed after intravenous injection of 14C-lidocaine. Some accumulation of lidocaine was found in the modiolus, but almost none in the stria vascularis. A large accumulation was observed in other melanincontaining tissues, such as the hair follicles and uvea. The in vitro accumulation of 14C-labelled lidocaine adsorbed on melanin granules was low (12%) as compared with that of other drugs, such as kanamycin (89%) and chloroquine (85%). These autoradiographic results indicate that lidocaine has an effect upon the inner ear, in addition to its previously demonstrated effect on the CNS.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

New self-adjusting cuff for tracheal tubes.

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Humans↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Control and dispositional style among the hearing-impaired in communication situations.

Forty hearing-impaired subjects were exposed to three stressful communication situations in a laboratory setting. The communication patterns used and the extent to which the subjects succeeded in coping with the situations were studied. Measures, such as the life orientation test measuring dispositional style, a hearing questionnaire measuring the ability to cope with different hearing situations, degree of control and pure-tone audiometry were performed. Coping behaviour and expressed emotion during communication situations were also observed. The results showed that controllability together with dispositional style and aspects of expressed emotion played an important role in explaining the overall success rates of hearing-impaired individuals.

Adaptation, Psychological↗