Although significant health problems outside the skeleton are frequent in adult patients with OI, the patients are not consistently monitored and treated for their symptoms. Clinicians treating adult patients with OI should be aware of non-skeletal health issues and consider including regular interdisciplinary check-ups in the management plan for adult OI patients.
Earlier studies have shown the effect of laser treatment on epistaxis in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). At the present time, only very few prospective trials have been performed, and many studies are based on patients' subjective assessment of the severity of epistaxis. This prospective study measures the objective effect of laser treatment in HHT patients with mild to moderate epistaxis. We introduce an objective measure to assess the severity of epistaxis: the bleeding time (BT). Before and after treatment, the quality of life, as measured by the patient, was assessed and compared to normative data. In 30 patients, we measured the BT before laser treatment 1.5 and 6.5 months after treatment. The Short form 36 (SF-36), a validated health questionnaire, was completed before and 6.5 months after treatment. Compared to preoperative value, BT was significantly reduced 1.5 and 6.5 months after laser treatment (p < 0.05) in both cases. No significant difference in quality of life, before and after treatment, was found. The quality of life of the HHT patients was reduced in five out of eight dimensions when compared with the Danish background population. Laser treatment reduces epistaxis in HHT patients with mild to moderate epistaxis for at least 6 months; this group of patients have reduced quality of life compared to the background population.
Postoperative infection occurred in 10% of the implantations. However, few of these were severe. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common pathogen and the presence of biofilm seemed to be associated with a higher risk of explantation.
VOR gain values and the occurrence of saccades in the diagram. Differences in gain values between examiners varied from 0.2 to 0.58 with an average of 0.14 (95 % CI 0.12-0.16) on the right ear and 0.17 (95 % CI 0.15-0.19) on the left ear. Occurrences of saccades in the same patient were reproduced in 93 % of the cases by all examiners. Kappa's coefficient on the occurrence of saccades was 0.83. Interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of the gain values between examiners ranged from 0.62 to 0.70. Differences in gain values amongst examiners did not seem to affect the occurrence of saccades in the same patient. The occurrence of saccades, therefore, seems to be more reliable than the gain value in the evaluation of the vestibular function. Interpretation of vHIT results should, therefore, first depend on the occurrence of saccades and second on the gain value.
Refixation saccades with normal gain value occur more frequently with increasing age. The phenomenon has also been observed in different vestibular disorders. In this case, we present a young male with normal gain value and refixation saccades tested with the video head impulse test (vHIT) the day after his cochlear implantation. One month after surgery, refixation saccades were no longer present. This suggests that refixation saccades can occur as a result of temporary pathology such as surgery. Refixation saccades with normal gain values might reflect a partial deficit in the vestibulo-ocular reflex. However, this partial deficit is in conflict with the current way of interpreting vHIT results in which the vestibular function is classified as either normal or pathological based only on the gain value. Refixation saccades, which are evident signs of vestibulopathy, are not considered in the evaluation. A new way of interpreting the vHIT based on the saccades must be considered.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.