Biomedical subjects

B Vinck

Publications and source records attributed to B Vinck.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Otologic disease in turner syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: This study involved the assessment of the otologic and audiologic characteristics of a group of patients with Turner syndrome. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study consisting of a questionnaire (77 of 123 responders) and an otologic and audiologic evaluation in patients with Turner syndrome (41 participants). SETTING: Tertiary academic medical setting. PATIENTS: Children, adolescents, and adults with Turner syndrome (median age, 24 yr). INTERVENTIONS: Otomicroscopy, audiometry, immittance measurements, and diagnostic imaging. RESULTS: Otologic disease is an important characteristic in Turner syndrome. Sixty-six percent of the patients studied via the questionnaire reported a history of chronic or recurrent middle ear disease. Analysis of audiometric data in 40 patients tested reveals an equal amount of normal ears (38.8%) and pure sensorineural ears (38.8%), each constituting approximately one-third of the patient population. Pure conductive losses represent only one-fifth (21.3%) of auditory abnormality encountered. CONCLUSIONS: Careful follow-up during early childhood of children with Turner syndrome is necessary to detect middle ear disease and prevent sequelae. However, long-term periodic review is mandatory even after resolution of middle ear disease to detect sensorineural hearing loss.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

A comparative study of age and degree of facial nerve recovery in patients with Bell's palsy.

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there is any relationship between the age of a patient and the degree of facial nerve recovery in patients with Bell's palsy. Between 1987 and 1995 250 patients with peripheral idiopathic facial nerve palsy were examined at the ENT Clinic of the University of Ioannina. In this group 134 were male and 116 were female. The patients' ages ranged from 4 to 80 years and had an average of 47.7 years. The average age of the male patients was 46.5 years and that of the female patients was 49.1 years. In the overall group of 250 patients 129 presented with a paralysis of the right facial nerve and 121 on the left. There was no case of bilateral palsies. When comparing the age of the patients and the degree of recovery, measuring age was associated with a decrease in complete recovery. While the percentage of complete recovery between age 4 and 50 years varied from 83% to 74%, respectively, the percentage of complete recovery decreased to less than 54% at age 80. Our results show that the age of the patient is a very important factor for facial nerve recovery.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Mechanisms in noise-induced permanent hearing loss: an evoked otoacoustic emission and auditory brainstem response study.

In this study 22 patients (44 ears) with noise-induced permanent hearing loss were audiologically evaluated using transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) and auditory brain-stem response (ABR). Twenty-one normal subjects (42 ears) without exposure to occupational noise were used as controls. Based upon the hearing loss at 4, 3, 2 and 1 kHz on the pure-tone audiogram, they were classified into four groups. In group 1 (eight ears), emissions were present in all ears but their TEOAE-noise level and their reproducibility (percentage) proved to be weak. The auditory brain-stem response (ABR) indicated that the I/V amplitude ratio, the latency values of wave V and the I-V intervals fell within the normal range in all ears. In Group 2 (14 ears), 40 per cent had no emissions, whereas the remaining ears showed weak emissions. The ABR revealed that in all ears the I/V amplitude ratio became small while wave V peak latency as well as I-V intervals were within the normal range. In Group 3 (10 ears), emissions were absent in 50 per cent, while in the other ears the emissions were very weak. The ABR revealed that the I/V amplitude ratio, which could be calculated in the 60 per cent in which wave I was present, was smaller than in Group 2. Wave V latency as well as I-V intervals were within the normal range. In Group 4 (12 ears), none of the ears showed emissions. The ABR indicated that the I/V amplitude ratio was much smaller when wave I was present (27 per cent) as well as I-V interval values being within the normal range. Wave V absolute latency value (delta V index) indicated a positive index in 17 per cent of this group (two ears) when wave I was absent. In the present study a dynamic process from cochlear outer hair cells to cochlear neurons was seen, correlating with an increasing hearing loss.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Masking effects and tinnitus as explanatory variables in hearing disability.

In cases of substantial auditory handicap, the degree of pure-tone hearing loss or hearing loss for speech is seen as the primary determining factor. Sometimes the presence of tinnitus complaints and disproportionate masking effects of noise on speech reception are seen as aggravating factors. To investigate the relevance of tinnitus and masking effects in the context of hearing disability, four factorial designs with self-perceived hearing disability as the dependent variable were submitted to an analysis of variance. Impact of masking and tinnitus complaints were treated as independent variables with two levels and were each combined with a second independent variable to form a 2 x 2 fixed factor statistical model. This second independent variable was either hearing loss for pure tones (first and second model) or speech reception ability (third and fourth model). Both hearing loss for pure tones and speech reception capability were found to be significant explanatory factors for hearing disability. Impact of masking, if juxtaposed to average pure-tone hearing loss (first model), also came out of the analysis as a significant factor in hearing disability, whereas the tinnitus factor did not reach significance levels. No significant interactions between factors were found. The results support the idea of the differentiating audiogram-based disability estimates by taking noise susceptibility into account. The findings also suggest in an equivocal relation of tinnitus with hearing disability, which prevents it from being a straightforward disability predictor.

