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Biomedical subjects

W Sułkowski

Publications and source records attributed to W Sułkowski.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Fluidlike behavior of dielectric permittivity in a wide range of temperature above and below the nematic-isotropic transition.

Singular behavior of the static dielectric permittivity of n-alkyloxycyanobiphenyls (CnH2n+1O-Ph-Ph-C [triple bond] N, n=6, 7) was studied above and below the nematic clearing point (T(I-N)). On approaching the clearing point, the evolution of principal components of the nematic permittivity tensor, epsilon(parallel) and epsilon(perpendicular), is described by the order parameter exponent beta approximately 0.25. The mean value of the nematic permittivity epsilon(mean)=(epsilon(parallel)+2epsilon(perpendicular))/3 exhibits a singular behavior similar to that observed in the isotropic phase and that for the diameter of the coexistence curve in binary mixtures. The derivative of experimental data d(epsilon)iso(T)/dT and d(epsilon)mean(T)/dT shows the specific-heat-like behavior with universal exponents alpha=alpha' approximately 0.5. Results obtained confirm the hypothesis of the fluidlike, pseudospinodal, and tricritical behavior of the isotropic to nematic phase transition. [A. Drozd-Rzoska, Phys. Rev. E 59, 5556 (1999)].

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

[Proposals of rational procedures for certifying occupational voice disorders].

Following a long period of experience acquired in assessing occupation-related voice disorders, the proposals of objective measures, facilitating the certification of occupational disease of the voice organ in accordance with the binding legal regulations, are presented. The importance of documentary evidence of at least two years of treatment and phoniatric rehabilitation is stressed. A need to prevent occupation-related voice disorders through phoniatric diagnostic procedures is highlighted.

Certification↗
PubMed2001

[Nasal lavage, rhinomanometry and rhinoscopy in diagnosing occupational airway allergy].

The aim of the study was to estimate the usefulness of nasal lavage, rhinomanometry and rhynoscopy in diagnosing occupational allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma. 26 subjects with suspected bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis due to occupational allergens were examined. Each subject had medical history collected and underwent physical examination, skin prick tests (SPT) with common and occupational allergens, determination of total and specific IgE, specific bronchial or nasal provocation with determination of spirometric parameters, morphological and biochemical changes in nasal lavage fluid (NLF). Moreover the anterior rhinomanometry and rhynoscopy were performed before and after the provocation. A significant increase in the percentage of eosinophils and albumin was observed in NLF up till 24 hr after the specific challenge, but only in the group of 16 subjects with diagnosed occupational airway allergy. The authors observed also the presence of mucosal oedema and rhinorrhea in this group of patients more frequently than in the group of patients without diagnosed occupational airway disease. No significant changes were observed in the frequency of positive rhinomanometry test between the analysed groups of patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

[Tinnitus in noise-induced hearing impairment].

The analysis of the epidemiological data indicates that exposure to noise is widespread and it is one of the most common causes of tinnitus, estimated at about 20.7% according to Hazell; 28% according to Axelsson; and 42% according to Palmer. Bearing in mind the scantiness of reliable data on the incidence and nature of tinnitus in persons exposed to industrial noise, and especially the need for the objectivity of this subjective symptom, the authors have decided to undertake the study aimed at assessing the interrelation between tinnitus, the magnitude and kind of hearing impairment, and otoacoustic emission. The study group included 191 persons aged 42.5 +/- 7.6 years (range, 25 to 65), occupationally exposed to noise at the levels of 88-92 dB(A) for 26.9 +/- 4.6 years (range, 9 to 30) who had reported hearing disorders and tinnitus. The control group, matched by similar age and duration of employment, consisted of 80 persons with perceptive hearing impairment induced by industrial noise who had not complained of tinnitus. The results of the study revealed that in 59.7% of the study subjects, noise proved to be one of the most probable factors responsible for the development of tinnitus. The presence of tinnitus was found in 22.5% and in 46% of the study subjects after 10 years and 11-20 years of noise exposure, respectively. In 95.8% of workers, tinnitus was associated with hearing loss, and only in 4.2% of cases it occurred in ears with normal hearing. In persons exposed to noise, tinnitus was most frequently (59.2%) bilateral and permanent. Following the audiologic examinations, verified by objective audiometry (tympanometry, ABR), cochlear hearing impairment was found in 68.6%; retrochochlear in 8.37%; mixed and other forms of impairment, e.g. presbyacousis, in 19.4% of subjects. The audiologic assessment of tinnitus demonstrated that in 62.3% of persons, tinnitus occurred at high frequencies and correlated with the magnitude of hearing impairment in the tonal audiogram. The tinnitus intensity ranged between 10-15 dB and 45 dB. In 40.3% of those under study, noise was not the only tinnitus-risk factor. In this group of persons, the presence of predisposing diseases was also observed, e.g. hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, disturbed lipid metabolism and other etiologic factors that might have impact on the tinnitus incidence, ototoxic drugs, for example. The measurements of evoked otoacoustic emission (EOAE and DPOAE) revealed in 58.63% of persons significant differences (p < 0.01) in the amplitude and spectrum of EOAE in the ears with tinnitus as compared to the ears without tinnitus with a similar hearing threshold. Whereas in 27.74% of subjects, no differences in the EOAE measurements in the ears with or without tinnitus were observed. The results of DPOAE measurements showed in 62% of subjects significant differences in DP-grams in the ears with tinnitus as compared to the ears without tinnitus (p < 0.01). Interestingly, the differences in measurements of both types of evoked emissions (EOAE and DPOAE), expressed by the lowered amplitude, narrowed spectrum, reduction of emission or its complete fading in a limited area of high frequencies, were demonstrated in the ears with tinnitus only in retrocochlear hearing impairment, as compared to those free from tinnitus. The evaluation of the EOAE and DPOAE measurements seems to prove that this method may be useful in assessing the contribution of the cochlear mechanisms to the incidence of tinnitus and in distinguishing between tinnitus generated in cochlea and tinnitus with the source at other levels of the hearing organ or beyond it. Our study failed to determine the interrelation between tinnitus and spontaneous emissions as the emission was registered only in about 12% of persons exposed to noise, including 2% of those with normal hearing.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

