Objective: Tinnitus is described as the perception of sound without any external acoustic stimulation. Any pathology of auditory pathways or any system of the human body may result with tinnitus. The pathophysiology of tinnitus accompanying the disorders of auditory system is not fully understood and there is not any particular effective treatment method has been specified. Tinnitus masking therapy has been reported as an effective treatment modality in the treatment of tinnitus. In this study, the results of tinnitus masking treatment on the parameters were evaluated prospectively. Patients and methods: Patients with normal physical examination was enrolled in the study. Blood tests (complete blood count, biochemical analysis of lipid profile, and thyroid hormones), pure tone audiometry, tympanometric measurement of the middle ear pressure and stapedial reflexes were performed, Sixty six patients with normal results of blood tests and normal hearing thresholds with type A tympanogram were included. Tinnitus sufferers questionnaires (socio-demographics, clinical information, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was filled, audiological tests were performed, tinnitus parameters (frequency, intensity, minimal masking levels, residual inhibition) were measured. After four weeks of the treatment the questionnaires were repeated. Results: Masking treatment for tinnitus patients resulted with significant decrease in Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and VAS scores. After four weeks of the masking treatment the questionnaire was repeated. Twenty patients did not respond to treatment. Conclusion: Masking therapy is one of the most effective methods of treatment for tinnitus patients. Masking therapy, that is not invasive and cost-effective has an important place in the treatment of tinnitus. Especially in a short time provides a significant reduction in tinnitus parameters.

Purpose: Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly utilized in medicine; however, their reliability in surgical and diagnostic specialties requiring guideline-anchored reasoning remains underexplored. The study systematically evaluated the performance of five contemporary LLMs in otorhinolaryngology (ENT). Methods: A prospective, two-phase, cross-sectional analysis compared ChatGPT-5 (OpenAI), Gemini-3 (Google), Grok 2 (xAI), Llama 4 (Meta), and DeepSeek-4 (DeepSeek) using 100 standardized ENT clinical scenarios derived from AAO-HNS, ERS, and IFOS guidelines. Each model answered 900 questions (4 open-ended and 5 multiple-choice questions per case), and the process was repeated one month later to assess temporal stability. Two board-certified otorhinolaryngologists, blinded to the study, rated all 9,000 responses for accuracy, comprehensiveness, and adherence to guidelines on a 6-point scale. Statistical analyses included Kruskal–Wallis, Dunn’s post-hoc, Wilcoxon, and ICC reliability testing. Results: Inter-rater reliability was excellent (ICC = 0.91; Cronbach’s α = 0.89). Significant inter-model differences were found across all domains ( p < 0.001). ChatGPT-5 achieved the highest composite score (5.58 ± 0.24), outperforming Gemini-3 (5.42 ± 0.28; p < 0.01) and other models within a narrow, clinically credible band (5.05–5.30). Accuracy was higher for multiple-choice than open-ended items ( p = 0.027), with ChatGPT-5 showing the smallest format gap. All models demonstrated strong alignment with international ENT guidelines and adhered to clinical safety standards. Temporal stability was greatest in ChatGPT-5 and Gemini-3, with minimal drift between test phases (Δ < 0.1). Conclusion: All evaluated LLMs delivered high factual and guideline-based reasoning in otolaryngology, with ChatGPT-5 exhibiting superior precision, completeness, and longitudinal stability. These findings support the supervised integration of LLMs as adjunctive tools for clinical education and decision support in ENT.