Aged↗

PubMed1998

Sensitive detection of noise-induced damage in human subjects using transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions.

Thirty-eight males (76 ears) exposed to occupational noise were investigated using transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions. Based upon the hearing loss at 4 kHz, they were classified into four described groups. Ten normally hearing subjects (20 ears) without exposure to occupational noise were used as controls. Significant changes in response amplitude, reproducibility, and signal to noise ratio (SNR) in broadband and frequency-bands (1, 2, 3, 4 kHz) were revealed between control subjects and the patients of group I exposed to noise with normal pure-tone audiometric thresholds. The changes of response amplitudes, reproducibility (%), and SNR were not significant between the group I and the patients of group II with mild hearing loss (< or = 40 dB) at 4 kHz. When the patients suffered from hearing loss beyond 40 dB HL at 4 kHz, emission amplitude, reproducibility, and SNR showed significant changes, whereas the percentage of absent emissions also showed significant changes. From these data, we conclude that TEOAE testing is more sensitive than pure-tone audiometry in the detection of early noise-induced damage. The test could be proposed as a hearing screen for monitoring employees with early noise-induced hearing loss.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1997

Choice of a tone-pip envelope for frequency-specific threshold evaluations by means of the middle-latency response: normally hearing subjects and slope of sensorineural hearing loss.

The effects of stimulus rise-fall and plateau times on the middle-latency response (MLR) waveform (Na-Pa amplitude and Pa latency) were investigated in 14 normally hearing subjects and an objective MLR threshold was evaluated at low and middle frequencies in ten normally hearing subjects and ten patients with slope of sensorineural hearing loss, using a selected stimulus-envelope time. After analyzing the effects of envelope times on the MLR waveform and the spectra of tone-pips, it was found that a rise-fall time of 4 ms with a plateau of 2 ms (4-2-4) is an acceptable compromise between a synchronous discharge and frequency specificity for estimating the MLR threshold. The MLR threshold produced by 4-2-4 tone-pips approximated the psychoacoustic threshold at low and middle frequencies in the normal and hearing impaired subjects. This demonstrates the clinical usefulness of the MLR in estimating low- and middle-frequency thresholds.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Bilateral threshold frequency weighting in hearing disability predictions.

Hearing disability can be measured by questionnaires, interviews or self-ratings. As these measurement techniques are not always appropriate for direct application in individual cases, particularly in the context of compensation claims, the assessment is sometimes reduced to a surrogate measure derived from audiometric thresholds. No final agreement emerges from correlation studies on hearing disability as to the optimal set of audiometric descriptors. However, a multiple regression equation, describing the relationship between audiometric data and numerically expressed self-ratings of disability, provides a means for predicting disability with relatively good precision, using some index derivable from the audiogram. The aim of the present study was to consolidate or amend current prediction schemes based on tonal audiometric data by investigating the problem of differential bilateral weighting of threshold frequency through multiple regression performed on experimental data coming from an unbiased group of hearing impaired subjects. In addition to tonal thresholds, this corpus included simple, quantitative self-ratings for disability. The sample was considered to be a representative cross-section of adult hearing impaired ENT patients. The results indicate that prevailing bilateral weightings are likely to overestimate the importance of the worse ear. The regression results did not incorporate the usual threshold values and frequency weightings. The outcome nevertheless offered a multiple correlation coefficient that was higher than most correlations reported in the literature between disability ratings and threshold values.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Middle-latency responses to assess objective thresholds in patients with noise-induced hearing losses and Ménière's disease.

In this study 23 patients with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) referred for medico-legal evaluation and a group of 18 cases with Ménière's disease were evaluated audiologically using the middle-latency response (MLR). Cross-correlation functions were used to assess precisely MLR thresholds in low and middle frequencies. Cross-correlation data obtained from suprathreshold levels to below threshold levels were compared with the normal limits of parameters found at threshold levels, allowing us to determine the true MLR threshold. Our results revealed that this MLR threshold and visual detection thresholds were different in 18% of both the NIHL and Ménière's disease groups. In this population the true MLR threshold was greater by 5 dB. These findings demonstrated that cross-correlation functions can enhance the sensitivity of the definition of the MLR threshold. True MLR thresholds were compared with subjective pure-tone audiometric (PTA) thresholds at the same frequencies (0.5, 1 and 2 kHz). The true MLR threshold and PTA threshold were in agreement within 10 dB in 91% of the NIHL group and all of the Ménière's disease group. The PTA threshold was greater by 15 dB or more in the remaining NIHL group. If a criterion of 15 dB discrepancy indicates non-organic hearing loss, it can be inferred that 9% of an NIHL population referred for medico-legal evaluation is exaggerating subjective audiometric thresholds.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Facial nerve palsy during pregnancy.

