SSHL patients with vertigo or abnormal caloric test displayed worse hearing loss; and vice versa, vertigo and abnormal caloric results happened more frequently in SSHL patients with profound hearing loss.

Previous studies showed that EGR3 gene located in chromosome 8p21.3 was involved in the etiology of schizophrenia. However, the finding failed to be replicated in several case-control studies. To investigate the genetic role of the EGR3 gene in Chinese psychiatric patients, we genotyped five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in EGR3 gene locus using 93 nuclear families in Han Chinese, and performed transmission disequilibrium test (TDT). In this study, two SNPs (rs1996147 and rs3750192) showed significant association with schizophrenia (c2>4.40, P<0.05). In the linkage disequilibrium analysis, the significant association was also found in two- (rs3750192-rs35201266), three- (rs1877670- rs3750192-rs7009708) and four-SNP (rs1996147-rs1877670-rs3750192-rs7009708) tests of haplotype analyses (c2>7.10, global P<0.05). Overall, the results suggested that EGR3 gene may play an important role in schizophrenia susceptibility in the Han Chinese population, and further functional exploration of the EGR3 gene will contribute to the underlying molecular mechanism for schizophrenia pathogenesis.

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Background:We investigated the sudden onset of static equilibrium dysfunction caused by cochlear implantation (CI) in congenital hearing loss patients.Method:Twenty-five patients were selected from a cohort of unilateral CI recipients to form the CI group. Static posturography was performed 1 to 3 days before and 3 to 5 days after CI. Each patient underwent the test with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) for 30 seconds, separately. Another group of age- and sex-matched patients with no history of hearing impairment undergoing unrelated surgeries formed the control group, and were examined with the same tests pre- and post-surgery. A third group of patients undergoing middle ear surgery formed the otitis media (OM) group. Postural sway parameters including sway velocity (SV) in the X-axis, SV in the Y-axis, length of sway locus length (LNG), and environmental area (ENV) were measured and recorded.Results:Comparison of pre-surgery posturographical parameters between the CI and control groups revealed no significant differences. Significant differences were found in most parameters in pre- and post-surgery comparisons in the CI group. Mean SV values in the X-axis pre- and post-surgery were 8.48 and 11.52 mm/s, respectively, in the EO condition (P < .05), and 14.94 and 20.16 mm/s, respectively, in the EC condition (P < .05). In the Y-axis, mean SV values were 15.36 and 20.24 mm/s pre- and post-surgery, respectively, in the EC condition (P < .05). The LNG values in the CI group pre- and post-surgery were 319.60 and 469.88 mm in the EO condition (P < .05), and 571.40 and 764.12 mm in the EC condition (P < .05). No significant functional equilibrium change was observed in the control group between pre- and post-surgery (P > .05) except SV in the X-axis and LNG in the EO condition (P < .05). No significant pre- and post-surgery differences were found in the OM group.Conclusion:CI appeared to influence static equilibrium function within 1 week post-surgery. This influence was greater when eyes were closed.

ObjectiveTo observe the functional status of the otolith pathway in patients with unilateral idiopathic benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) by combining air-conducted sound elicited cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (ACS-cVEMP) and ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (ACS-oVEMP).MethodsOne hundred and eighty patients with BPPV were recruited for conventional cVEMP and oVEMP tests. The abnormal rates of VEMPs were compared between BPPV patients and control participants.ResultsThe abnormal rates of cVEMP and oVEMP in BPPV patients were 46.7% (84/180) and 57.2% (103/180) in affected ears, respectively, and 45.0% (81/180) and 56.7% (102/180) in unaffected ears, respectively; both were significantly higher than the abnormal rates of cVEMP and oVEMP in normal control ears. Compared with normal subjects, the cVEMP response rate was lower in affected and unaffected ears in BPPV patients. The abnormal rates of cVEMP and oVEMP were 48.1% (76/158) and 57.6% (91/158) in patients with posterior semicircular canal BPPV, and 36.4% (8/22) and 54.5% (12/22) in lateral semicircular canal BPPV. There was no significant difference in VEMP abnormalities between posterior semicircular canal BPPV and lateral semicircular canal BPPV.ConclusionThe prevalence of abnormal cVEMPs and oVEMPs in both affected and unaffected ears of patients with BPPV was significantly higher than that observed in the control group. The pathological mechanism of unilateral idiopathic BPPV may be associated with bilateral degeneration of otolith pathways.