The radiographic and endoscopic findings of 83 consecutive patients with suspected foreign body (FB) inhalation into the tracheobronchial tree were compared and the accuracy of chest radiography was estimated. Typical radiologic signs of FB aspiration, such as localized air trapping, atelectasis and infection occurred on radiographs of patients with and without FB. Twenty-four percent of patients with endoscopically verified FB had no abnormalities on chest radiography. In an analysis of radiographs of 83 consecutive patients, in which the prevalence of FB aspiration was 41%, the diagnostic accuracy was 67%, sensitivity 68% and specificity 67%. Plain film radiology alone is not a sufficiently sensitive nor specific method for the diagnosis of FB aspiration.

No abstract

Thirty ears of 29 patients with different sized perforation of the tympanic membrane were operated on with the aid of rigid otoendoscopes. The technique has a significant novel feature: endoscopy of the tympanic cavity through a perforation with small tympanoscopes 1.7 mm in diameter with a 0%. The postoperative air-bone gap was less than 10 dB in 90% of the ears. It was concluded that tympanoscope-assisted myringoplasty is a reliable and simple procedure with the benefit of minimal trauma in healthy tissue and that it is a feasible approach for day-case surgery with an ordinary success rate of tympanic membrane closure and hearing results.

This study investigates Internet use among Finnish adolescents (n = 475) combining qualitative and quantitative research. Internet use was evaluated using the Internet Addiction Test (Young, 1998a, 1998b). The data was divided into three parts according to the test scores: normal users (14.3%), mild over‐users (61.5%), and moderate or serious over‐users (24.2%). The most common reason for use was having fun. While half the students reported disadvantages associated with their use, further qualitative analysis revealed that students with serious overuse did not report any harm caused by using the Internet. As disadvantages of using the Internet, students reported that it is time‐consuming and causes mental, social, and physical harm and poor school attendance. Four factors of Internet addiction were found, and for two of them, a statistical difference between females and males was found.

No abstract

Usher syndrome is a recessive hereditary disease group with clinical and genetical heterogeneity leading to handicapped hearing and visual loss until middle age. It is the most common cause for deaf-blindness. Three distinct phenotypes and five distinct genotypes are already known. In Finland the distribution of known Usher types is different than elsewhere. Usher syndrome type III (USH3) is common in Finland and it is thought to include 40% of patients. Progressive hearing loss is characteristic of USH3. Elsewhere USH3 has been regarded as a rarity covering only several percent of the whole Usher population. The aim of this paper is to describe, for the first time, the course of visual handicap and typical refractive errors in USH3 and compare it with other USH types. From a total patient sample consisting of 229 Finnish USH patients, 200 patients' visual findings were analyzed in a multicenter retrospective follow-up study. The average progress rate during a 10-year follow-up period in different USH types was similar. The essential progress occurred below the age of 40 and was continuous up to that age. Visual acuity dropped below 0.05 (severely impaired) at the age of 37 and the visual fields were of tubular shape without any peripheric islands at the average age of 30. Clinically significant hypermetropia with astigmatism seems to be a pathognomonic clinical sign of USH3.

From 1968 to 1987, mediastinoscopy was performed on 2021 consecutive patients. The procedure was carried out in 35.7 per cent on patients with a pulmonary infiltrate and in 28.8 per cent with bronchogenic carcinoma. Mediastinoscopy was positive in 54 per cent of the cases. The total number of complications was 2.3 per cent (47/2021). There were four cases with major haemorrhage, three tracheal ruptures and three wound infections. Recurrent nerve paralysis was verified in three patients and pericardial rupture in two patients. The total of major complications was 0.5 per cent (10/2021). There was no deaths in this series. In the authors' opinion, mediastinoscopy can be regarded as an effective and safe procedure in the hands of an experienced surgeon.

Together with clinical and epidemiologic features of AOM, the nasopharyngeal culture can be helpful in selecting specific antimicrobial therapy.