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Biomedical subjects

M Sorri

Publications and source records attributed to M Sorri.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Audiological findings of shunt-treated hydrocephalus in children.

47 hydrocephalic children (mean age 10.4 years) were examined on average 7.9 years after initial shunting. The etiology of hydrocephalus was classified into 5 groups as follows: perinatal intraventricular hemorrhage 19, congenital obstructive hydrocephalus 15, intracranial cysts 5, severe intracranial anomalies 4 and central nervous system infections 4 children. Audiological examination included pure-tone audiometry, tympanometry, registration of stapedius reflex thresholds and adaptation. A sensorineural high-frequency hearing loss was found in 18 (38%) of 47 examined shunt-treated hydrocephalic children, and 11 of the losses could be classified as the retrocochlear type. The differences of the mean hearing thresholds between the etiological groups of childhood hydrocephalus were minimal.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗
PubMed1989

Secretory otitis media and hearing loss.

Hearing losses at 15 years of age were investigated in a material of 11,780 children born in Northern Finland in 1966 and followed-up since pregnancy. Two samples of the whole material, one representing a sample of 413 children with reported impaired hearing, and the other of 959 children with reported normal hearing were calculated to represent a total material of 11,748 cases. The correlation between the reported hearing and the audiometry results was very good. In the calculated material, 1,708 (14.6%) of the children exhibited a hearing loss exceeding 20 dB in at least one frequency in their school audiograms. The incidence of secretory otitis media as a risk diagnosis among those with impaired hearing was significantly higher than among those with normal hearing. Most of the hearing losses were found in the high frequencies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Occupational and socio-medical factors in preterm birth.

Two hundred eighty-four women who had preterm deliveries and matched controls who had full-term deliveries were analyzed using a conditional logistic regression model to assess the effects of employment and socio-medical factors on preterm birth. In the analysis, employment outside the home, in general, turned out not to be a significant risk factor for preterm birth. Of the social factors, unmarried status (odds ratio 2.0) and current smoking (odds ratio 2.4) were associated with preterm birth, as were medical factors such as hypertension (odds ratio 7.3), intrauterine growth retardation (odds ratio 3.9), and fetal malformations (odds ratio 5.2).

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1988

Occupational noise exposure during pregnancy: a case control study.

The possible effects of occupational noise on human pregnancy were examined in a case-control study. The case groups consisted of 284 women with premature deliveries and of 299 women with full-term, low birth weight infants (below the 25th centile), each case having a matched pair. The whole material, all cases and controls included, comprised 1166 women. The percentage of employment in the whole material was 77.8; there were no differences between the case women and their controls. Rather few women (N = 26; 3.5%) reported occupational noise (greater than or equal to 81 dB; Leq(A)8h) during their pregnancies and our study revealed no significant difference between the cases (N = 14) and the controls (N = 12) with regard to noise exposure. Because of the small number of exposed women conclusions have to be drawn carefully. Nevertheless, noise cannot be regarded as a major risk for prematurity or low birth weight of human newborns in Finnish society. The women with reported noise exposure had significantly more inconvenience at work than other working women. They also had significantly more numerous and longer sick leaves than other working women.

Epidemiologic Methods↗
PubMed1988

Speech intelligibility in difficult signal/noise circumstances.

In practice, subjects wearing ear protectors often give contradictory statements about the possible distorting effects of ear protectors. We tried to simulate some difficult background circumstances by arranging five different signal/background noise combinations (five S/N ratios). Speech discrimination tests made in these circumstances with and without ear protectors could reflect the real capacity to understand orders or messages in difficult hearing situations. 52 Finnish speaking conscripts with normal hearing from 18 to 24 years age were selected to participate in the test on a day without any noisy training duties. The test words in the Finnish speech discrimination test in combination with corresponding white noise were produced by equipment consisting of a high quality tape recorder, an audiometer, an amplifier and loud speakers. The test were performed individually in free field in a sound proof room in the Hearing Centre of the University Central Hospital of Oulu. The subjects listened to the test words with all the S/N ratios [S/N = 60/70, 55/70, 65/70, 60/75 and 65/75 dB (A)] with and without ear protectors. At the signal/noise ratios 60/70 and 60/75 dB the words were perceived relatively poorly with and without hearing protectors. At the signal/noise levels of 65/70 and 65/75 dB the protectors turned out to produce highly significantly better word discrimination. At the signal/noise level of 55/70 dB the discrimination is very poor in both cases but significantly better without ear protectors.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Double-blind comparison of nedocromil sodium (1% nasal spray) and placebo in rhinitis caused by birch pollen.

