To compare the effectiveness of implanted and non-implanted hearing solutions on subjective hearing disability and health-related quality of life in adults with acquired single-sided deafness.

This systematic review adhered to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 guidelines and was registered in the Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. Multiple databases were searched from January 1965 to October 2025 for studies reporting patient-reported hearing disability and health-related quality of life utility measures with cochlear implants, bone-conduction devices and contralateral routing of signal hearing aids as single-sided deafness treatments.

Pooled analysis of 13 studies (403 participants) demonstrated improved hearing disability scores with implanted solutions compared with no intervention [mean difference = −14.71 (95% CI: −23.48, −5.93), p < 0.00001]. Non-implanted bone-conduction devices demonstrated lower hearing disability than contralateral routing of signal aids [mean difference = 4.70 (95% CI: 0.27, 9.14); p = 0.04]. Cochlear implants significantly improved health-related quality of life compared with no hearing solution [mean difference = 0.21 (95% CI: 0.10, 0.31); p = 0.0001].

Single-sided deafness patients reported greater mean hearing-related improvement with implanted than non-implanted hearing solutions.

To report the first case of persistent Hyrtl’s fissure with incomplete partition type II malformation causing recurrent meningitis and systematically review all reported cases.

A systematic literature review identified English-language Hyrtl‘s fissure cases. A new case of a 13-year-old with recurrent meningitis and dual anomalies is presented.

Among 24 total cases (22 with age stated), 72.7 per cent were children and 91.7 per cent were unilateral. Common presentations included post-tympanostomy tube cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) otorrhoea (n = 10) and meningitis (n = 8). The new case is the first report of Hyrtl’s fissure with incomplete partition type II, presenting with three meningitis episodes, profound hearing loss, and pulsatile middle-ear effusion and sigmoid sinus thrombosis.

Hyrtl’s novel coexistence with incomplete partition type II raises the possibility of a broader developmental field defect, although this remains speculative given the single-case nature of this report. High-resolution computed tomography is essential for diagnosis, with careful attention to the hypotympanum and subiculum region where the fissure typically terminates. Recurrent meningitis with unilateral hearing loss and pulsatile effusion warrants high suspicion for surgically correctable skull base anomalies. The presence of one anomaly does not exclude the presence of another, and clinicians should evaluate for multiple potential sites of CSF leakage.

This study aimed to explore patients’ experience of active transcutaneous hearing implants and identify factors influencing outcomes and access to care.

A qualitative study was conducted at a tertiary referral centre. Adult recipients of active transcutaneous hearing implants were invited to complete open-ended questionnaires. Responses were analysed thematically using NVivo® software until saturation was achieved.

Thirty-one responses were analysed (69 percent response rate). Six themes were identified: impact of hearing loss; pre-operative experience; positive impact of the hearing implant; associated drawbacks; variation in audiology support; and limited awareness of hearing implants. Most patients reported significant improvements in hearing, confidence and quality of life. However, experiences were influenced by prior device use, expectations and individual circumstances. Limited clinician awareness was repeatedly identified as a barrier to timely access.

Active transcutaneous hearing implants provide substantial patient-reported benefit. Improving clinician awareness and managing expectations may enhance patient experience and access to care.

This study investigated whether the inflammatory potential of diet, assessed by the Dietary Inflammatory Index, is associated with sudden sensorineural hearing loss by comparing patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss and healthy controls.

This retrospective case–control study included 30 patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss and 32 matched controls. Dietary intake in the preceding 12 months was assessed by food frequency questionnaire, and Dietary Inflammatory Index scores were calculated. Between-group comparisons and receiver operating characteristics analysis were performed.

Mean Dietary Inflammatory Index score was significantly higher in the sudden sensorineural hearing loss group than in controls (2.27 ± 1.21 vs. 1.46 ± 1.14; p = 0.01). Patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss had higher energy, saturated fat and cholesterol intake, while omega-3 fatty acid and fibre intake were lower (p < 0.05). Dietary Inflammatory Index scores demonstrated moderate discriminative ability for sudden sensorineural hearing loss (area under the curve = 0.690; p = 0.005).

A pro-inflammatory dietary profile may be associated with increased sudden sensorineural hearing loss risk and may contribute to understanding modifiable risk factors.

This study presents a retrospective single-centre clinical comparison of the bone-anchored hearing aid BAHA Connect and BAHA Attract systems with long-term follow-up data spanning 12 years.

The manuscript evaluates audiological outcomes, complication profiles and revision surgery rates associated with both systems in a cohort of 43 patients.

Our findings provide clinically relevant information regarding hearing gain relative to pre-operative bone-conduction thresholds and offer a re-evaluation of previously reported analytical approaches in the literature.

We believe that these results may contribute to improved clinical decision-making in the selection of implantable bone-conduction hearing devices and may be of interest to clinicians involved in hearing rehabilitation.

