Childhood obesity is a common and significant public health problem all over the world. As a well-known fact obese children have an increased risk of obesity-associated comorbidities, including obstructive sleep apnea, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders at an earlier age compared to their normal weight peers. They also have an increased risk of poor self-esteem, greater body dissatisfaction, and increased peer teasing that lead to a lower health-related quality of life. While the presence of adenoid hypertrophy and increased rate of obstructive sleep apnea frequently co-exists in majority of cases. We have limited knowledge about the effect of adenotonsillar hypertrophy on development of childhood obesity. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between obesity, presence of adenotonsillar hypertrophy and the quality of life parameters in obese children as measured by the OSA-18 quality of life questionnaire. Fifty obese children aged between 3 and 18 years and 50 age- and gender-matched otherwise children were enrolled to the study. All subjects were routinely examined by the otolaryngologist before enrollment. The size of adenoid hypertrophy was measured using lateral cephalometric radiographs. The tonsils were also graded using the schema recommended by Brodsky et al. We used OSA-18 questionnaires to evaluate the subjects' quality of life issues. We found, 34 % of obese group had tonsillar hypertrophy while the rate was 6 % in control group. Similarly 16 % of obese group had tonsillar hypertrophy compared to only 4 % in non-obese group. It was also noted that total OSA-18 scores of obese group were significantly higher than those of non-obese group. In subgroup analysis of obese group, total OSA-18 score of obese subjects with either adenoid and/or tonsillar hypertrophy was significantly higher than that of obese subjects without adenoid or tonsillar hypertrophy. As the related literature suggests that the impact of adenotonsillar size on OSA symptoms is prominent especially in children under 7 years of age, but its impact on the development of childhood obesity is still controversial. Our results revealed a possible relation between adenotonsillar hypertrophy and obesity rates. Further studies on larger populations should be planned to better define the real impact of adenotonsillar hypertrophy in obese children.

In the study, eight patients of the BPPV group (16%) had a high thyroid antibody level. In the non-BPPV group, six patients (11.5%) had elevated thyroid antibodies. In the control group, 15 patients (25%) had elevated thyroid antibodies. TSH values of all subjects were detected to be within normal range. No statistical difference was found between the groups with respect to TG-Ab and TPO-Ab values (p-values = 0.729 and 0.812, respectively).

The results of the present study show that DPOAE measurement is a reliable method for determining which patients are at risk of developing SNHL in the early post-RT period.

Purpose. Growth differentiation factor-(GDF-) is a prognostic biomarker in cardiovascular disorders (CVD). GDF-15 level was not studied in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) before. In this study, we investigated serum GDF-15 levels in OSAS patients and compared them with healthy controls. Material and Methods. Polysomnographically, confirmed forty consecutive OSAS patients (20 men and 20 women) and forty consecutive healthy controls (23 men and 17 women) were enrolled in the study. The samples in each group had similar demographic characteristics and body mass index (BMI) values. Results. In the study, no significant correlation was found about GDF-15 levels of OSAS group and healthy controls. However, there was a significant statistical correlation between age and GDF-15 level. In correlation analysis, there was not any significant correlation between age and BMI. Conclusion. Although various developing biomarkers have been studied in cardiovascular disorders, GDF-15 levels have attracted a widespread interest as predictors of cardiovascular risk. GDF-15 level has not been evaluated previously in patients with OSAS. A significant statistical correlation was found between age and GDF-15 level. To reveal close relation between OSAS and GDF-15, further studies are needed with combination of GDF-15 and other biomarkers in OSAS.

Summary: Concha bullosa (CB) is among the most common anatomic variations of sinonasal anatomy. Although usually asymptomatic, CB can occasionally cause nasal obstruction or headache. Obstructions within the mucociliary transport system can develop into a mucocele or mucopyocele. A 48-year-old female, with a history of progressive headache and nasal obstruction, was referred to our department. Paranasal sinus tomography revealed a nasal mass in the left nasal cavity resembling a mucopyocele in the middle turbinate. Under general anesthesia, the purulent material was aspirated, and the lateral part of the left turbinate was resected. Mucopyoceles are common within the paranasal sinuses, but uncommon with CB; thus, they should be considered in patients with a large hyperemic nasal mass.