A double-blind parallel group study was undertaken during May and June 1985 to compare the effect of nedocromil sodium (1% nasal spray) and placebo, taken twice daily, in relieving the symptoms of rhinitis caused by birch pollen. Two centres were involved. The 54 patients studied had a history of rhinitis in 2 previous birch pollen seasons and positive skin tests to birch pollen. Patients were treated for 4 weeks, but to compare the effects of the 2 treatments the peak pollen periods were used. For dairy card symptoms, results in the 2 centres differed: in Tampere, there were trends in favour of nedocromil sodium with respect to itching (P = 0.04, sneezing (P = 0.06) and total symptoms (P = 0.09); in Oulu no significant differences were seen. Nasal peak expiratory flow rates were slightly better in the nedocromil sodium group. In respect of antihistamine usage, results in the 2 centres were similar and significantly more were used in the placebo group (P less than 0.01). At the end of the trial, both the patients' and the investigators' opinions of treatment effect favoured nedocromil sodium. There were no serious side effects. The results suggest that nedocromil sodium 1% nasal spray, when given twice daily, is effective in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis.

Administration, Intranasal↗
PubMed1986

Ear protection against water-borne infection: an objective evaluation.

Eight different ear plug materials were tested, in 5 ears each, in artificial shallow underwater conditions for 30 minutes, in order to determine their efficacy in sealing the ear canals to avoid water-borne infections in ear canals and open middle ears. Most of the plugs tested would meet everyday requirements for protection, but the polymeric foam plugs, treated with petroleum jelly, and moldable plastic materials were most effective in protecting both the middle ear and the ear canal skin.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Respiratory tract disease and hearing loss. Preliminary report.

Hearing losses at 14 years of age were investigated in a questionnaire administered to 11,780 children born in Northern Finland in 1966 and followed up since pregnancy. Two samples of the whole material, one representing a sample of 413 children who reported impaired hearing and the other of 959 children who reported normal hearing, were calculated to represent a total material of 11,748 cases. Marked hearing loss, PTA greater than 25 dB in the better ear, was found in 64 children, minor loss, 4 kHz threshold greater than 20 dB in the better ear, in 420 children and slight abnormality, threshold greater than 20 dB at any frequency in 1,224 cases. Ear infections and also respiratory tract problems (asthma, sinusitis, upper respiratory tract infections etc.) which may be considered as risk factors for them were found to be significantly more predominant in pathological cases. In addition to the expected low frequency hearing losses, significantly more high tone losses were also found in the affected groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Peritonsillar abscess: bacteriological evaluation.

The pus from a series of 41 peritonsillar abscesses was examined bacteriologically. In the majority of the abscesses a mixed bacterial flora was found. The specimens yielded 0-7 different bacterial species per abscess (mean 3.0). One species alone was isolated only in five cases (12.5%). Both anaerobic and aerobic bacteria were isolated from the specimens of 25 patients (61%), only anaerobes from two specimens (4.9%), and only facultative bacteria from 12 specimens (29%). Beta haemolytic streptococci were cultured in 43.9% of the cases, but Streptococcus pyogenes group A in only 10 cases (24.4%). Thus, the pus of the peritonsillar abscess seems to be caused by a mixed bacterial infection, where anaerobic bacteria play a significant role. Indications of tonsillectomy in cases with peritonsillar abscess are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Prevalence of hearing loss at the age of 15 in a birth cohort of 12 000 children from northern Finland.

Hearing losses at the age of 14 years were investigated in a questionnaire administered to 11 780 children born in northern Finland and followed up since pregnancy. The untraced cases numbered 20, or 1.7 per 1 000. Audiometry screening results from the schools were obtained from 97.2% of the 425 children who were reported to suffer from hearing loss and a random sample of 959 children with normal hearing. When the figures were calculated to represent the whole material of 11 748 cases, marked hearing loss, PTA greater than 25 dB in the better ear, was found in 64 children, 0.5%, minor loss, greater than 20 dB at 4 kHz but PTA less than 25 dB in the better ear, in 420 children, 3.6%, and slight abnormality, greater than 20 dB, at any frequency in 1 224, 10.4%. 17.6% of the boys and 11.8% of the girls had some kind of hearing loss. Eight children were deaf in both ears and 11 in one ear, and 16 children were severely impaired in at least one ear (PTA greater than or equal to 60; less than 90 dB).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Reverse frequency-sweep audiometry in patients with retrocochlear and cochlear deafness.

The material consisted of 21 patients with surgically confirmed eighth-nerve tumour and 107 patients with cochlear deafness. 13 (62%) of the patients with eighth-nerve tumour showed separated forward-backward tracings in sweep-frequency audiometry. One of the 13 patients gave an initially normal result but after the test ear had been exposed to 80 dB HL white noise for 3 min, the curves separated. Only 2 (1.9%) of the 107 patients with cochlear deafness had separated curves. Tone decay test revealed a pathological result in 67% of the patients with eighth-nerve tumour and in 26% of the cases with cochlear hearing loss. There is no single pathognomonic test for the diagnosis of retrocochlear and cochlear deafness. Diagnosis must be based on a whole battery of several tests, and among these, reverse frequency-sweep audiometry seems to be a suitable additional adaptation test. If an abnormal result is found in forward-backward sweep-frequency audiometry, a retrocochlear lesion is very probable.

