Prevalence of chronic otitis media according to the general characteristics of KNHNES participants.

<p>COM, chronic otitis media; SE, standard error; KNHANES, Korean national health and nutrition examination survey;</p><p>*weighted for the multistage sampling design of KNHANES 2010~2012</p><p>Prevalence of chronic otitis media according to the general characteristics of KNHNES participants.</p

Prevalence of chronic otitis media according to the medical conditions of KNHANES participants.

<p>COM, chronic otitis media; SE, standard error; KNHANES, Korean national health and nutrition examination survey;</p><p>*weighted for the multistage sampling design of KNHANES 2010~2012</p><p>Prevalence of chronic otitis media according to the medical conditions of KNHANES participants.</p

Prevalence of chronic otitis media according to otologic conditions of KNHANES participants.

<p>KNHANES, Korean national health and nutrition examination survey;</p><p>*weighted for the multistage sampling design of KNHANES 2010~2012</p><p>Prevalence of chronic otitis media according to otologic conditions of KNHANES participants.</p

Adjusted odds ratio for the association between chronic otitis media and risk factors.

<p>OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; EQ-5D, Euro Qol-5D</p><p>Adjusted odds ratio for the association between chronic otitis media and risk factors.</p

Prevalence of chronic otitis media according to blood test, hearing threshold, and questionnare of quality of life.

<p>EQ-5D, Euro Qol-5D; KNHANES, Korean national health and nutrition examination survey;</p><p>*weighted for the multistage sampling design of KNHANES 2010~2012</p><p>Prevalence of chronic otitis media according to blood test, hearing threshold, and questionnare of quality of life.</p

Prevalence of chronic otitis media by age group and sex in Korean adults.

<p>The prevalence of chronic otitis media increased with age in both sexes.</p

Air pollution influences the incidence of otitis media in children: A national population-based study - Fig 1

<p><b>Trends in weekly national otitis media (OM) cases per 1000 children in South Korea in total (A), by age (B), and by sex (C).</b> In 2011 and 2012, the weekly incidence of OM remained steady with seasonal variation, and the average was 12.6 cases per 1000 children. For age and sex, it was much higher in children <5 years, and comparable or somewhat higher in boys than in girls.</p

Adjusted association between exposure to ambient air pollutants and the incidences of otitis media in a nationwide population study for children in South Korea.

<p>Adjusted association between exposure to ambient air pollutants and the incidences of otitis media in a nationwide population study for children in South Korea.</p

Residual Hearing in DFNB1 Deafness and Its Clinical Implication in a Korean Population

<div><p>Introduction</p><p>The contribution of Gap junction beta-2 protein (<i>GJB2</i>) to the genetic load of deafness and its mutation spectra vary among different ethnic groups.</p><p>Objective</p><p>In this study, the mutation spectrum and audiologic features of patients with <i>GJB2</i> mutations were evaluated with a specific focus on residual hearing.</p><p>Methods</p><p>An initial cohort of 588 subjects from 304 families with varying degrees of hearing loss were collected at the otolaryngology clinics of Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital from September 2010 through January 2014. <i>GJB2</i> sequencing was carried out for 130 probands with sporadic or autosomal recessive non syndromic hearing loss. The audiograms were evaluated in the <i>GJB2</i> mutants.</p><p>Results</p><p>Of the 130 subjects, 22 (16.9%) were found to carry at least one mutant allele of <i>GJB2</i>. The c.235delC mutation was shown to have the most common allele frequency (39.0%) among <i>GJB2</i> mutations, followed by p.R143W (26.8%) and p.V37I (9.8%). Among those probands without the p.V37I allele in a <i>trans</i> configuration who showed some degree of residual hearing, the mean air conduction thresholds at 250 and 500 Hz were 57 dB HL and 77.8 dB HL, respectively. The c.235delC mutation showed a particularly wide spectrum of hearing loss, from mild to profound and significantly better hearing thresholds at 250 Hz and 2k Hz than in the non-p.V37I and non-235delC nonsyndromic hearing loss and deafness 1(DFNB1) subjects.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Despite its reputation as the cause of severe to profound deafness, c.235delC, the most frequent DFNB1 mutation in our cohort, caused a wide range of hearing loss with some residual hearing in low frequencies. This finding can be of paramount help for prediction of low frequency hearing thresholds in very young DFNB1 patients and highlights the importance of soft surgery for cochlear implantation in these patients.</p></div

<i>GJB2</i> mutations and their allele frequencies.

<p><i>GJB2</i> mutations and their allele frequencies.</p