Background: It is known that HIV infection is a risk factor for hearing loss. Therefore this study is to determine the pattern and severity of hearing loss and whether there is a correlation between the CD4 count and hearing impairment in the HIV positive adult patients seen in the infectious outpatient clinic of university of Port Harcourt teaching hospital (UPTH).Methods: A hospital based descriptive cross sectional study of consecutive patients that are HIV positive seen in the infectious outpatient clinic of UPTH within a period of three months, from May to July of 2020. The biodata, history of hearing difficulties and management of the disease was obtained using a semi structured questionnaire. All the patients had otoscopy done and hearing assessment with pure tone audiometry (PTA). The analysis was done with the SPSS version 25 software at a 95% confidence interval and a p value less than 0.05 was considered significant.Results: The study involved 234 subjects comprising 127 males and 107 females. Hearing impairment was seen in n=113 (48.29%). The patients with CD4 count less than 500 cells/mm2 was found to have more hearing loss; 55.8% than those with counts greater than 500 cells/mm2. Age distribution was statistically significant with a p=0.0001.Conclusions:  The pure tone audiometric pattern in the majority of the studied population was more of CHL. The age, duration of ARVT and the CD4 count all had statistically significant association with hearing loss in the HIV positive adults.

No abstract

Aim: This study is to determine the prevalence, causes, types and patterns of hearing impairment seen in a tertiary hospital in the Niger delta region. Study Design: A hospital based descriptive study of all patients with complaints of hearing impairment seen at the ear nose and throat clinic of the university of Port Harcourt teaching hospital within the period of January 2015 to December 2019. Results: Bilateral affectation was commoner among those that have hearing impairment n = 366(65.2%) 91.2% while n = 54(8.8%) was found to have normal hearing. Majority of the ears had profound degree of hearing loss n= 313 (25.4%) with the highest number of it found in the right ear 27.0% however, there is no statistical significance between the side of the ear affected and the degree of hearing loss. Conclusion: The young adults are the most affected; age 30-39 years with bilateral affectation and profound degree of hearing loss. Infective conditions such as CSOM are still very predominant in the aetiology of hearing loss in our environment.

Background: Management of aerodigestive emergencies can prove a challenge especially in this sub-Saharan region where there is a dearth of specialized equipment. In some areas, a plain radiograph may be the only investigative tool readily available to the surgeon. It is routinely done in most of these cases. In our environment health care is often financed by the patients through out of pocket expenses since most do not have health insurance. Affordability of a particular treatment becomes paramount. This study, therefore, is aimed at assessing the use of lateral soft tissue neck X-ray and its reliability as a diagnostic tool in aerodigestive emergencies. Objective: To determine the relevance or effectiveness of plain radiograph of the lateral soft tissue neck in patients with upper aerodigestive emergencies and therefore its use as a tool to the otorhinolaryngology (ORL) surgeon as the first-line investigation in these patients. Patients and Methods: It is a prospective study of all patients that presented to the ENT surgery department of UPTH from April 2018 to April 2019 with upper aerodigestive emergencies. Patients who presented in the ENT clinic, accident and emergency department, children`s emergency wards and the clinics with upper aerodigestive emergencies were recruited in this study. All the patients had X-ray lateral soft tissue of the neck done on presentation and the results were then compared with the final operative findings in the operation theatre. Some patients had also chest radiograph done however; the diagnosis was done based on the lateral soft tissue neck finding. Patients that had radiologic investigation other than radiograph of the lateral soft tissue neck as the main investigative tool were excluded from the study. The radiologist opinion was obtained for all the radiographs as a routine. The results were analyzed using the SPSS 20 and presented in simple statistical tables. Results: Sixteen patients were studied. Males were 14(87.5%) while females were 2(12.5%). Age range was from 1.5 to 77 years with children comprising only 31.25% of the study population. The commonest presenting complaint was voice change 68.75%. Positive findings on the x-ray neck were seen as soft signs in 62.5% and radio-opacity in 18.75%. In n=14(87.5%) the lateral neck x-ray positive findings were corroborated by the operative findings. The tool has a specificity of 100% for both foreign body inhalation/ingestion and laryngeal tumour but the sensitivity of 80% in laryngeal tumours but 100% for the foreign body. Conclusion: Study concludes that lateral soft tissue neck x-ray was found to be a good and useful tool in the diagnosis of a good number of upper aerodigestive emergencies such as foreign body ingestion/inhalation and patients with upper airway obstruction caused by laryngeal tumours and some infective conditions such as a retropharyngeal abscess.

Background: Bleeding from the nose is one of the commonest emergencies that could present in a typical ear, nose and throat clinic. It is often a frightful experience for both the patient and relations, especially in severe cases. Aim: To determine the aetiological profile, the management and outcome in patients that presented with epistaxis in University of Port Harcourt teaching hospital.  Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with complaints of epistaxis that were managed within the period of January 2006 to January 2018 in the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department, including referrals from the accident & emergency department and children emergency ward. Data on demographics, aetiology, associated clinical features, treatment modalities and outcome of such treatments were all collated. These were analyzed using IBM statistical package for social sciences SPSSversion 20and results presented in simple descriptive tables. Results: There were altogether 196 patients studied, 95 males and 101 females, giving a male to female ratio of 1:1.06.  The age range was from 1 to 81 years. Age group 30-39 was the most affected with 22.29% Aetiological factors were; hypertension in 9.2% trauma in 11.2%, idiopathic in most; 58.2%, chronic rhinosinusitis in 18.4%. Conservative medical therapy was the commonest treatment modality; 68.38%. Anterior nasal packing in 26.5% while 4.1% had posterior packing. Anterior aspect of the nose was the commonest site of bleed recorded in 160 cases. All the patients had a favourable outcome. Conclusion: Epistaxis in this environment still presents as a common emergency and in the majority of the case, the cause is not known, however, trauma appears to be one of the commonest cause implicated in our setting. The young adults appear to be the ones mainly affected.