OBJECTIVES Two steps in stapedotomy are particularly challenging: (1) micropick fenestration of the stapes footplate (SF) and (2) crimping of the stapes prosthesis (SP) to the incus. We conducted trials to determine if experience correlates with differences in performance for these tasks. METHODS In a surgical model of stapedotomy, performance was measured for 3 experienced and 3 novice surge...

Cochlear implant (CI) users suffer from elevated speech-reception thresholds and may rely on lip reading. Traditional measures of spatial release from masking quantify speech-reception-threshold improvement with azimuthal separation of target speaker and interferers and with the listener facing the target speaker. Substantial benefits of orienting the head away from the target speaker were pred...

BACKGROUND The goal of this work is to determine whether the combined use of empirically supported psychological treatments (ESTs) and pharmacological therapy (PT) achieves better results than the isolated use of ESTs in the treatment of Anxiety Disorders (AD) in a welfare clinical setting. METHOD A quasi-experimental study was designed, with a sample of 287 patients with primary diagnosis of...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS To evaluate the indications, complications, and device life of the Provox NiD in a large cohort at a tertiary US cancer center. STUDY DESIGN Longitudinal retrospective cohort study. METHODS We reviewed the records of patients who used the NiD prosthesis (2005-2011) for general indicators, device life, and complications. RESULTS One hundred eighty-six patients who use...

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present 12-weeks follow-up randomized clinical trial was to investigate the outcome of mechanical curettage (MC) with or without adjunct antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) in the treatment of peri-implant mucositis in cigarette smokers. METHODS Therapeutically, subjects with peri-implant mucositis were divided into 2 groups: (a) Group-A: MC+aPDT; and (b) Group-...

OBJECTIVE To assess the success rate of tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis as the primary mode of voice rehabilitation in patients after total laryngectomy. METHODS Medical record files of 35 patients subjected to total laryngectomy were reviewed for determining success or failure of the voice prosthesis. The indicators used were quality of speech and utility of the device. Subsequent complic...

Cochlear implant (CI) users' speech understanding may be influenced by different speaking styles. In this study, speech recognition was measured in Mandarin-speaking CI and normal-hearing (NH) subjects for sentences produced according to four styles: slow, normal, fast, and whispered. CI subjects were tested using their clinical processors; NH subjects were tested while listening to a four-chan...

This study investigated the extent to which perceived physical and social-environment qualities of supported housing facilities (SHF) account for variations in the perceived quality of life of people with severe mental illness (SMI). Based on a user-centered approach, people with SMI (N 1⁄4 72) appraised the environment of their SHF (N 1⁄4 20). Moreover, it investigated whether place attachment...

The ability to detect a target signal masked by noise is improved in normal-hearing listeners when interaural phase differences (IPDs) between the ear signals exist either in the masker or in the signal. To improve binaural hearing in bilaterally implanted cochlear implant (BiCI) users, a coding strategy providing the best possible access to IPD is highly desirable. In this study, we compared t...

Traditional tooth-supported and implant-supported fixed/removable restorations are currently used to replace teeth lost due to periodontal disease. This article reviews the existing literature for oral rehabilitation of partially edentulous periodontal patients with various designs of removable dental prosthesis (RDP), fixed dental prosthesis (FDP) and implant-supported single crown (SC), by ad...