In patients with acute epiglottitis, the possibility of COVID‐19 should be ruled out. Repeated nasofiberoscopy examinations or a tracheostomy, which may produce infectious aerosols, may be required.

A significant portion of hearing-impaired children have additional disabilities, but data about the maturation of their auditory cortex are scarce. In these children, behavioral tests are often unreliable, and objective tests are needed for diagnostics and follow-up. This study aimed to explore auditory cortical maturation and language development, and the usability of an objective electroencephalogram-based biomarker in children with multiple disabilities. In 65 hearing aid and cochlear implant users (36 females; 36 with multiple disabilities; 44.3 ± 18.5 months of age, mean ± SD), auditory processing was examined using the P1 cortical auditory evoked response biomarker, and language development with the Preschool Language Scales 5th edition (PLS-5). During the study, all of the children received intensive extra language therapy for six months. No significant differences were found between the groups in P1 latency development, the proportion of abnormal P1 latencies, or the number of children whose P1 latencies changed from abnormal to normal during the study. The PLS-5 total language scores, auditory comprehension scores, or expressive communication scores did not differ between groups either. The P1 latencies showed meaningful negative correlations with the language scores. The results suggest that auditory cortex development is similar in hearing-impaired children with/without additional disabilities, and the P1 biomarker is a feasible tool to evaluate central auditory maturation in children with multiple disabilities.

The auditory octave illusion arises when dichotically presented tones, one octave apart, alternate rapidly between the ears. Most subjects perceive an illusory sequence of monaural tones: A high tone in the right ear (RE) alternates with a low tone, incorrectly localized to the left ear (LE). Behavioral studies suggest that the perceived pitch follows the RE input, and the perceived location the higher-frequency sound. To explore the link between the perceived pitches and brain-level interactions of dichotic tones, magnetoencephalographic responses were recorded to 4 binaural combinations of 2-min long continuous 400- and 800-Hz tones and to 4 monaural tones. Responses to LE and RE inputs were distinguished by frequency-tagging the ear-specific stimuli at different modulation frequencies. During dichotic presentation, ipsilateral LE tones elicited weaker and ipsilateral RE tones stronger responses than when both ears received the same tone. During the most paradoxical stimulus-high tone to LE and low tone to RE perceived as a low tone in LE during the illusion-also the contralateral responses to LE tones were diminished. The results demonstrate modified binaural interaction of dichotic tones one octave apart, suggesting that this interaction contributes to pitch perception during the octave illusion.

Bilateral cochlear implantation is increasing worldwide. In adults, bilateral cochlear implants (BICI) are often performed sequentially with a time delay between the first (CI1) and the second (CI2) implant. The benefits of BICI have been reported for well over a decade. This study aimed at investigating these benefits for a consecutive sample of adult patients. Improvements in speech-in-noise recognition after CI2 were followed up longitudinally for 12 months with the internationally comparable Finnish matrix sentence test. The test scores were statistically significantly better for BICI than for either CI alone in all assessments during the 12-month period. At the end of the follow-up period, the bilateral benefit for co-located speech and noise was 1.4 dB over CI1 and 1.7 dB over CI2, and when the noise was moved from the front to 90 degrees on the side, spatial release from masking amounted to an improvement of 2.5 dB in signal-to-noise ratio. To assess subjective improvements in hearing and in quality of life, two questionnaires were used. Both questionnaires revealed statistically significant improvements due to CI2 and BICI. The association between speech recognition in noise and background factors (duration of hearing loss/deafness, time between implants) or subjective improvements was markedly smaller than what has been previously reported on sequential BICI in adults. Despite the relatively heterogeneous sample, BICI improved hearing and quality of life.

Foreign bodies cause a remarkable number of otolaryngological emergency visits and occasionally result in life-threatening conditions and later-emerging complications. Patient recovery depends on the detection and proper extraction of all foreign materials. Despite various obtainable diagnostic tools, adequate anamnesis forms the basis of clinical reasoning and should direct later examinations and radiological imaging. This case report describes a challenging patient with a unique trauma mechanism: many pieces of a fragmented organic foreign body emerged within 1 year of the initial injury, leading to repeated operations, a long period in an intensive care unit and a long-term swallowing and speech dysfunction.

Background/Objectives: This register study elucidates the national trends in the otolaryngologic surgery volume in Finland over a ten-year period. In particular, we investigated whether the pandemic, which had a marked effect on communicable diseases, had an impact on infection-related ear, nose, and throat (ENT) procedures. For reference, we used noninfectious ENT procedures. Methods: The data of this study consisted of the volumes of different otolaryngological surgical procedures in Finland from 2012 to 2022. A linear regression model was applied to calculate long-term trends in surgery volumes. The annual predicted and observed surgical volumes of each procedure were compared. In addition, different procedures were compared based on whether they were mostly infection-related, non-infection-related, or both. Results: The results revealed that the pandemic altered the trends of many ENT procedures, and during the pandemic, infection-related surgeries declined more than non-infection-related surgeries did. The decline in infection-related surgery volumes seems to have lasted longer than the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic itself, as only tympanostomies and mastoidectomies of all the infection-related procedures included in this study have returned to the pre-pandemic trend. Some non-infection-related procedures and procedures with mixed indications also declined during the pandemic and sustained their reduction even in 2022. Conclusions: This study provides a nationwide insight into ENT surgery volumes in Finland over a ten-year period. Although causative reasoning cannot be conducted based on this study, it still provides a good indication of how the absence of respiratory viruses and multifactorial societal restriction measures could have a long-lasting effect on the epidemiology and management of many ENT diseases.