Journal Reviews
Otosclerosis - to scan or not to scan?
In an era of insidiously reducing thresholds for investigating patients, Maxwell and colleagues pose an important question: is high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) prior to stapes surgery for otosclerosis worthwhile? Their practice typically considers HRCT for cases of suspected otosclerosis presenting...
CATE in people with dementia
Behavioural hearing tests may be difficult to perform for people with dementia. The aim of this study was to investigate if the cortical automatic threshold estimation (CATE) may be used as an alternative to the pure tone audiometry test. Six...
A new tool for assessing otoscopy skills
Medical and audiology students need to be proficient in performing otoscopy in order to undertake the routine practice required of them at work upon graduation. One significant challenge in teaching otoscopy is the lack of objective and validated assessment tools...
Surgical outcomes of myringoplasty using platelet-rich plasma
Tympanic membrane (TM) perforations can affect people’s quality of life due to recurrent infections. Management is often by surgical repair. In this study, the authors investigated the outcomes of a minimally invasive approach of patch myringoplasty using an atelocollagen sponge...
Herpes zoster and SSNHL
Some studies suggest that viral infections may increase the risk of a sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). The described longitudinal study explored whether herpes zoster may be a factor that increases the risk of SSNHL. Medical history in reference to...
Endoscopic stapes surgery
This retrospective Turkish study looked at the audiological and surgical outcomes of 40 patients who underwent endoscopic stapes surgery over a three-year period. To assess the learning curve, the patients were divided into two groups based on the date of...
Reasons for attending annual hearing aid review appointments
The aim of this study was to investigate what factors influence hearing aid users’ decision to attend or not attend an annual hearing aid review (HAR) appointment. Two separate surveys were created for attendees and non-attendees. An invitation letter was...
Treatment of incus lysis with hydroxyapatite bone cement
Middle ear implants provide a suitable alternative for some patients with a certain degree of sensorineural or mixed hearing loss, not wanting a hearing aid. Vibrant SounBridge® (VSB) middle ear implant (MEI), of Med-El®firm, is one such implant. In this...
Speech in noise hearing difficulties
The phenomenon of speech understanding in noise in normal hearing people attracts the interest of researchers continuously. This study’s aim was to further explore the possible reasons behind these difficulties. The participants were 50 adults that reported having normal hearing...
Stapedotomy in osteogenesis imperfecta
Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare connective tissue disease caused by a defect in collagen structure. Hearing loss is a characteristic feature of OI. It typically presents with conductive hearing loss initially, followed by a superimposed sensorineural component later in...
Double layer graft in endoscopic tympanoplasty
This Turkish retrospective study looked at the success rates following endoscopic tympanoplasty using the double layer graft technique. This involves using a tragal cartilage and perichondrium composite graft and a separate perichondrial graft for closure of the perforation. The crescent...
Genetic testing in congenital hearing loss
Advances in genetic testing over the last decade have reduced the cost and time such testing required and increased understanding of the genes involved in conditions like congenital hearing loss. This study from Atlanta looks at genetic testing from a...