[Assessment of the hearing system in workers chronically exposed to carbon disulfide and noise].

Epidemiological studies carried out in the years 1984-1993 revealed carbon disulfide (CS2) to be one of the major chemical occupational hazards. Whereas among physical factors, noise was found to be the most common threat. Industrial workers very often face a combined exposure of two or more factors, like CS2 and noise, responsible for significant biological risk to the human health, although health effects of such an exposure have not as yet been thoroughly recognized and explored. The aim of this study was to assess changes in the hearing system in people exposed to toxic effect of CS2, recognized as characteristic of an overall clinical history of chronic poisoning by this solvent, in cases of concomitant exposure to noise exceeding maximum allowable levels. The study covered 80 workers aged 44-65 years (mean = 44.9 +/- 5.1), employed in a spinning mill of viscose fibre for 20.3 years on average (+/- 5.4 years) with clinically observed chronic CS2 poisoning, and a group of 40 people (mean age = 56.8 years) exposed to CS2 but without subjective or objective symptoms indicating chronic poisoning by the solvent. Both groups of subjects at similar age and with almost the same duration of employment were exposed to CS2 in concentrations changing in time between 10 and 35 mg/m3 (mean concentration = 25.8 mg/m3), and to continuous noise with the level ranging from 88 to 92 dB(A) for six hrs per one shift. The control group was composed of 40 workers (mean age = 52.0 +/- 5.3 years) employed in the cotton industry plant, without contact with CS2 or other chemicals and working in the acoustic environment with similar level of exposure to noise (86-93 dB(A)). Audiological and electronystagmographic examinations revealed bilateral retrocochlear hearing impairment associated with symptoms of the central vestibular syndrome in 97.5 subjects with diagnosed chronic CS2 poisoning. In workers free from clinical symptoms of chronic CS2 poisoning, perceptive hearing impairment of various degrees was found, including retrocochlear in 45% of subjects and cochlear in 32.5%, while in 22.5% of those under study normal hearing was observed. In the control group of subjects exposed to noise without contact with CS2, sensorineural cochlear hearing loss, typical of chronic acoustic trauma without concomitant vestibular disorders, was revealed. The results of the study show that in subjects with diagnosed chronic CS2 poisoning and exposed to noise, hearing impairment and vestibular disorders occur in the form of central changes which suggests a dominating CS2 toxic effect on the hearing system. But in some people exposed to both CS2 and noise, the hearing impairment in localised in cochlea like in acoustic trauma damage. This probably depends on individual susceptibility to harmful effect of these factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

A comparison of noise induced disability assessments in the UK and Poland.

The difference between the legal assessment of the disability associated with noise induced hearing loss and that experienced by the worker has not as yet been successfully resolved. Legal assessment is driven by financial consideration rather than the rehabilitation needs of the subject. The aim of this paper is to present this problem and consider the formulae currently used in the UK and Poland in the assessment of noise induced hearing disability.

Audiometry, Pure-Tone↗
PubMed1999

Tinnitus and impulse noise-induced hearing loss in drop-forge operators.

