Background: Counselling, stress reduction and sound stimulation have been effective in the management of tinnitus. Aim of the work: It was to investigate the effectiveness of counselling and amplification and sound stimulation (Zen tones of fractal music) technology for hearing impaired patients suffering from tinnitus. Methods: This study included 40 hearing impaired subjects with tinnitus, divided into two groups: Both received counselling for 2 months then amplification for 4 months. The study group had their hearing aids with Zen program activated. Results: Post-counselling, none of the cases or controls showed improvement >20 points in the total tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) score. Only 20% of the study group and 15% of the controls showed improved tinnitus severity. Only one of the study group showed improvement in the tinnitus functional index (TFI) > 13 points. After hearing aids, 80% of the study group showed improvement in the tinnitus severity degree compared to 60% of the controls. And 20% improved ≥20 points in the total THI score, compared to none of the controls. Half of the study group improved in the TFI >13 points, compared to only 10% of the controls, and this was statistically significant. After 6 months, both groups showed comparable improvement in THI tinnitus severity degree: But 60% of the study group and only 15% of the controls improved ≥20 points in total THI score and this difference was statistically significant. And (85%) of the study group improved >13 points in total TFI score following both counselling and hearing aid fitting, compared to 50% of the controls, and this was statistically significant. Conclusion: Counselling alone had no significant effect on tinnitus improvement in the hearing-impaired patients. The combined approach of counselling and amplification resulted in remarkable improvement. And added music resulted in greater improvements, but was more effective when the loudness of the perceived tinnitus was weaker.

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Background: Radiotherapy (RT) techniques after Conservative Breast Surgery (CBS) vary. Three Dimension (3D) planning allows for better plan optimization compared to 2 Dimension (2D) plans and also allowing for creating Dose Volume Histograms (DVHs) for both Planning Target Volume (PTV) and Organs at Risk (OAR). Patients and Methods: Twenty consecutive patients with CBS planned for whole breast and supraclavicular (SCV) RT at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Egypt between January and June 2016 were included in this study. All patients were planned clinically in 2D fashion with no more than 2 cm of ipsilateral lung allowed in the tangential fields "Limited 2D" (Limit-2D) then Target and OAR volumes were drawn according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) guidelines and 3D plans and a central slice PTV-based 2D plan, "Modified 2D" (Mod-2D), were performed in the same Computerized Tomography (CT) slices for each patient. Mono-Iso-Centeric technique (MIT) was used in 3D plans. DVH parameters were used to compare the three plans. Results: In 3D plans, compared to Limit-2D, coverage improved for the intact breast (V95% = 95% versus (Vs) 69%, p = 0.036) and SCVPTV (V90% = 90% Vs 65%, p = 0.01). The breast and SCV V 107%, V112% and Dmax were better with 3D plan however not statistical significant (NS). Junctional hot spots were 120% and 107% in the Limit-2D and 3D plans respectively (p = 0.04). The dose to the heart, mean (333 Vs 491 cGy), V10 (5% Vs 10%) and V20 (3% Vs 7%), Ipsilateral lung V20 (19% Vs 26%), and contra lateral breast D-max (205 Vs 462 cGy) were higher in 3D plans however NS, and the dose to the cord was the same. Comparison be- 664tween 3D and Mod-2D showed better OAR sparing with 3D with mean heart dose (491 cGy Vs 782 cGy, p = 0.025) and Ipsilateral lung V20 (26% Vs 32%, p = 0.07% with statistically comparable target coverage. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that application of 3D plan using MIT improves coverage of breast and SCVPTVs with minimizing hot spot at the junctional area if compared with Limit-2D plans with comparable dose to OAR. When compared with Mod-2D plans, 3D plans not only had better target coverage but also better sparing of OAR, the latter was statistically significant.