Aims: The sphenoid sinus is surrounded by many neurovascular structures which are very vulnerable to intrasphenoid sinus surgeries. The purpose of this study is to investigate the variation of sphenoid sinus structure by CT scan imaging. Methodology: This is a retrospective study of 3D images of a paranasal sinus in 129 cases. In this study, three-way metering of the sphenoid sinus, additional septum, pneumatization of the period process (PP), anterior clinoid process (ACP) and greater wing of sphenoid and protrusion and dehiscence of adjacent structures will be assessed. Results: Protrusion of internal carotid artery (ICA), a vidian nerve, maxillary nerve (V2) and optical canal were seen respectively 50.4%, 57.36%, 62.5% and 54.3% but dehiscence of this structure was seen 8.5%, 7%, 3.9% and 6.2%. penumtazition of PP, ACP and greater wing of sphenoid were seen 96.87%, 43.9% and 41.1%. Additional septum also is seen in 76% of the population. Conclusion: This study demonstrates numerous variations in sphenoid sinus structure. Some of the variations cause many problems during intrasphenoidal surgery. Therefore, physicians should evaluate patients completely before surgery.

Background Since the hearing and vestibular organs are close to each other, the correlation between hearing and balance is one of the principal issues, especially in people with hearing loss. Purpose In this study, the effect of the auditory system on human balance performance was investigated by comparing the balance status of hearing-impaired children in the aided and unaided situations. Research Design In this cross-sectional study a group of children were assigned the task to compare the balance sways in two aided and unaided situations. Study Sampling A total of 90 children aged 7 to 10 years with severe to profound congenital hearing loss and the healthy vestibular system of both genders served as the research population. Data Collection and Analysis After a complete evaluation of the hearing and vestibular system and validation of the hearing aid performance, body sway was recorded using the pediatric clinical test of sensory interaction for balance in aided and unaided situations in the presence of background noise from the speaker. Results According to this study, there was no difference in body sway in aided and unaided situations for conditions 1, 2, and 3. In comparison, in conditions 4, 5, and 6 of the test, there was a statistically significant difference in body sway between aided and unaided situations. However, there was no difference in the sway of the body in aided and unaided situations between girls and boys. Conclusion According to this study, hearing aids can improve balance in challenging listening environments.

Background: Recent epidemiological evidence indicates that the fetal environment can influence susceptibility to later disease during the lifespan. Prenatal stress exposure alters the programming of the metabolic and endocrine balance of various organs, including the auditory system. Objectives: The current study aimed at evaluating how prenatal stress influences Auditory Brainstem Responses. Methods: Eighteen pregnant Wistar rats were stressed during a one-month gestation by chronic mild stress (CMS, a variable schedule of different stressors). After birth, the offspring's hearing thresholds and latencies were evaluated and compared with the control group. The hearing thresholds were assessed by recording auditory evoked brainstem responses to 4, 8,12, and 16 kHz tone burst. Results:The results showed that although CMS caused a significant increase in corticosterone in pregnant mothers, the offspring with CMS experience had significantly lower body weight than control animals (P < 0.00) yet there was no difference between hearing sensitivity of prenatally stressed offspring and the control group. However, ABRs showed a marked prolongation in wave II and IV latencies in prenatally stressed rats (P < 0.05). Conclusion:The current data confirmed that prenatal exposure to mild stress is not detrimental to hearing sensitivity. However, these data suggest that prenatal stress can affect the temporal processing of auditory stimuli in the brainstem.

Background and Aim: Hearing loss is one of the complications of the type 2 diabetes mellitus, which commonly affects the central auditory processing. Gap in noise (GIN) test is an appropriate clinical tool for evaluating temporal auditory processing. The purpose of the present research was to compare the results of the GIN test in the diabetic patients with non-diabetic participants.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 30 subjects with type 2 diabetes (mean age=43.33, SD=4.7 years) and 30 normal hearing subjects (mean age=41.26, SD=6.2 years) were examined by the GIN test. The approximate GIN threshold and the percentage of correct answers were measured in all individuals.Results: The findings showed an increase in the approximate GIN threshold and a decrease in the percentage of correct answers in the diabetic group in comparison with the non-diabetic group (p<0.05). In addition, the GIN threshold in the right ear was lower than the left one in the case group (p<0.05).Conclusion: According to the derived results, the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus appear to have defects in the temporal resolution domain the auditory stimuli and this disorder affects left ear more than right ear.

Objectives: Real-ear measurements are critical in children for hearing aid fitting. This study aimed to evaluate the conformity of measured and predicted real-ear aided response of prescribed formula of desired sensation level (DSL) version 5, (Pediatric form) in children aged 4 to 7 years. Since there is limited information about the effect of degrees of hearing loss, ethnicity, gender, and ear on this conformity, the present study investigated the influence of the mentioned factors, too. Methods: This study was conducted on 92 children aged 4-7 years (37 girls and 55 boys) with moderate to profound hearing loss. After auditory evaluations, the children’s hearing aids were fitted based on the DSL formula. Then, the hearing aid output was measured with a real-ear measurement system, and the difference between predicted and measured curves were compared. Results: This study showed a significant difference between the predicted values and the measured ones at three intensity level inputs (50, 65, and 80 dB SPL) and a frequency range of 0.5 to 6 kHz for both ears (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between predicted and measured values curves (predicted-measured) regarding the effects of the hearing loss degrees, gender, ethnicity, and ear (right or left) (P>0.05). Discussion: According to the difference observed between the predicted and measured curves, especially at the frequencies of 6 and 4 kHz, it is essential to conduct real-ear measurements in children.