Clinical Trials

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age ≥ 60 years old.
• Vascular - high-grade (over 75%) carotid stenosis

Audiology - Auditory:

• Presbycusis with older-normal phenotype audiograms (low-to-mid frequency <20 dB hearing level (HL) and slightly elevated thresholds for higher frequencies);
• Age-related hearing loss with metabolic phenotype audiograms (mild, flat hearing losses at lower frequencies and gradually sloping hearing loss at higher frequencies);
• Age-related hearing loss with metabolic + sensory phenotype (with mild, flat hearing loss at lower frequencies (the metabolic component) and steeply sloping hearing loss at higher frequencies (the sensory component);
• ± Poor speech perception in noise deviated from the magnitude of hearing thresholds.

Audiology - Vestibular

• Presbyvestibulopathy: Based on the Classification Committee of the Bárány Society.
• Chronic vestibular syndrome (at least 3 months duration) with at least 2 of the following symptoms (Not better accounted for by any eare disease or disorder):
  • Postural imbalance or positional vertigo with
  • Gait disturbance;
  • Chronic dizziness;
  • Recurrent falls.
• Mild bilateral peripheral vestibular hypofunction documented by at least 1 of the following:
  • VOR gain measured by video-HIT between 0.6 and 0.83 bilaterally;
  • VOR gain between 0.1 and 0.3 upon sinusoidal stimulation on a rotatory chair (0.1 Hz, Vmax = 50-60°/sec);
  • Reduced caloric response (sum of bithermal maximum peak SPV on each side between 6 and 25°/sec).

Exclusion Criteria: 

• Patients with a previous surgical carotid intervention.
• Patients with ophthalmologic peripheral disorders.
• Patients with mild cognitive decline and who have anxiety or depression.