Laryngomalacia: Our Clinical Experience

Objective:The aim of this study is to analyse the clinical symptoms, follow-up and treatment properties of the laryngomalacia patients that we encountered between 2009 and 2014.Methods:Records of 81 laryngomalacia patients who were followed up in our clinic between 2009 and 2014 were retrospectively analysed. Patients’ gender, age, time of onset of the symptoms, chief complaints, other co-existing congenital laryngeal anomalies and treatment and follow-up properties were evaluated.Results:Of the 81 patients, 48 were male and 33 were female, and the mean age was 4.9 months. The average period of follow-up was 12.1 months. The chief complaints at the time of admission were stridor (100%) and episodic cyanosis with feeding (27.16%). Symptoms of 75 patients were resolved at an average of 8.2 months with conservative treatment. Three patients underwent supraglottoplasty. Tracheotomy and posterior cordotomy was performed for a patient with co-existing vocal cord paralysis. Additional tracheotomy was necessary for a patient with pulmonary co-morbidities and for another with co-existing subglottic stenosis.Conclusion:Laryngomalacia is the most common cause of stridor in infants. The majority of laryngomalacia patients can be managed conservatively by close follow- up. For patients in whom respiratory and feeding problems persist or growth retardation develops, surgical treatment is performed. Tracheotomy may be necessary for a small group of patients with additional diseases

The Effect of Tympanic Membrane Perforation Site, Size and Middle Ear Volume on Hearing Loss

Objective:The aim of this study was to analyze the location and the size of perforation in cases with tympanic membrane perforation, its relation to the manubrium mallei and middle ear volume, and to investigate how these are correlated with the severity and frequencies of conductive hearing loss.Methods: This prospectively designed study included the patients who presented to the the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the Dokuz Eylül University with hearing loss or tinnitus complaints in the period from June 2014 through June 2017 and were identified to have tympanic membrane perforation in their otoscopic examination. Patients who underwent myringoplasty and type 1 tympanoplasty and whose air-bone gap was found lower than 10 dB in the postoperative audiological examination were included in the study. Effects of the perforation size, the perforation site, and the relationship of the perforation with the manubrium, as well as the effects of the middle ear volume on the severity and frequency of conductive hearing loss were compared.Results: The study included 44 ears of 38 patients (13 male and 25 female) of whom six had tympanic membrane perforation in both ears. Air conduction threshold and air-bone gap were significantly found higher if the perforation area was wide (p<0.05), the perforation involved both the anterior and the posterior quadrants (p<0.05), had contact with the manubrium mallei (p<0.05), and the middle ear volume reduced (p<0.05).Conclusion: Solely tympanic membrane perforation affects hearing function; nevertheless, hearing function are better in cases, which have perforations small in size, no contact with manubrium mallei and well pneumatized middle ears

On the Transformation of a class of filter networks described by state equations.

Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra