In the past decades, the awareness about the fundamental communicational role of hearing has increased dramatically. Accordingly, various surgical and therapeutic regimes have been developed to restore hearing. A central procedure was the implementation of Cochlea Implant. With growing expertise on the field about cochlea implantation, the necessity of hearing and structure preservation for improved audiological performance has gained importance. This progression further highlighted the need for various otoprotective strategies. Up until now, the range of these applications includes pharmacological approaches (e.g., dexamethasone, acetylcystein, etc.), local therapeutic interventions (e.g., tympanic cavity gel applications, hypothermic rinsing, etc.), and technical improvements (e.g., softer electrodes and drug eluting techniques).
The plethora of published articles evaluating the different otoprotective possibilities hinder an adequate overview of usable approaches. Whereas some possibilities maintain their worthiness and achieve clinical implementation, other hyped inner ear protective strategies – like microparticles – never reach the point of clinical implementation. Lately, the field of otoprotection has seen the application of local hypothermia to the cochlea, developed from animal experimental studies to the point of clinical implementation in humans. The focus of the current Research Topic is set on the different otoprotective strategies with future potential in clinical implementation.
Thus, topic editors will welcome any types of manuscripts - research article, brief research article, review, and mini-review- about, but not limited to the following themes:
• otoprotective strategies, including experimental background work, animal and clinical trials;
• otoprotective strategies ranging from pharmacological applications, local interventions, and technical improvements;
• Review articles focusing on the different subtopic of otoprotection, summarizing the state of the art in the field. Special emphasize is set on the topic of pharmacological, genetic, and structural aspects of otoprotection and hypothermia
In the past decades, the awareness about the fundamental communicational role of hearing has increased dramatically. Accordingly, various surgical and therapeutic regimes have been developed to restore hearing. A central procedure was the implementation of Cochlea Implant. With growing expertise on the field about cochlea implantation, the necessity of hearing and structure preservation for improved audiological performance has gained importance. This progression further highlighted the need for various otoprotective strategies. Up until now, the range of these applications includes pharmacological approaches (e.g., dexamethasone, acetylcystein, etc.), local therapeutic interventions (e.g., tympanic cavity gel applications, hypothermic rinsing, etc.), and technical improvements (e.g., softer electrodes and drug eluting techniques).
The plethora of published articles evaluating the different otoprotective possibilities hinder an adequate overview of usable approaches. Whereas some possibilities maintain their worthiness and achieve clinical implementation, other hyped inner ear protective strategies – like microparticles – never reach the point of clinical implementation. Lately, the field of otoprotection has seen the application of local hypothermia to the cochlea, developed from animal experimental studies to the point of clinical implementation in humans. The focus of the current Research Topic is set on the different otoprotective strategies with future potential in clinical implementation.
Thus, topic editors will welcome any types of manuscripts - research article, brief research article, review, and mini-review- about, but not limited to the following themes:
• otoprotective strategies, including experimental background work, animal and clinical trials;
• otoprotective strategies ranging from pharmacological applications, local interventions, and technical improvements;
• Review articles focusing on the different subtopic of otoprotection, summarizing the state of the art in the field. Special emphasize is set on the topic of pharmacological, genetic, and structural aspects of otoprotection and hypothermia