ENT features
Tonsillitis and tonsillectomies: where do we go from Paradise?
Landmark Paper: Paradise JL, Bluestone CD, Bachman RZ, et al. Efficacy of tonsillectomy for recurrent throat infection in severely affected children – results of parallel randomized and nonrandomized clinical trials. N Engl J Med 1984;310(11):674-83. The Paradise paper on tonsillectomy...
Aerosol research and performance
Is singing safe? This was a question asked around the world at the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Natalie Watson and Chris Orton tell us about a rapidly-convened research group that led to profound changes in UK Government...
Treating voice disorders in singers
There are few ENT surgeons who have as much insight into singers’ problems as Nick Gibbins. A good knowledge of working patterns, repertoire and the physiology of ‘vocal athletes’ is essential. He shares a few thoughts with us. When deciding...
Reflux – diagnostic tools and special considerations in singers
Depending on your point of view, laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is either ubiquitous or is over-diagnosed. Are singers more prone to LPR? What are the best tests? Mark Watson and Jane Shaw tell us more. Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR: the backflow of...
The pioneers of endoscopy and the sword swallowers
Adolf Kussmaul drew inspiration from an unlikely source to further the development of endoscopy… The early pioneers of airway endoscopy and oesophagoscopy were bedevilled by two major and seemingly insurmountable problems. One was the paucity of light sources, with reliance...
Chocolates for laryngectomees
When The Chocolate Line in Bruges, Belgium, was approached by the charity, Shout at Cancer, there was always going to be something very special and innovative in the pipeline! Shout at Cancer’s Thomas Moors has been chatting with Julius Persoone,...
Innovation in medical product technologies
There is a point in all innovation projects where the clinician has exhausted their knowledge and needs expert help to create a prototype. Mark Prince, Design Engineer, discusses this phase of the project and how engineers’ analytical thinking brings a...
History of innovation in ENT
Innovation seems to have been in the strapline of every meeting, conference and course for the last few years. You would be forgiven for thinking it is a new a concept, but as Neil Weir beautifully details, innovation has been...
The role of the multidisciplinary team in laryngology and airway – the Charing Cross experience
As the National Centre for Airway Reconstruction, the Charing Cross laryngology MDT provides expert care to patients with airway problems as well as voice and swallowing disorders. In this article, the team explain their raison d’etre and why the MDT...
The multidisciplinary voice clinic
In his inimitable way, Nick Gibbins tells us why the voice clinic is the highlight of his week – and his very own field of dreams. The voice clinic has come a long way in the last 40 years. The...
Alfred Alexander: a life in ENT, but mainly music
Your own voice clinic may be filled with teachers, elderly clergy and badly trained pub singers, but it wasn’t always like this... When I was first invited to write an article about opera and ENT for this edition of ENT...
Laryngology: past, present and future
Two laryngological authorities trace the history of laryngology, from ancient Rome to the modern day. The structure of the vocal folds was a matter of conjecture until the renaissance when anatomists such as Andreas Vesalius and Julius Casserius demonstrated the...
