Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may lead to many otolaryngological disorders such as loss of smell and taste, sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL), facial palsy, and parotitis. The involvement of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in vestibular neuritis (VN) has been reported in 2 adult patients but not really confirmed through objective testings. We present a case of a 13-year-old girl with left superior vestibular neuritis confirmed by Video Head Impulse Test during a proven COVID-19 infection. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case associating VN and COVID-19 that was demonstrated with an objective peripheral assessment. Physicians may be aware about the occurrence of VN in patients with COVID-19, keeping in mind that this condition may develop not only in adults. Early detection of SARS-CoV-2 in this pandemic is required to prevent its spread.

Objectives: To compare the effects of Narrow band CE-Chirps (NB CE-Chirps) and tone bursts (TBs) at 500 Hz and 1000 Hz on the amplitudes and latencies in cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMPs).Design: Thirty-one healthy adult volunteers of varying ages were tested by air conduction at 95 dB nHL. Recording conditions were randomized for each participant and each modality was tested twice.Results: NB CE-Chirps showed larger corrected amplitudes than TBs at 500 Hz (p < 0.001) which were themselves larger than NB CE-Chirps and TBs at 1000 Hz (p < 0.001). In older volunteers, NB CE-Chirps 500 and 1000 Hz had significantly higher response rates than TBs 500 Hz (p = 0.039). A negative correlation was observed between the corrected amplitudes and the age of the participants regardless of the stimulus and the frequency studied. The p13 and n23 latencies were not correlated with the age of the subjects.Conclusions: NB CE-Chirps at 500 Hz improved the corrected amplitudes of waveforms in cVEMPs as a result of a better frequency specificity compared with TBs. In the elderly, eliciting cVEMPs at a frequency of 1000 Hz might not be necessary to improve response rates with NB CE-Chirps. Additional studies including a higher number of healthy participants and patients with vestibular disorders are required to confirm these observations.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of narrow band CE-Chirp (NB CE-Chirp) on the amplitudes and latencies in ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMPs) at 500 and 1000 Hz in comparison with tone burst (TB). Design: Twenty-one healthy volunteers were included in the study and tested in air conduction with a “belly-tendon” montage. Recording conditions were randomized for each participant and each modality was tested twice to check the reproducibility of the procedure. Results: NB CE-Chirps at 500 Hz revealed larger n1-p1 amplitudes than 500 Hz TBs ( p = .001), which were also larger than NB CE-Chirps and TBs at 1000 Hz ( p = .022, p < .001, respectively). Besides, n1 and p1 latencies were shorter in NB CE-Chirp than in TB at 500 Hz ( p < .001) and 1000 Hz ( p < .001). The older the participants, the lower the amplitudes ( p = .021, p = .031) and the longer the n1 ( p = .030, p = .025) and p1 latencies ( p < .001, p < .001) in 500 Hz NB CE-Chirps and 500 Hz TBs. Interaural asymmetry ratios were slightly higher in 500 Hz NB CE-Chirps as compared to 500 Hz TBs ( p = .013). Conclusions: NB CE-Chirps at 500 Hz improved the amplitudes of waveforms in oVEMPs. As for TBs with clicks before, enhancing oVEMPs amplitudes is an essential step to distinguish a healthy person from a patient with either utricular or its related pathways disorder and potentially minimize the risk of cochlear damages. Additional studies including a higher number of healthy participants and patients with vestibular disorders are required to confirm this hypothesis. The large interindividual variability of interaural asymmetry ratios in NB CE-Chirp and in TB at 500 Hz could be explained by the selected montage.

No abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a worldwide pandemic associated with more than 241 million 1 infected individuals and 4.9 million deaths. 1 In most healthcare facilities, personal protective equipment (PPE) measures are important to protect healthcare workers, and include the hand disinfection and the use of masks. The use of filtering facepiece 2 (FFP2) or surgical masks was implemented in many countries for citizens and remains an important rule, in conjunction with ongoing vaccination campaigns. In the present study, we assessed the impact of surgical mask (SM) on voice quality analyses. Precisely, we compared the acoustic parameter findings of healthy participants according to the use of surgical mask through a cross-over study. | METHODS | Reporting guidelinesCONSORT guidelines were applied. | ParticipantsHealthy subjects were consecutively recruited from both hospital staff of the Department of Otolaryngology (Charleroi, Belgium) and volunteers who were visiting patients in the hospital or an accompanying person. The following criteria were used to consider subject as a healthy individual: no self-reported voice disorder the week before the examination (laryngopharyngeal infection, etc.), normal videolaryngostroboscopy and no perceptual dysphonia (GRBAS score of G0R0B0A0S0). Subjects with histories of laryngeal surgery, upper respiratory tract infection within the last month, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), restrictive pulmonary syndrome, head and neck cancer, gastroesophageal or laryngopharyngeal reflux, alcohol or tobacco consumption in the 24 h before the examination and recent COVID-19 were excluded. To be considered as a negative COVID-19 subject, they did not report COVID-19-related symptoms and in case of doubt, the RT-PCR had to be negative in the last 2 months.All professional voice users were also excluded.