The Russian matrix sentence test is suitable for accurate and reliable speech intelligibility measurements in noise.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate to what degree the function of the central auditory pathways influences the intelligibility of the speech in the patients suffering from the sensorineural loss of hearing (SNLH). The study included a total of 20 patients at the age varying from 31 to 80 years presenting with moderate to moderately severe symmetrical SNLN. All the patients were permanent hearing aid users. They underwent the standard audiological examination including pure-tone threshold and suprathreshold audimetries together with impedancemetry, the evaluation of the functional ability of the central auditory pathways with special reference to temporal resolution and differential frequency sensitivity, binaural integration, and the ability to distinguish a sound stimulus against the background noise. It has been found that the impaired intelligibility of the speech and the decreased efficiency of the hearing aids in the patients presenting with SNLH were attributable to the central auditory pathway disorders detected in 50% of the participants in the study. The strong correlation between the results of detection of the stimulus under conditions of tonal signal interference, the binaural integration test, and intelligibility of the speech in the users of hearing aids was documented.

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чевых сигналов (артикуляционные таблицы), соответ-ствующие задачам исследования. Ранние тесты были соз-даны для оценки изолированных речевых звуков (слогов) [2]. Однако наиболее широкое распространение получили словесные таблицы, представляющие собой группы из от-дельных 20-50 одно-или многосложных слов. В связи с тем, что большая часть речевого общения в повседневной жизни предполагает использование смысловых предло-жений со сложными грамматическими структурами, был разработан фразовый тест [3]. В наши дни фразовые тесты находят свое применение главным образом при услож-ненной речевой аудиометрии (для уточнения топики по-

In this study, we assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the hearing function in adults. A total of 161 subjects were examined, and the results of a previous audiological examination of 24 patients were reviewed. Pure tone audiometry, impedancemetry, speech audiometry in quiet and noise, the Binaural Fusion Test, the dichotic digits test, and a cognitive status examination were performed. A total of 81% of patients complained about hearing disorders, and 43% noted memory impairment. According to pure tone audiometry, 24% of the subjects had normal hearing, while 76% had some degree of hearing loss. No significant changes in hearing thresholds were found in comparison with audiological examinations performed before COVID-19. Disorder of monosyllabic words’ intelligibility in quiet was found in 33% of patients, and in 42% in noise, along with low indicators in the dichotic digits test in 54% of patients. Moreover, 71% of patients had low scores on the MoCA scale that indicated cognitive impairment. Conclusions: The deterioration of speech test scores in patients after COVID-19 can occur due to central auditory processing disorders (CAPD), memory impairment, or changes in cognitive status in general.

The main objective of this work was the development of the algorithm of dynamic audiological examination of children with congenital CMVI. Today, there are 60 children with congenital CMVI under dynamic observation, 8 children (13%) have hearing disorders, in two (25%) of them sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) was delayed. The comparison group included 50 patients, where hearing disorders have been revealed in 4% of cases. Besides, this article presents a clinical case of peripheral hearing improvement in a child with the resolution of hydrocephalus associated with congenital CMVI. In consideration of the information from foreign literary sources and based on the available data about the period of occurrence of the delayed hearing disorders in children both with symptomatic and asymptomatic form of CMVI, the authors suggested an algorithm for dynamic audiological observation of children with congenital CMVI providing and examination once per three months over the first year of life, once per 6 months – during the 2nd year of life and once per year at the age of 2 through 6 years.

The choice of the treatment strategy for the patients presenting with the patulous Eustachian tube syndrome constitutes a serious challenge for an otorhinolaryngologist. Despite the considerable progress achieved during the past years in the development of modern pharmacotherapy and functional endoscopic surgery, the specialists often encounter difficulties in the management of the patients suffering from this disease. The present article (continuing the previous communication) contains information concerning the historical and modern approaches to the treatment of the patients with the patulous Eustachian tube syndrome. The authors describe the conservative and surgical methods employed for the treatment of this condition and the approaches to the choice of the treatment strategies depending on the etiology, pathogenesis, and severity of the disorder being considered, its duration, and the character of the morphological changes identified during the diagnostic procedures. The authors emphasize the importance of the wait-and-see strategy for the treatment of the patients presenting with the patulous Eustachian tube syndrome. In conclusion, they present the concrete results of four original observations of such patients.