Retrosigmoid transmeatal approach: an anatomic study of an approach used for preservation of hearing in acoustic neuroma surgery and vestibular neurotomy

The limitations of the transmeatal phase of the retrosigmoid transmeatal approach are shown, and the problems of opening the internal acoustic meatus via this approach and the criteria for its use are discussed.

[The significance of the supratubal recess in the surgical treatment of chronic otitis]

The processus supratubalis is a complicated space from the topographical aspect. The author emphasizes the need of careful peroperative examination of the area which may be the site of a residual cholesteatoma. The pathological process at this site may, due to topographic relations with important structures, cause serious functional disorders.

[The effect of nystagmus of labyrinth origin on the eye movement curve and optokinetic nystagmus]

The authors evaluated the interaction of follow-up eye movements, of the optokinetic nystagmus with the nystagmus of labyrinthine origin. In 15 subjects without data on an impaired vestibular system they observed during a calorically induced nystagmus follow-up eye movements and the optokinetic nystagmus. They confirmed changes of these curves which were closely associated with the direction of the nystagmus. The above changes can be used as one of the criteria for the differentiation of a spontaneous nystagmus of peripheral origin from central nystagmus.

Salbutamol attenuates arrhythmogenic effect of aminophylline in a hPSC-derived cardiac model

The combination of aminophylline and salbutamol is frequently used in clinical practice in the treatment of obstructive lung diseases. While the side effects (including arrhythmias) of the individual bronchodilator drugs were well described previously, the side effects of combined treatment are almost unknown. We aimed to study the arrhythmogenic potential of combined aminophylline and salbutamol treatment in vitro. For this purpose, we used the established atomic force microscopy (AFM) model coupled with cardiac organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC-CMs). We focused on the chronotropic, inotropic, and arrhythmogenic effects of salbutamol alone and aminophylline and salbutamol combined treatment. We used a method based on heart rate/beat rate variability (HRV/BRV) analysis to detect arrhythmic events in the hPSC-CM based AFM recordings. Salbutamol and aminophylline had a synergistic chronotropic and inotropic effect compared to the effects of monotherapy. Our main finding was that salbutamol reduced the arrhythmogenic effect of aminophylline, most likely mediated by endothelial nitric oxide synthase activated by beta-2 adrenergic receptors. These findings were replicated and confirmed using hPSC-CM derived from two cell lines (CCTL4 and CCTL12). Data suggest that salbutamol as an add-on therapy may not only deliver a bronchodilator effect but also increase the cardiovascular safety of aminophylline, as salbutamol reduces its arrhythmogenic potential.

[The acoustic internal meatus--tomographic and autopsy findings]

The authors compared the autopsy and tomographic findings of meatus acusticus int. In addition to the dimensions of meatus acusticus int. the authors also evaluated its shape and measured the distance between fossa jugularis and lower wall of fundus. The mean values of six parameters observed and measured on the cadavers and the tomograms differed in the following way: three parameters up to 0.5 mm and three by 0.8 mm, 1.1 mm and 1.2 mm, respectively. In eight patients the tomograms were evaluated as pathological; these were described in detail and put into relation to CT, CT-cisternomeatographic or the operation finding.

[Personal experience with the difference limen in interrupted tones in differentiating between sensorineural and supracochlear hearing disorders]

The authors assessed the differences of the limen of interrupted sounds (sounds which last 500 ms, between which there are intervals of 200 ms) in healthy subjects and in patients with sensory neural and supracochlear hearing disorders. Essentially the results are consistent with those of Schorn and Fastl (2) and they suggest that patients with supracochlear hearing disorders are able to differentiate only much greater differences in intensity (more than 4 dB) between sounds, as compared with patients with sensory neural hearing disorders.