Tinnitus is frequently accompanied by noise-induced hearing losses, and perhaps as it is assumed--particularly with those arising from exposure to impulsive types of noise. In order to explain it and to estimate a prevalence of tinnitus in the industrial, impulse noise workers the group of 261 drop-forge operators exposed to impulses with peak levels of 135 dB versus 169 age-matched controls was subjected to otological and audiometric examination, and then the complaints for tinnitus in both groups have been analysed. The prevalence of tinnitus, highest in operators with longer exposure duration (> 10 years) was found in 184 individuals (70.4%) versus 6 (3.5%) in controls. The findings closely corresponded with the degree of impulse noise-induced hearing loss. As the maximum audiometric notch was mostly localised at 6 kHz and rarely at 4 kHz, consequently the approximate pitch of the tinnitus was related to the frequencies where hearing was most affected. It is concluded that impulse noise-induced tinnitus may be sometimes more severe in its effects than is hearing loss, thus it creates an additional reason for strict hearing conservation programmes.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The role of otoacoustic emissions in screening and evaluation of noise damage.

Otoacoustic emissions have been shown to be extremely useful in screening for hearing impairment in babies. This review considers the current evidence available with regard to the role of otoacoustic emissions in the screening for noise induced cochlear damage. A number of studies indicate that otoacoustic emissions provide an indication of cochlear damage prior to any change in the pure tone audiometric threshold. There is also some evidence that the medial efferent system evaluation using contralateral sound activated suppression of emissions indicates dysfunction after noise exposure. Increased variability of spontaneous emissions has also been shown to be associated with the presence of tinnitus in various aetiologies.

Auditory Pathways↗
PubMed1998

Olfactory disorders induced by cadmium exposure: a clinical study.

The evaluation of olfaction is not only widely applied and undeniably valuable in clinical diagnostics but it is also of interest to industrial medicine. It should be borne in mind that in certain workplaces, particularly in the chemical industry, the olfactory receptor has to act as an organ which warns the worker against threatening intoxication, and this is possible only when it functions properly. Cadmium, as a highly toxic metal, found widely in industry and in the environment, is frequently included in the list of chemicals known to cause olfactory impairment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate olfaction in workers occupationally exposed to cadmium. The correlation between olfaction and concentrations of cadmium in urine, blood and in the workplace air as well as employment duration was examined in workers of the "CENTRA" S.A., an electrochemical plant in Poznań. In this plant cadmium-nickel batteries are produced, and there is chronic occupational exposure to cadmium in quantities exceeding maximum allowable concentration (MAC). A group of 73 workers aged 20 to 60 years (42.0 +/- 18.0), employed from 4 to 24 years (12.5 +/- 8.5) were examined. Of the 73 workers who completed the evaluation, 53 people (72.7%) were smokers (10-40 cigarettes per day). In addition to medical history, medical and ENT examinations, blood and urine tests were taken and olfactometry performed. Olfactometry was performed according to Elsberg and Levy's method, modified by Pruszewicz, in which natural coffee as well as aniseed, lemon and mint oils were used. The quantitative and qualitative olfactory disorders were evaluated on the basis of the established odor detection threshold (ODT) and odor identification threshold (OIT). The examinations revealed numerous cases of hyposmia (26.0%) and parosmia (17.8%) and one case of anosmia (1.4%). In the majority of people with olfactory disorders, hypertrophic changes in the nasal mucosa, dependent on the duration of employment, were identified. Statistically significant relationship between olfactory impairment and cadmium concentration in blood, urine and the workplace air was observed. However, such a relationship was not found in regard to the duration of employment. The study indicated the need to carry out routine olfactometries. The results of these examinations could be the ground to perform certain preventive and therapeutic procedures.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[Otoacoustic emission measurements: clinical case reports. Part III].

Measurement results of click evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE) and distortion products otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) in a case of sensorineural hearing loss in a case of sensorineural hearing loss in a patient with a history of oticus zoster with nerve VII palsy are presented. Feasibility of using otoacoustic emissions measurements for hearing loss type identification is discussed.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗
PubMed1997

[Actual and perspective activities of the European Union concerning protection against noise].

In most industrialised countries exposure to noise is one of major health problems which, because of its social and economic dimension has been given priority in the area of preventive activities. It is estimated that only in Europe about 25-30 million people are employed in conditions under exposure to noise at excessive levels, harmful to the hearing organ, generating the risk of hearing loss (disability), and in consequence limiting the possibility of active life. Acknowledging the significance of the problem and its consequences the World Health Organization (WHO) in cooperation with the International (ISA) and European Federation of Audiological Society (EFAS) has developed the programme for the protection against noise. The prime aims of the programme are to establish the cooperation between scientists, health services and technicians in order to promote knowledge and exchange of experience, to improve workers' health, and to identify the biological, neuropsychological and psycho-social effect of noise exposure on the hearing ability. The authors discuss basic objectives and adopted strategies of experimental and clinical studies carried out in countries of the European Union, participating in the implementation of the programme. The WHO guidelines for the reduction in noise exposure in the working, municipal and recreation environments are also presented.

