Objectives Since its first appearance in Wuhan December 2019, SARS-CoV2 virus received great attention due to its severe symptoms and high spread causing COVID-19 disease which spread all over the world like a pandemic. The causative virus is capable of human-to-human transmission via droplet and direct contact suggesting that upper respiratory tract is the main site to virus manifestations. There is a great diversity in its clinical picture, although the severe respiratory and neurological symptoms are commonly present; however, other symptoms are present. Although otological manifestations are reported in many COVID-19 patients even in asymptomatic cases, they did not receive much attention compared with other critical manifestations. In this article, we paid our attention specifically to the otological manifestations of COVID-19 and their relevance either to the virus infection, treatment, or vaccination through literature review. Conclusion COVID-19 disease has a deleterious effect on the inner ear. This effect is not only due to SARS-Cov-2 infection, but it could be also due to the ototoxic drugs used for treatment. The COVID-19 vaccinations are found to be implicated in the otological symptoms in some cases.

No abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study is to assess the benefits of customized vestibular rehabilitation with visual desensitization in the management of visual vertigo (VV). Methods: This retrospective study included 65 patients suffering from VV with situational characteristic questionnaire more than 0.9. Patients who did not complete the follow up in the VV clinic were not included in the analysis. Patients underwent customized vestibular rehabilitation using graded and progressive gaze stabilization exercises without background followed by introduction of visual stimulation (e.g. patterned wallpaper) and optokinetic DVD for home training to promote visual desensitization. The Situational Characteristic Questionnaire (SCQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Nijmegen Questionnaire and Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) were used to assess patient symptoms before and after the vestibular rehabilitation. Results: Seventy-five per cent of subjects in the study had statistically significant improvement in the SCQ from 2.31 ± 0.73 to 1.89 ± 0.88 after the rehabilitation. Sixty-three per cent of patients had statistically significant improvement in the Nijmegen questionnaire from 27.03 ± 9.94 to 24.75 ± 11.88 after the rehabilitation. There was statistically insignificant difference in the HADS score from 9.69 ± 4.28 to 9.76 ± 5.21 after the rehabilitation. Although there was improvement in the total DHI score as well (from 53.87 ± 16.289 to 50.10 ± 20.413), this was statistically insignificant. However, there was statistically significant improvement in the DHI some subgroups (physical and functional scores) and statistically non-significant improvement in other subgroups (emotional score and total score). The mean duration of rehabilitation was 6.8 ± 5 months. Correlation analysis between SCQ score and other questionnaire scores after the rehabilitation shows significant positive correlation between the post-rehabilitation SCQ questionnaire and other questionnaires. Conclusions: Customized vestibular rehabilitation incorporating visual desensitization exercises with optokinetic DVD results in significant improvement in VV symptoms.

Background/Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that affects many body systems, including the nervous and auditory systems. It is noted that there is a scarcity of research on the effect of diabetes on cognitive functions in particular and auditory functions in general in children with type 1 diabetes. Therefore, this study was designed to assess cognitive and auditory functions in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and to correlate the reflection of diabetes control on cognitive functions.Methods: This study is a case-control study that included 100 children divided into two groups, the patient group, which includes 50 children with type 1 diabetes, and the control group, which consists of 50 healthy children. Subjects in the current study were submitted to pure tone audiometry, speech recognition threshold test, immittancemetry study, and measurement of cortical auditory evoked and P300 potentials (CAEPs and P300). These audiometric measures were statistically analyzed and correlated with the clinical characteristics of the study group. Results:The latency of P300 and CAEPs was significantly increased while the amplitude of P300 and CAEPs was significantly decreased in the patient group compared to the control group (p < 0.001). P300 and CAEPs latency has a positive correlation with HbA1c levels (r = 0.460). In addition, there was significant differences between the two groups regarding the hearing threshold at 8000 Hz, and 28% of patients had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) at 8 kHz. Conclusion:The prolonged P300 and CAEPs latency and decreased amplitude in patients indicate a cognitive decline in individuals with type 1 diabetes compared to healthy individuals. HbA1c levels may increase the risk of cognitive impairment in children. In addition, the risk of bilateral SNHL increased at 8 kHz in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.