Audiometry↗
PubMed1984

Use and non-use of hearing aids.

A hundred and fifty hearing-handicapped were interviewed at home two years after their hearing aids had been fitted. The aim was to find out how many of the delivered aids were in use, and if not, why. A remarkable percentage of the hearing aids were very seldom, if ever, in use (23%), 57% of them were used regularly every day and 19% of the hearing-handicapped used their aids occasionally. The hearing aids were less used if the hearing loss was mild or sensorineural. Behind-the-ear aids were used more regularly than the body-worn aids. The time needed for learning to handle the aid did not affect the amount of use. Very often, despite being satisfied with the instruction, the non-users were not skilled in handling the aid. They also often complained about having little opportunity to converse with others; however, no difference in the amount of social contacts could be shown between the users and non-users. On the basis of the results of this study the policy of our hearing-aid fitting has been revised.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Aetiology and detection of congenital nasal deformities.

A total of 4724 newborns were screened for congenital nasal deformities with two simple tests which were performed by specialized nurses. Altogether 91 (1.9%) pathological cases were found. The parturients' external features and the course of the deliveries showed no differences from those of a control group, nor did the groups differ regarding features of the newborns. On the other hand, in the nasal deformity group, highly significantly (P less than 0.001) more cases of stuffy nose were found already during the first days after birth. In this study, no evidence of birth trauma as the cause of congenital nasal deformities was found. It is proposed that at least the majority of them originated during intrauterine life. The screening method was quite valid: every newborn who failed the screen tests showed some kind of nasal pathology and, on the other hand, those who passed had only minor deviations of the septum.

Birth Injuries↗
PubMed1983

Late results of tympanoplasty using ossicle or cortical bone.

Hearing results are presented for 164 ears with chronic otitis media which were operated on radically and obliterated with a musculo-periosteal flap (Palva flap), and in which tympanoplasty was performed. The ears were followed-up annually for 5-13 years (mean 6.8 years). Results are compared with the method of ossiculoplasty and with the condition of the stapes superstructure at operation. Ossiculoplasty using autogenous cortical bone columellas resulted in a somewhat greater improvement in the post-operative air-bone gap than ossiculoplasty with auto- or homo-graft ossicles, when compared with the pre-operative gap. Similarly, the post-operative gap improved more in ears with an intact stapes superstructure than in ears in which the stapes superstructure was absent. The use of an autogenous cortical bone columella can be recommended in cases in which the patient's own ossicles are affected by disease and cannot be used.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Late post-operative hearing results correlated with the severity of tissue changes in ears with chronic otitis media.

Late hearing results in 627 ears (574 patients) operated on radically for chronic otitis media are presented. Clinically, the ears were followed-up annually for 5-14 years. The results are correlated with the severity of histopathological changes in the tympanic cavity and in the mastoid air-cell system and also with the management of the tympanic mucosa and ossicular chain at operation. The mean post-operative air-bone gap was significantly better in ears with mild histopathological changes than in ears with severe histopathological changes in the middle ear (17.0 db./33.1 db.; p less than 0.001) or mastoid (29.0 db./34.2 db.; p less than 0.01) at operation. The difference in hearing results in favour of the former group was more significant in ears in which the tympanic mucosa had been saved at operation (p less than 0.01/p less than 0.001) than in ears in which the mucosa had been removed (p less than 0.05).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Post-operative roentgenological findings and changes after mastoid obliteration.

This study consisted of the evaluation of the plain X-ray findings of films taken at early follow-up (mean 1.5 months after surgery) and at late follow-up (4-14 years after the early films) of 211 ears which had been operated on radically and obliterated. Residual cells which were detected on the basis of the early films were associated with a more frequent occurrence of post-operative infection and were thus hallmarks of a poorer prognosis. Changes in the bone surrounding the surgical cavity and the radiological quality of the walls of the surgical cavity, the presence of new bone formation in the cavity and other radiological features did not yield useful information about post-operative complications. New bone formation was associated with a smaller amount of post-operative cavitation. Post-operative X-ray examination of the obliterated ear is a prognostically useful examination, but it does not significantly contribute further to the information available by clinical and otomicroscopic examination in regards to the complications of infection and cholesteatoma.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Comparative trial of flunisolide and beclomethasone dipropionate nasal sprays in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis.

In order to evaluate the effects of flunisolide and beclomethasone dipropionate nasal sprays on seasonal allergic rhinitis, 45 patients were included in an open parallel comparative trial. The study design was open because of the different dosage schedules for the two preparations. Strict criteria were set up for patient selection, and all patients were carefully examined and assessed before and after the 4-week trial period. Throughout the whole treatment each patient kept a detailed daily record. A substantial or complete control of symptoms was achieved in 18 of the 21 patients on flunisolide and in 20 of the 22 on beclomethasone dipropionate. No serious side effects were observed. Thus it can be concluded that both test drugs are effective and well tolerated in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis.

Administration, Intranasal↗