European Union↗
PubMed1997

Measurements of click-evoked otoacoustic emission in industrial workers with noise-induced hearing loss.

Click-evoked otoacoustic emission (c-EOAE) was analysed in a group of 122 males (= 244 ears) occupationally exposed to industrial noise levels of 89-94 dB (A). The highest intensity of cochlear responses was observed at 1 and 2 kHz, while at the higher frequencies (3-4 kHz), c-EOAE spectrum was contracted proportionally to the level of the hearing loss and duration of occupational exposure to noise. If hearing loss in pure-tone audiometry exceeded 30 dB HL at 1 kHz and 40 dB at 2 and 4 kHz, c-EOAE was absent. The analysis of the relationship between c-EOAE spectrum and hearing threshold in pure-tone audiogram showed correlation (R = 0.43 to 0.48, at p < 0.01) between distribution of emission energy and hearing threshold at the same range of frequencies. It was found that the c-EOAE amplitudes as well as the values of c-EOAE energy in the noise-exposed people were lower by about 3 dB SPL than in the controls, especially at 4 kHz even in cases of pure-tone hearing thresholds < or = 20 dB HL. This study indicates that, owing to c-EOAE, it is possible to detect a slight noise-induced cochlear lesion which may be overlooked in pure-tone audiometry.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗
PubMed1996

[Otoacoustic emission measurements. Clinical case reports. Part I].

Measurement results of click evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE) and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) obtained in two cases of inner ear pathology are presented. One case involved unilateral perceptive deafness in a 18 year old male with a history of heavy mumps, and the other concerned early hearing loss due to 5-year exposure to industrial noise in a 23 year old male. Feasibility of using otoacoustic emission measurements to determine the extent and type of hearing loss is discussed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1996

[Otoacoustic emission measurements: clinical case reports. Part II].

Measurement results of click evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE) and distortion products otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) in two perceptive deafness cases of different severity resulting from long years of exposure to industrial noise are presented. Agreement of emissions measurements with pura tone audiogram is evaluated and their feasibility for hearing loss type identification is discussed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1995

[The usefulness of impedance audiometry for the diagnosis of occupational hearing loss].

The use of impedance audiometry for determining hearing threshold and locating hearing impairments was investigated in 112 people exposed to occupational noise. Tympanometry and the stapedius reflex threshold measurements (ART) were made using Madsen ZO 2020 set. The comparison of ART findings, particularly the interval between tonal audiometric threshold and stapedius reflex threshold, helped to diagnose cochlear location of hearing impairment in 17 subjects (15.2%) and extracochlear in 70 (62.5%) out of all the examined subjects. The analysis of the study results has confirmed the usefulness of impedance audiometry also when patients' simulation has to be excluded in the case of their claiming compensation for occupational hearing loss.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗
PubMed1994

[Preliminary results of otoacoustic emission measurement and standard values in young subjects with normal hearing. Part II. Measurement of effects of acoustic distortion].

The paper discusses the results of DPOAE measurement in 44 young subjects with normal hearing capacity. The measurements were carried out separately for each ear (88 measurements altogether). Otoacoustic responses to continuous two-tone stimulation (f1 and f2) with an intensity range of 46-71 dB SPL were recorded. Mean DPOAE values from 2f1-f2 measurement for the right ear in males and females varied from 2.6 +/- 5.6 to1 5.4 +/- 6.9 (within the range 0.7-6.0 kHz). For the left ear the respective values were 3.9 +/- 4.7 to 19.1 +/- 4.0. In most of subjects an increase in DPOAE values for frequencies higher than 3 kHz was found, which is characteristic of middle ear emission. The statistical analysis of DPOAE measurements in males and females did not reveal significant differences except for a few parameters. In both sexes the intensity of f1 and f2 stimuli at the frequency of 1.5 kHz was found to be significantly different at p = 0.48. The results of DPOAE measurements can be regarded as a statistical probability of standard. In view of the lack of approved calibration standards, the data obtained from the study will be considered a local set of standard values and will be used for clinical interpretation of pathological cases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Value of impedance audiometry in audiology and otoneurology].

The authors present views, selected from the literature, on the development and significance of impedance audiometry as well as on the clinical application of this objective method in audiological and otoneurological diagnosis. Special attention is paid to the usefulness of impedance audiometry in objectivization of the hearing threshold and detection of simulation in the diagnosis of occupational hearing impairments.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