The aim of this prospective study was to investigate whether pregnancy predisposes to facial nerve palsy and what the specific properties of facial nerve palsy are during this period. Eight cases of idiopathic facial nerve palsy occurring during the last trimester of pregnancy are presented. Out of 50 women with idiopathic facial nerve palsy, 15 were in childbearing age; eight presented a facial nerve palsy during pregnancy of which 6 during the last trimester of pregnancy. The electrodiagnostic tests indicated nerve degeneration in two of the eight cases; they were treated with corticosteroids. In the other six patients, no nerve degeneration was observed, and therefore, no treatment was given. These data suggest that pregnancy is probably associated with an increased predisposition to facial nerve palsy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Selecting the best tone-pip stimulus-envelope time for estimating an objective middle-latency response threshold for low- and middle-tone sensorineural hearing losses.

The effects of rise-fall and plateau times for the Pa component of the middle-latency response (MLR) were investigated in normally hearing subjects, and an objective MLR threshold was measured in patients with low- and middle-tone hearing losses, using a selected stimulus-envelope time. Our results showed that the stimulus-envelope time (the rise-fall time and plateau time groups) affected the Pa component of the MLR (quality was determined by the (chi 2-test and amplitude by the F-test). The 4-2-4 tone-pips produced good Pa quality by visual inspection. However, our data revealed no statistically significant Na-Pa amplitude differences between the two subgroups studied when comparing the 2- and 4-ms rise-fall times and the 0- and 2-ms plateau times. In contrast, Na-Pa became significantly smaller from the 4-ms to the 6-ms rise-fall time and from the 2-ms to the 4-ms plateau time (paired t-test). This result allowed us to select the 2- or 4-ms rise-fall time and the 0- or 2-ms plateau time without influencing amplitude. Analysis of the stimulus spectral characteristics demonstrated that a rise-fall time of at least 2ms could prevent spectral splatter and indicated that a stimulus with a 5-ms rise-fall time had a greater frequency-specificity than a stimulus of 2-ms rise-fall time. When considering the synchronous discharge and frequency-specificity of MLR, our findings show that a rise-fall time of four periods with a plateau of two periods is an acceptable compromise for estimating the objective MLR threshold.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed1995

Application of cross-correlation function in the evaluation of objective MLR thresholds in the low and middle frequencies.

In this study, the cross-correlation function was applied in the evaluation of MLR thresholds in the low and middle frequencies. The parameters of the cross-correlation function consist of the correlation coefficient at a lag-time of zero (RO), the maximum correlation coefficient (RM), and the latency delay on the lag-time axis at the point of the maximum correlation coefficient (DL). The normal limits of the parameters of cross-correlation at the MLR threshold level, which was identified by visual detection across frequencies, were obtained in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects. The cross-correlation functions for two traces were also performed below threshold level. All cross-correlation parameters (RO, RM and DL) below threshold level were outside normal limits in 91% of all the subjects. The incidence of the only RM or DL parameter value within normal limits was 6% or 3% of all cases at the subthreshold level. Correlation data allow precise measurements of the MLR threshold and enhance the sensitivity of the definition of the MLR threshold. In addition, our study provides quantifiable information for estimating MLR threshold.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Audiovisual speech reception in noise and self-perceived hearing disability in sensorineural hearing loss.

Multiple regression analyses were performed on a corpus of data from 56 sensorineurally hearing-impaired subjects. In addition to tonal thresholds, the corpus included simple, quantitative self-ratings for disability and results from speech reception tasks in auditory-only, audiovisual, quiet and noisy conditions. The aim was to evaluate to what extent the predictive power of disability formulas based on the audiogram can be enhanced, when measures derived from speech reception tasks are added to tonal thresholds as supplementary predictors. The better-ear speech reception threshold proved to be a strong exclusive predictor: if speech reception thresholds were introduced into the prediction, the contribution of better-ear pure-tone averages became redundant. Speechreading ability always significantly enhanced the prediction's accuracy. Tonal thresholds or speech reception data combined with lipreading ability scores can explain considerable amounts (42 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively) of the variance in disability ratings. The conclusion is that auditory-only, audiogram-based prediction schemes must not be abandoned, but can be tailored to individuals on the basis of realistic audiovisual speech reception performance.

Adult↗