Abstract Introduction: Reading is a highly refined skill that encompasses two main components: decoding graphic symbols and understanding the written message. These aspects generally develop together, but reading comprehension is a much more complex process, sustained not only by the identification of written words and vocabulary but also by language systems, such as syntax and general knowledge. Although there is a well-established technique for performing the Phoniatric assessment, there is no common use of tests that assess reading comprehension or the association of this information with other assessment data. Objective: The objective of this study is, in the context of the Phoniatric consultation, to evaluate the reading and retelling in children with relevant reading difficulties and to correlate the decoding and comprehension problems with the alterations observed in auditory and visual perceptual tests, pointing out the evidence that best contributed to the differential diagnosis of these subjects. Methods: Starting from a population of 301 children enrolled in the 4th and 5th grades of elementary school, 13 children with evident reading and writing difficulties were evaluated regarding the reading and retelling tasks and separated into groups according to the problem of decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Reading performance was correlated with the performance in visual and auditory perceptual tests and based on the similarity analysis, the tests considered to be the most relevant in the diagnosis process of these children were identified. Result: The results suggest that the tasks: naming of figures, repetition of numbers in reverse order, figure copying, syllabic synthesis, phonemic synthesis, rhyme, and phonemic manipulation altogether contribute to diagnosis and multidisciplinary intervention aspects. Conclusion: Some tasks are more relevant to the diagnostic process of children with complaints of learning difficulties in reading.

Abstract Introduction Cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMPs) are biphasic, short latency potentials, which represent the inhibition of the contraction of the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) mediated by the saccule, the inferior vestibular nerve, the vestibular nuclei and the medial vestibular spinal tract. Objective To evaluate the response of cVEMPs in individuals with profound prelingual bilateral cochlear hearing loss. Methods A prospective case-control study. A total of 64 volunteers, divided into a study group (31 patients with profound prelingual sensorineural hearing loss) and a control group (33 subjectsmatched for age and gender with psychoacoustic thresholds of ≤ 25 dB HL between 500 and 8,000 Hz) were submitted to the cVEMP exam. The causes of hearing loss were grouped by etiology and the involved period. Results The subjects of the study group aremore likely to present changes in cVEMPs compared to the control group (35.5% versus 6.1% respectively; p = 0.003), with an odds ratio (OR) of 8.52 (p = 0.009). Itmeans that they had 8.52-fold higher propensity of presenting altered cVEMP results. There were no statistically significant differences between the latencies, the interamplitude and the asymmetry index. Regarding the etiology, there was a statistically significant difference when the cause was infectious, with an OR of 15.50 (p = 0.005), and when the impairment occurred in the prenatal period, with an OR of 9.86 (p = 0.009). Conclusion The present study showed abnormalities in the sacculocolic pathway in a considerable portion of individuals with profound prelingual sensorineural hearing loss due to infectious and congenital causes, as revealed by the cVEMP results.

INTRODUÇÃO: Aquisição e desenvolvimento da linguagem demandam cuidados exigindo compreensão dos aspectos orgânicos e psíquicos no diagnóstico e tratamento. Assim, parceria entre foniatra e outros profissionais é, muitas vezes, determinante de um prognóstico favorável.OBJETIVO: Caracterizar clínica e epidemiologicamente os distúrbios de comunicação em crianças na prática clínica.MÉTODO: Coorte transversal histórica. Estudo epidemiológico retrospectivo de 297 prontuários de crianças atendidas em consulta foniátrica no período entre 1976 a 2005. Variáveis: origem do encaminhamento, gênero, média da idade, diagnóstico e conduta para tratamento.RESULTADOS: 66% foram do gênero masculino e 34% do feminino com média de idade de 6,4 anos. Maior número de encaminhamentos foi realizado por fonoaudiólogos (38%). A queixa predominante era de alterações na fala 35% e ressaltam-se os diagnósticos na área da fala, linguagem e fluência (49,5%). Do total destacaram-se os encaminhamentos para: 28,2% fonoterapia e 11,8% psicoterapia.CONCLUSÃO: A população atendida foi predominantemente masculina, o diagnóstico aponta maior incidência em quadros de comprometimento na fala, linguagem e fluência e o tratamento mais indicado foi fonoterapia.

INTRODUCTION: Language acquisition and development require an understanding of physical and psychosocial aspects during diagnosis and treatment. At this point, a partnership between phoniatric physicians and other health professionals is often a determinant for favorable prognosis.OBJECTIVE: To identify the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of a pediatric population attending a phoniatric clinical practice.METHODS: Study design: Cross-sectional cohort. Retrospective, epidemiological study of 297 children, seen in phoniatric appointments between 1976 and 2005. Outcome variables were referral origin, gender, age, mean age, diagnosis, and treatment approach.RESULTS: 66% were male and 34% were female, with a mean age of 6.4 years. The largest number of referrals for phoniatric treatments came from speech therapists (38%). The predominant complaint was alteration in speech (35%); the diagnostics in speech, language, and fluency (49.5%) are noteworthy. Considering the total of the patients analyzed, 28.2% were referred for speech therapy and 11.8% for psychotherapy.CONCLUSION: The studied population is predominantly male, the diagnosis points to a higher incidence in cases of impairment in speech, language, and fluency; the most common treatment was speech therapy.

Introduction  Vestibular schwannoma (also known as acoustic neuroma) is a benign tumor whose cells are derived from Schwann sheaths, which commonly occurs from the vestibular portion of the eighth cranial nerve. Furthermore, vestibular schwannomas account for ∼8% of intracranial tumors in adults and 80 to 90% of tumors of the cerebellopontine angle. Its symptoms are varied, but what stands out most is a unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, with a low index of speech recognition. Objective  Describe an atypical manifestation of vestibular schwannoma. Case Report  The 46-year-old woman had vertigo and binaural hearing loss and fullness, with ear, nose, and throat examination suggestive of cochlear injury. After 6 months, the patient developed worsening of symptoms and onset of right unilateral tinnitus. In further exams the signs of cochlear damage remained, except for the vestibular test (hyporeflexia). Magnetic resonance imaging showed an expansive lesion in the right cerebellopontine angle. Discussion  This report warns about the atypical manifestations of vestibular schwannoma, which must always be remembered in investigating and diagnosing hearing loss.