This study aimed to assess long-term audiological outcomes in 465 primary myringoplasties and evaluate factors influencing surgical success.

A retrospective analysis was conducted on 442 patients (465 procedures) between 2001 and 2024. Outcomes were evaluated based on perforation location and surgical period.

Mean air–bone gap improved from 19.1 dB to 9.8 dB post-operatively. Air–bone gap closure less than 10 dB was achieved in 53 per cent of patients. Posterior perforations yielded significantly better outcomes (8.7 dB vs. 10.2 dB; p = 0.0226).

A residual air–bone gap of 8–12 dB is common despite anatomical success. Accurate reporting must include long-term data and high-frequency (4 kHz) analysis.

Tinnitus is a common and potentially distressing symptom associated with chronic ear disease. Its burden in patients with chronic suppurative otitis media in low-resource settings is not well characterised.

A cross-sectional study was conducted during an ear surgery camp in Nepal. One hundred patients with chronic suppurative otitis media completed the validated Nepali Tinnitus Handicap Inventory. Severity was categorised using established grading systems. Associations between sex and severity were assessed using chi-squared analysis.

Nepali Tinnitus Handicap Inventory scores ranged from 0 to 94. Overall, 62 per cent of patients reported moderate or worse tinnitus, and 36 per cent reported severe or catastrophic symptoms. Female patients demonstrated a greater burden, with a higher proportion in severe and catastrophic categories. This difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 11.05; df = 4; p = 0.026).

Patients undergoing surgery for chronic suppurative otitis media experience a substantial and under-recognised tinnitus burden. Routine assessment may support more comprehensive, patient-centred care.

Up to 60 per cent of patients with enlarged vestibular aqueduct syndrome experience sudden hearing loss. This review analyses treatment options and outcomes when sudden hearing loss occurs.

Embase, Ovid MEDLINE and Web of Science databases were the data sources. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and was registered on PROSPERO. The number of patients, episodes, treatments, baseline hearing and change in hearing thresholds after intervention and return to baseline were extracted.

The final analysis included 60 episodes of hearing loss from 11 studies, from a search of 1,064 studies. The treatment groups were: 1, no treatment; 2, systemic steroids; 3, salvage hyperbaric oxygen therapy in steroid partial or non-responders. The hearing improvement across the groups was 9.1 per cent, 50 per cent and 89.5 per cent, respectively.

Enlarged vestibular aqueduct patients with sudden hearing loss may first be treated with systemic steroids. Salvage hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be considered in steroid non-responders to improve further chances of recovery.

Increased use of personal listening devices such as headphones and earphones can lead to noise-induced hearing loss, especially with prolonged use and high volume. This study aimed to assess hearing status among medical trainees and its relationship with unsafe personal listening device usage.

Cross-sectional study was conducted among 177 medical trainees at a medical college in Western Rajasthan. An online questionnaire assessed personal listening device usage patterns, and hearing status was evaluated.

Most preferred in-the-ear personal listening devices (78 per cent) at moderately loud volume (61.6 per cent) for more than 1 hour daily (58.2 per cent). Although 54.2 per cent reported slight hearing loss in at least one ear, no significant association was found between hearing loss and personal listening device type, volume or duration. However, hearing loss was significantly higher in males than females.

Contrary to earlier studies, no significant relationship was observed between personal listening device usage patterns and hearing loss, highlighting the need for larger studies using standardised sound exposure assessments.

Drop attacks are a rare, debilitating symptom of Ménière’s disease that affect an individual’s physical and mental health. The aim of this series was to assess the response to treatment regimens in patients presenting with drop attacks.

A retrospective case series of 8 patients with Ménière’s disease and drop attacks was followed up for an average of 67 months (range, 17–120 months).

All patients were initially managed with intratympanic steroids, with four patients having a complete response. The four non-responding patients were treated with intratympanic gentamicin, with one patient responding. Three patients were treated with triple canal occlusion. Two patients demonstrated drop attack resolution and one had a partial response. Seven out of 8 patients (87.5 per cent) suffered from depression.

Steroid injections had a 50 per cent success rate in complete resolution of drop attacks. Gentamicin injections and triple semi-circular canal occlusion can bring benefits in patients failing steroid treatment.

Existing reviews on mental health disparities between deaf and hard‐of‐hearing (DHH) and hearing populations have focused predominantly on children, adolescents, or older adults, leaving a gap for working-age adults. We conducted a systematic review comparing the prevalence, incidence, and severity of any DSM-5-TR or ICD-11 mental disorder between DHH and hearing adults aged 18–60 years. We aimed to quantify disparities and examine disorder-specific patterns to inform future research, policy, and service development.

