Multiple ASSRs may reliably predict the behavioral threshold in subjects with SNHL and may serve as a valuable objective measure for assessing the hearing threshold across different frequencies in candidates for cochlear implants and children with auditory neuropathy.

No abstract

The aim of the present study was to review our recent experience in the diagnosis and treatment of acute mastoiditis and its complications in a single tertiary-care, university-affiliated pediatric center. Ninety-eight children with 101 episodes of acute mastoiditis were included in the study. The mean interval from onset of illness to mastoiditis was 4.5 days. Ear cultures most often grew Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (23.7% each). Complications occurred in 15.8% of episodes. The only factor differentiating children with and without complications was white blood cell count. These findings indicate that acute mastoiditis not only is a complication of prolonged infection of the middle ear, but may also present as an acute infection of the mastoid bone that can progress within 48 hours. The complication rate remains high, and antibiotic treatment at the onset of symptoms does not prevent complications. A high white blood cell count on admission may serve as a predictive factor of complicated cases.

The incidence of subclinical central diabetic neuropathy is unclear due to difficulty in detecting latent alterations of central neural transmission process. The aim of this study was to evaluate a central neuroconductive mechanism in diabetics by brainstem auditory evoked responses (BAER). We found increased latencies of peaks I, III, V in diabetics as compared to control subjects. These BAER abnormalities were demonstrated in 62 per cent of insulin-controlled diabetics and in 33 per cent o patients treated by diet, or peroral drugs. No alterations in brainstem responses were observed in patients with latent diabetes. We did not find any correlation between the BAER abnormalities and the duration of the disease, the blood glucose level or the level of control of the diabetes.