Objectives: Tinnitus, defined as the perception of sound without an external stimulus, is a complex condition with unclear etiology. Emerging evidence suggests a link between vascular dysfunction, particularly arterial stiffness, and tinnitus. This study aimed to evaluate vertebral artery stiffness in patients with idiopathic subjective tinnitus and assess the utility of Doppler ultrasonography as a non-invasive diagnostic tool. Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, 31 patients with idiopathic tinnitus (11 males, 20 females; mean age: 50.42 ± 9.64 years) and 24 healthy controls (12 males, 12 females; mean age: 39.67 ± 10.63 years) underwent comprehensive clinical evaluations, including pure tone audiometry, blood tests, and vertebrobasilar Doppler ultrasonography. Vertebral artery stiffness index (VAS), resistive index (RI), and pulsatility index (PI) were measured bilaterally. Results: A total of 31 patients with idiopathic subjective tinnitus and 24 healthy controls were evaluated. The mean age was significantly higher in the tinnitus group compared to controls (50.42 ± 9.64 vs. 39.67 ± 10.63 years, p < 0.001). Lipid profile analysis revealed significantly higher levels of total cholesterol (193.6 ± 47.28 vs. 167.5 ± 28.99 mg/dL, p = 0.021), LDL (149.4 ± 37.9 vs. 106.1 ± 10.7 mg/dL, p < 0.005), and triglycerides (202.2 ± 83.5 vs. 148.6 ± 26.4 mg/dL, p < 0.005) in tinnitus patients. Doppler ultrasonography demonstrated significantly higher vertebral artery stiffness values in the tinnitus group (left: 2.87 ± 0.72 vs. 2.12 ± 0.22; right: 2.99 ± 0.77 vs. 2.14 ± 0.5; both p < 0.005). Similarly, pulsatility index (PI) was significantly elevated in patients compared to controls (left: 2.45 ± 1.2 vs. 1.2 ± 0.43; right: 2.49 ± 1.02 vs. 1.19 ± 0.42; both p < 0.005). No significant differences were observed in resistive index (RI) or vertebral artery diameters between groups. Among tinnitus patients, PI and VAS were significantly higher on the side corresponding to reported tinnitus symptoms (p < 0.05), suggesting a lateralized vascular contribution. Conclusions: The findings suggested a potential relationship between idiopathic subjective tinnitus and vertebral artery stiffness. We demonstrated the utility of Doppler ultrasonography, a cost-effective and non-invasive imaging modality, for evaluating vascular parameters in tinnitus patients, paving the way for broader clinical applications. By uncovering a significant association between vertebral artery stiffness and tinnitus, our findings suggest that vascular health assessments could enhance diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for tinnitus management.

Objective: The study was conducted to evaluate profiles, demographical data, diagnostic, clinical and treatment approaches in relation to the cases of diagnosed head and neck tuberculosis after the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011. The aim of the study is to share current knowledge on head and neck tuberculosis and to investigate whether there is an epidemiological change with the admission of immigrants after the start of the Syrian civil war. Methods: Demographic data, contact history, relapse, localization, tuberculin test, BCG vaccination and treatment duration are evaluated variables. Two groups were created. The first group was diagnosed with head and neck tuberculosis between 2006 and 2011 before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, and the second group was diagnosed between 2012 and 2017 after the war in Syria caused hundreds of thousands of Syrian citizens to flee their homes and cross the border into Turkey. Results: Head and neck tuberculosis cases tend to increase after the year of 2012. The number of diagnosed non-Turkish citizens expand after the year of 2012 and reach the highest number in 2017. BCG vaccination status and contact history were found to be the only variables that display statistical significance between the groups. Conclusions: The number of head and neck tuberculosis cases increased after the Syrian war began due to insufficient rates of vaccination among the Syrian population and this population’s overcrowded living environment in Turkey. The burden of these crises affects a region rather than the whole country.

Lymphadenitis is a common sign of infection in the head and neck region. Since many factors cause lymphadenitis, differential diagnosis can sometimes be difficult for physicians. Therefore, etiological factors and disease management must be analyzed correctly by the clinician and the most appropriate treatment must be planned.

Aim:The aim of present study is to identify COM-related clinic, sociodemographic and socioeconomic risk factors.Method: 103 children diagnosed for COM and treated in Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep University during 2005-2015 and 116 healthy children were included in this study. The questionnaire about risk factors of COM were filled by interviewing verbatim with mothers and/or fathers of all children. Result: Patient and control groups were composed of 53 boys (51.5%) and 50 girls (48.5%), and 48 boys (41.4%) and 68 girls (58.6%), respectively. The mean age of patients was 13.1 years (range, 2-16), and the mean age of the control group was 12.05 years (range, 6-16). Multiple logistic regression models and univariate analysis were used to determine association between risk factors and COM. Maternal smoking during pregnancy (p=0.014), otitis media history in the first year of life (p=0.001), recurrent otitis media history (p=0.001), upper respiratory tract infection history in the first year of life (p=0.001), ventilation tube insertion history (p=0.001), tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy history (p=0.001), otitis media history in family members (p=0.008) and lack of health insurance (p=0.001) were found to be significantly associated with COM. In multivariate analysis, otitis media history in the first year of life (OR=8,00, %95 CI= [3,34-19,17], p=0.001), father’s otitis media history (OR=8.43, %95 CI= [1,47-48,42], p=0.017) and lack of health insurance (OR=3,09 %95 CI=[1,35-7,11], p=0.008) were significantly associated with COM. Conclusion: Chronic otitis media (COM) is a long-term inflammation of middle ear that leads to irreversible changes in eardrum. COM is a common disease in children, and if not treated, it may cause severe complications and sequelae. Thus, if risk factors causing COM are elucidated, the potential complications might be prevented and prophylactic strategies can be developed. This study indicated that history of otitis media in the first year of life, having a father with history of otitis media and lack of health insurance are risk factors for COM.