On 13 December 2025, we searched Ovid Medline, Embase, APA PsycINFO and Web of Science. We included analytical observational studies involving DHH and hearing adults aged 18–60 years, reporting mental disorder prevalence, incidence, or severity. Two researchers independently extracted data, and risk of bias (RoB) was assessed using the modified CLARITY tool. We narratively synthesised findings by aggregating outcomes at the study level using two approaches: summary and majority of the effect directions within a study. Subgroup syntheses examined outcome type, study RoB, age group and mental disorder category.

Sixty studies (n = 8 578 466) met inclusion. In the summary-direction synthesis, 58.3% (35/60) of studies reported higher mental disorder outcomes for DHH adults, 21.7% (13/60) found no difference and 20.0% (12/60) had mixed findings; none indicated lower mental disorder outcomes for DHH. Under the majority-direction approach, 65.0% (39/60) showed higher mental disorder outcomes and 35.0% (21/60) no difference. These patterns were consistent across prevalence (62.8–72.1% higher) and severity (61.1% higher). Studies with higher RoB more often reported higher mental disorder outcomes (66.7–72.2%) than lower-RoB studies (54.8–61.9%), though both mirrored the overall synthesis. Effects were similar across younger (61.9–71.4%) and older adult samples (61.1–66.7% higher). Disorder-specific syntheses identified psychotic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal outcomes as having the strongest disparities (≥72.2% higher), followed by general mental disorders, anxiety and depression. Fewer than five studies examined each of the other disorders, thereby limiting conclusions for these disorders.

Most available evidence indicates that the prevalence and severity of mental disorders are higher among DHH adults aged 18–60 years than among hearing adults, with limited evidence on incidence. No studies reported lower aggregated mental disorder outcomes for DHH adults. Addressing these disparities requires targeted intervention research, supported by population-based, longitudinal and (quasi-)experimental studies including comprehensive reporting of participant characteristics. This will inform more tailored interventions, improve screening and ultimately contribute to better mental health and quality of life for DHH adults.

To examine the effects of age and hearing loss on travelling wave delay by comparing frequency-specific action potential latencies obtained with electrocochleography.

A cross-sectional design was applied. Tympanic membrane electrocochleography recordings at 0.5 and 4 kHz were analysed in 85 ears from 49 adults. Participants were divided into four groups: older adults with hearing loss (n = 22), older adults with normal hearing (n = 18), younger adults with hearing loss (n = 19) and younger adults with normal hearing (n = 26).

Age and hearing loss significantly influenced action potential latencies. At 0.5 kHz, the older adults with hearing loss showed the longest latencies (p < 0.001). At 4 kHz, older adults with hearing loss differed from older adults with normal hearing (p = 0.027). Travelling wave delay varied across groups (p < 0.001), with the shortest travelling wave delay in younger adults with normal hearing and the longest travelling wave delay in older adults with hearing loss.

Ageing and hearing loss slow travelling wave velocity, providing an indirect but sensitive marker of early cochlear transmission deficits.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the SmartNav in detecting tip fold-over during cochlear implantation and to compare angular insertion depth measurements obtained via SmartNav and transorbital X-ray imaging.

This retrospective multicentre study included patients with normal cochlear anatomy, comprising 163 individuals and 213 ears who underwent cochlear implantation using Nucleus CI522 and CI622 systems at Gazi University Faculty of Medicine and Gaziantep City Hospital.

Of the 213 cochlear implantations, tip fold-over was detected in 4 implantations (1.88 per cent) intra-operatively with SmartNav. One case (0.47 per cent) of tip fold-over was not detected by SmartNav and identified post-operatively through X-ray imaging. SmartNav showed a sensitivity of 80 per cent, specificity of 100 per cent. A strong correlation was found between SmartNav and X-ray angular insertion depth measurements (p < 0.001).

The SmartNav is a reliable tool for the intra-operative detection of tip fold-overand the assessment of angular insertion depth in patients with normal cochlear anatomy.

This study examined the temporal and seasonal distribution of sudden sensorineural hearing loss admissions and audiogram types from 2015 to 2024 using seasonal-trend decomposition with locally estimated scatterplot smoothing.

A retrospective analysis included sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients admitted to a tertiary otorhinolaryngology clinic between January 2015 and December 2024. Demographics, admission dates and audiogram types were evaluated.

Among 738 patients (mean age 45.7 ± 15.6 years; 58.4% male), admissions varied significantly across years, months and seasons, peaking from November to March. Winter admissions were highest, while autumn had the lowest. Seasonal-trend decomposition with locally estimated scatterplot smoothing confirmed recurring seasonal patterns. Although audiogram types showed no seasonal or pandemic association, their distribution differed significantly by month.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss admissions demonstrate clear temporal and seasonal clustering, aligning with influenza-like illness peaks and suggesting a viral contribution. Monthly audiogram variations imply possible environmental influences.