Allergy and dizziness

Although allergies and dizziness are very common, little is known of their co-existence and relationship to each other. Allergy associated dizziness (AAD) refers to vertigo and disequilibrium.http://media24business.com/specialist-forum-journalam201

Vestibular involvement in adults with HIV/AIDS

OBJECTIVE : HIV/AIDS is responsible for widespread clinical manifestations involving the head, and neck.The prevalence and nature of vestibular involvement is still largely unknown. This study, aimed to describe and compare the occurrence and nature of vestibular involvement among a group of, adults infected with HIV compared to a control group. It also aimed to compare the vestibular function, of symptomatic and asymptomatic HIV positive adults who receive antiretroviral (ARV) therapies to,subjects not receiving ARV. METHODS : A cross-sectional study was conducted on 53 adults (29 male, 24 female, aged 23–49 years,mean = 38.5, SD = 4.4) infected with HIV, compared to a control group of 38 HIV negative adults (18,male, 20 female, aged 20–49 years, mean = 36.9, SD = 8.2). A structured interview probed the subjective,perception of vestibular symptoms. Medical records were reviewed for CD4+ cell counts and the use of, ARV medication. An otologic assessment and a comprehensive vestibular assessment (bedside,assessments, vestibular evoked myogenic potentials, ocular motor and positional tests and bithermal,caloric irrigation) were conducted. RESULTS : Vestibular involvement occurred in 79.2% of subjects with HIV in all categories of disease,progression, compared to 18.4% in those without HIV. Vestibular involvement increased from 18.9% in CDC category 1 to 30.2% in category 2. Vestibular involvement was 30.1% in category 3. There were,vestibular involvement in 35.9% of symptomatic HIV positive subjects, and 41.5% in asymptomatic, HIV positive subjects. There was no significant difference in the occurrence of vestibular involvement, in subjects receiving ARV therapies compared to those not receiving ARV therapies (p = .914; chi-square,test). The odds ratio indicates that individuals with HIV have a 16.61 times higher risk of developing,vestibular involvement during their lifetime of living with the disease and that it may occur despite,being asymptomatic. CONCLUSION : Vestibular involvement was significantly more common in subjects with HIV. Primary health care providers could screen HIV positive patients to ascertain if there are symptoms of vestibular involvement. If there are any, then they may consider further vestibular assessments and subsequent vestibular rehabilitation therapy.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/anlhb201

Auditory and otological manifestations in adults with HIV/AIDS

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the prevalence and nature of auditory and otological manifestations in adults with HIV/AIDS through clinical examinations and selfreported symptoms across stages of disease progression. Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional group design. Study Sample: Two hundred HIV positive adult patients attending the Infectious Disease Clinic of a tertiary referral hospital in Pretoria, South Africa were included through convenience sampling. Patients were interviewed, medical files were reviewed and clinical examinations, including otoscopy, tympanometry, pure tone audiometry and distortion product oto-acoustic emissions, were conducted. An age, gender, working-environment and race-matched control group were compiled and hearing loss prevalence were compared. Results: Tinnitus (26%), vertigo (25%) hearing loss (27.5%), otalgia (19%) and ear canal pruritis (38%) were prevalent self-reported symptoms. Abnormalities in otoscopy, tympanometry and otoacoustic emissions were evident in 55, 41 and 44% of patients respectively. Pure tone average (PTA) hearing loss >25 dBHL was evident in 14% of patients and 39% for hearing loss >15 dBHL (PTA). An increase in self reported vertigo, self reported hearing loss, OAE abnormalities and hearing loss (PTA>15dBHL and PTA>25dBHL) was seen with disease progression but was not statistically significant. A significant increase (p<.05) in sensorineural hearing loss was evident with disease progression. Significant differences were found between the average thresholds in the test and control group throughout the frequency spectrum. Conclusions: Auditory and otological symptoms are common in patients with HIV with a general increase of symptoms, especially sensorineural hearing loss, towards advanced stages of disease progression.Partial funding of this project : Centre for the study of AIDS, University of Pretoriahttp://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14992027.asphb201

Short-term test-retest reliability of electrically evoked cortical auditory potentials in adult cochlear implant recipients

BACKGROUND : Late latency auditory evoked potentials (LLAEPs) provide objective evidence of an individual’s central auditory processing abilities. Electrically evoked cortical auditory evoked potentials (eCAEPs) are a type of LLAEP that provides an objective measure of aided speech perception and auditory processing abilities in cochlear implant (CI) recipients. AIM : To determine the short-term test-retest reliability of eCAEPs in adult CI recipients. DESIGN : An explorative, within-subject repeated measures research design was employed. STUDY SAMPLE : The study sample included 12 post-lingually deafened, unilaterally implanted adult CI recipients with at least 9 months of CI experience. METHOD : eCAEPs representing basal, medial and apical cochlear regions were recorded in the implanted ears of each participant. Measurements were repeated 7 days after the initial assessment. RESULTS : No significant differences between either median latencies or amplitudes at test and retest sessions (p > 0.05) were found when results for apical, medial and basal electrodes were averaged together. Mean intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) scores averaged across basal, medial and apical cochlear stimulus regions indicated that both consistency and agreement were statistically significant and ranged from moderate to good (ICC = 0.58–0.86, p < 0.05). ICC confidence intervals did demonstrate considerable individual variability in both latency and amplitudes. CONCLUSION : eCAEP latencies and amplitudes demonstrated moderate to good short-term test-retest reliability. However, confidence intervals indicated individual variability in measurement consistency which is likely linked to attention and listening effort required from the CI recipients.The dataset generated for this study is available on the University of Pretoria Research Data Repository (doi: 10.25403/UPresearchdata.11819589). Please note that the dataset is confidential and requests to access the dataset will be considered on a case by case basis.http://www.frontiersin.org/Neurologyam2020Speech-Language Pathology and Audiolog

An auditory profile of sclerosteosis

OBJECTIVE : To characterise auditory involvement secondary to excessive craniotubular bone growth in individuals with sclerosteosis in South Africa. METHODS : This cross-sectional study assessed the auditory profile of 10 participants with sclerosteosis. An auditory test battery was used and results for each ear were recorded using descriptive and comparative analyses. RESULTS : All participants presented with bilateral, mixed hearing losses. Of the 20 ears, hearing loss was moderate in 5 per cent (n = 1), severe in 55 per cent (n = 11) and profound in 40 per cent (n = 8). Air–bone gaps were smaller in older participants, although the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Computed tomography scans indicated pervasive abnormalities of the external auditory canal, tympanic membrane, middle-ear space, ossicles, oval window, round window and internal auditory canal. Narrowed internal auditory canals corresponded to poor speech discrimination, indicative of retrocochlear pathology and absent auditory brainstem response waves. CONCLUSION : Progressive abnormal bone formation in sclerosteosis involves the middle ear, the round and oval windows of the cochlea, and the internal auditory canal. The condition compromises conductive, sensory and neural auditory pathways, which results in moderate to profound, mixed hearing loss.http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=JLOhb201