Article

The dramatic escalation of blast exposure in military deployments has created an
unprecedented amount of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and associated auditory
impairment. Auditory dysfunction has become the most prevalent individual
service-connected disability, with compensation totaling more than 1 billion
dollars annually. Impairment due to blast can include peripheral hearing loss,
central auditory processing deficits, vestibular impairment, and tinnitus. These
deficits are particularly challenging in the TBI population, as symptoms can be
mistaken for posttraumatic stress disorder, mental-health issues, and cognitive
deficits. In addition, comorbid factors such as attention, cognition, neuronal
loss, noise toxicity, etc., can confound assessment, causing misdiagnosis.
Furthermore, some auditory impairments, such as sensorineural hearing loss, will
continue to progress with age, unlike many other injuries. In the TBI population,
significant clinical challenges are the accurate differentiation of auditory and
vestibular impairments from multiple, many times overlapping, symptoms and the
development of multidisciplinary rehabilitation strategies to improve treatment
outcomes and quality of life for these patients.

Langue : ANGLAIS