Treatment of laryngopharyngeal reflux disease: A systematic review

BACKGROUNG For a long time,laryngopharyngeal reflux disease(LPRD)has been treated by proton pump inhibitors(PPIs)with an uncertain success rate.AIM To shed light the current therapeutic strategies used for LPRD in order to analysis the rationale in the LPRD treatment.METHODS Three authors conducted a PubMed search to identify papers published between January 1990 and February 2019 about the treatment of LPRD.Clinical prospective or retrospective studies had to explore the impact of medical treatment(s)on the clinical presentation of suspected or confirmed LPRD.The criteria for considering studies for the review were based on the population,intervention,comparison,and outcome framework.RESULTS The search identified 1355 relevant papers,of which 76 studies met the inclusion criteria,accounting for 6457 patients.A total of 64 studies consisted of empirical therapeutic trials and 12 were studies where authors formally identified LPRD with pH-monitoring or multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH monitoring(MII-pH).The main therapeutic scheme consisted of once or twice daily PPIs for a duration ranged from 4 to 24 wk.The most used PPIs were omeprazole,esomeprazole,rabeprazole,lansoprazole and pantoprazole with a success rate ranging from 18%to 87%.Other composite treatments have been prescribed including PPIs,alginate,prokinetics,and H2 Receptor antagonists.CONCLUSION Regarding the development of MII-pH and the identification of LPRD subtypes(acid,nonacid,mixed),future studies are needed to improve the LPRD treatment considering all subtypes of reflux.

Self-reported participation restrictions in normal hearing individuals in thyroid ontogeny: Evidence of subclinical changes

Purpose: To verify evidence of subclinical alterations through self-reported participation restrictions in normal hearing individuals and congenital hypothyroidism patients.Methods: An analytical, quantitative, cross-sectional exploratory study with a 1:1 ratio, consisting of a convenience sample of 86 normal hearing individuals with(n = 42) and without(n = 44) congenital hypothyroidism diagnosis. All participants underwent tonal and speech audiometry, immitance and distortion product otoacoustic emissions. The researchers excluded people with hearing loss, genetic syndromes and metabolic diseases. The instrument used for evaluate of self-reported participation restrictions was the HHIE-adapted questionnaire, composed of 25 questions, 12 of which were social domain and 13 emotional domain. Student's ttest and chi-square test were used for statistical analysis at a significance level of 5%.Results: There was a significant(p < 0.001) self-reported participation restrictions in CH(61.9%), with a greater relevance for the social domain(p = 0.002). There was a greater frequency of mild/moderate(40.5%)and higher prevalence of association with clinical factors and adherence to treatment.Conclusion: The findings indicate that self-reported participation restrictions in normal hearing individuals with congenital hypothyroidism was more significant than in the non-exposed group, suggesting evidence of subclinical auditory abnormalities in this population.

Can language acquisition be facilitated in cochlear implanted children? Comparison of cognitive and behavioral psychologists' viewpoints

AIM To study how language acquisition can be facilitated for cochlear implanted children based on cognitive and behavioral psychology viewpoints?METHODS To accomplish this objective, literature related to behaviorist and cognitive psychology prospects about language acquisition were studied and some relevant books as well as Medline, Cochrane Library, Google scholar, ISI web of knowledge and Scopus databases were searched. Among 25 articles that were selected, only 11 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Based on the inclusion criteria, review articles, expert opinion studies, non-experimental and experimental studies that clearly focused on behavioral and cognitive factors affecting language acquisition in children were selected. Finally, the selected articles were appraised according to guidelines of appraisal of medical studies.RESULTS Due to the importance of the cochlear implanted child's language performance, the comparison of behaviorist and cognitive psychology points of view in child language acquisition was done. Since each theoretical basis, has its own positive effects on language, and since the two are not in opposition to one another, it canbe said that a set of behavioral and cognitive factors might facilitate the process of language acquisition in children. Behavioral psychologists believe that repetition, as well as immediate reinforcement of child's language behavior help him easily acquire the language during a language intervention program, while cognitive psychologists emphasize on the relationship between information processing, memory improvement through repetitively using words along with "associated" pictures and objects, motor development and language acquisition. CONCLUSION It is recommended to use a combined approach based on both theoretical frameworks while planning a language intervention program.

Congenital hypothyroidism as a risk factor for hearing and parents’ knowledge about its impact on hearing

Aim:To evaluate the hearing of children with congenital hypothyroidism(CH)and to analyze the knowledge that parents’have on the possible auditory impacts of the disease.Methods:A total of 263 parents/guardians were interviewed about aspects of CH and hearing.Audiological evaluation was performed on 80 participants,divided into two groups:with CH(n?50)and without CH(n紏30).Clinical and laboratory CH data were obtained from medical records,pure tone auditory thresholds and acoustic reflexes were analyzed.The auditory data was compared between groups.Student’s t-test and Chi-square were used for statistical analysis at a significance level of 5%(p<0.05).Results:The majority(78%),of the parents were unaware that CH when not treated early is a potential risk to hearing.There was no correlation between socioeconomic class and level of information about CH and hearing(p>0,05;p=0.026).There was a statistically significant difference between the auditory tone thresholds of the groups and between the levels of intensity necessary for the triggering of the acoustic reflex.The group with CH presented the worst results(p<0.05)and absence of acoustic reflex in a normal tympanometric condition.Conclusions:Children with CH are more likely to develop damage to the auditory system involving retrocochlear structures when compared to healthy children,and that the disease may have been a risk factor for functional deficits without deteriorating hearing sensitivity.The possible impacts of CH on hearing,when not treated early,should be more publicized among the parents/guardians of this population.