Introduction The COVID-19 disease emerged in Wuhan province of China in November 2019 and spread across the world in a short time, resulting in a pandemic. The first case in Turkey was detected on March 11, 2020. The aim of the current study was to reveal the effects of COVID-19 on cranial nerves by monitoring people infected with the disease based on repeated examinations and surveys. Material and method The data of 356 patients with a positive COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test who received treatment between June 2020 and August 2020 in our hospital were prospectively evaluated after the study was approved by the relevant ethics committee. Results Of the 356 patients included in the study, 47 under the age of 18 years were excluded due to their unreliable examination and anamnesis findings. In addition, seven patients that died while in hospital were excluded from the study due to the lack of examination and survey records during their hospitalization. The data of the remaining 302 patients were statistically analyzed. Symptoms of cranial nerve involvement were observed in 135 patients. Conclusion The COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus commonly results in cranial nerve symptoms. The fact that these findings are more common and severe in COVID-19 than previous SARS and MERS outbreaks suggests that it has a more neurotrophic and more aggressive neuroinvasion. While the negative effects of the virus on sensory functions resulting from cranial nerve involvement are evident, motor functions are rarely affected.

Purpose To evaluate the relationship between middle ear risk index (MERI) score and success of tympanoplasty in elderly (≥ 60 years) compared with young patients (18-59 years) and to investigate the prognostic factors affecting the success of tympanoplasty. Methods Patients were subdivided into three subgroups according to the MERI score as follows: mild (0-3), moderate (4-6), and severe (≥ 7). Ages, perforation sides and location, preoperative and postoperative audiological results, and the graft success of 29 patients aged over 60 years were compared with those of 52 patients aged between 18 and 59 years. Results Preoperative and postoperative air conduction, preoperative and postoperative bone conduction, and preoperative and postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) were higher in the older group compared with the younger group (p < 0.05). The hearing gain in the younger group was 12.63 (6.43), and in the older group was 12.66 (7.85), while did not differ significantly between groups (p = 0.689). Results demonstrated that cases with low/moderate score of MERI had a higher graft success rate compared with patients with a high score of MERI (Φ = 0.391; p < 0.001) as well as, patients with low/moderate score of MERI had the lower need for mastoidectomy compared with patients with a high score of MERI (Φ = 0.385; p = 0.001). Conclusion Low/medium MERI scores were the variables that provided realistic expectations and increased the success of tympanoplasty more precisely before surgery. The surgeon will also be able to design an operation strategy as a case study for elderly patients by doing so.

A 39-year-old male was admitted to our clinic with symptoms of headache, dizziness, nausea, otalgia, otorrhea, tinnitus, and hearing loss in both ears for 3 weeks. Physical examination revealed edema in the tympanic membrane and external ear canal, and pain by palpation in the mastoid area bilaterally. There was no nystagmus, and the rest of the physical examination was otherwise normal. Temporal bone high resolution computed tomography (CT) showed a lesion causing erosion in the mastoid cortex, tegmen tympani, ossicles, and in the bone covering the sigmoid sinus bilaterally. There was also erosion in the superior semicircular canal and petrous bone on the left side. Cortical mastoidectomy was performed under general anesthesia. Histopathologic examination of the tissue revealed Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). In this paper a case with LCH, presenting with bilateral mastoid involvement which has been rarely reported in the literature, is discussed with the existing literature.

ObjectiveTo explore the role of T-helper 17 cells and their cascade in the pathogenesis of laryngeal cancer.MethodsProspectively, 110 consecutive patients with a suspicious laryngeal lesion were evaluated for serum levels of T-helper 17 cell related interleukins, including interleukins 23, 17A and 22, determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The patients were divided into 2 groups after pathological evaluation: 49 patients with malignancy and 61 with benign pathology. Associations between interleukin levels and malignancy were determined via correlation analyses.ResultsInterleukin 17A and 22 levels were significantly higher in the malignancy group than the benign lesion group. Pearson correlation analysis showed that interleukins 17A and 22 acted in a cascade, but interleukin 23 did not. According to predictive values, interleukin 17A levels were 3.87 times and interleukin 22 levels were 1.09 times more likely to be associated with laryngeal cancer. The cut-off values for predicting laryngeal cancer were 3.55 pg/ml for interleukin 17A and 119.82 pg/ml for interleukin 22.ConclusionT-helper 17 cell related interleukins are potential biomarkers that may be helpful in diagnosing laryngeal cancer. Moreover, these data may support neutralisation of T-helper 17 cell related cytokine activity, which could be an attractive strategy for treating laryngeal cancer.