Journal Reviews
Facial nerve anatomy in the temporal bone
Knowledge of the facial nerve anatomy during otological surgery is crucial in avoiding an iatrogenic injury to the facial nerve. In this study, the authors investigated the anatomical relationship between the tympanic portion of the facial canal (FC) and the...
Role of imaging in unilateral sensorineural hearing loss
Recent understanding of the significance of unilateral hearing loss in children for language development calls for extensive investigations and early rehabilitation. This retrospective study of 90 children with unilateral hearing loss with high resolution CT scans and MRI revealed that...
Vestibular migraine or BPPV?
There are close similarities between benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and vestibular migraine (VM) as both can be presented by positional nystagmus. Though BPPV remains the commonest cause of pure positional vertigo, VM can mimic this condition. This study is...
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...
Laryngopharyngeal reflux - would mucolytics help?
With laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) being such a common presenting complaint to ENT clinics, who would not want to have more, effective treatment options for patients suffering with this annoying condition? In their small randomised, controlled trial, Chae et al put...
Do we need contrast MRI when screening for vestibular schwannoma?
Gadolinium contrast enhanced T1-weighted (gT1w) MRI images of the internal acoustic meati have long been considered the gold standard in the diagnosis of vestibular schwannoma (VS). However, the addition of contrast to the MRI examination increases the cost and time...
How has management and outcomes of necrotising otitis externa changed over the past decade?
Necrotising otitis externa (NOE) remains a challenging condition for ENT departments, particularly with the increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in the general population. There is no international consensus on treatment, although many institutions now have local guidelines drawn up...
Horizontal canal PPV: is Gufoni manoeuvre better than barbecue manoeuvre?
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common kind of vertigo that we come across in our out-patient clinic. Horizontal canal BPPV (HC-BPPV) accounts for 10–30% of total BPPV. Two techniques, namely Guffoni and barbecue roll manoeuvres, are generally...
Quality of life in children following balloon Eustachian tuboplasty
This study aimed to demonstrate the efficacy of balloon Eustachian tuboplasty (BET) in children by assessing their quality of life with the Otitis Media-6 questionnaire (OM-6). The OM-6 questionnaire is the most frequently used instrument to measure health-related quality of...
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...
Two reliable endoscopic myringoplasty techniques for anterior tympanic membrane perforations
Difficulties that arise in closing anterior perforations in the tympanic membrane are due to a narrow isthmus of the external auditory canal and an anterior wall bulge which obscures the most anterior part of the tympanic membrane. The conventional microscopic...
Audiometric outcomes following endoscopic stapes surgery
Adding to the evidence base for endoscopic stapes surgery, this systematic review and analysis of outcomes sought to establish the efficacy and safety of this approach. This review included 14 studies with a pooled sample of 314 adult patients. The...
