Journal Reviews
Swallow this: management of dysphagia in progressive neurological conditions
Whether the person with the swallowing difficulty has an acquired or progressive neurological condition, understanding the aetiology will allow the speech and language therapist assessing the swallow to have a better understanding of the likely implications for future swallow management...
Is dissection of level IV necessary in patients with negative neck oral cancer?
Supraomohyoid neck dissection (SOHND) refers to the removal of lymph nodes contained in levels I-III and is currently referred to as a selective neck dissection levels I-III. This type of neck dissection has been frequently used in the management of...
Reliability of Koos classification
Vestibular schwannoma (VS) tumour size has been considered the primary determinant of hearing outcomes and facial nerve function according to several published studies. Varying methods are used to estimate the size and volume of the VS with very little consensus...
Follow-up of NF2 patients with ABRs, SDS and MRI
Hearing loss is one of the earliest manifestations in vestibular schwannomas with 60% of the patients having high frequency loss. Several metabolic and mechanical factors influencing the cochlea and cochlear nerve have been implicated in the hearing decline noted in...
Is wine blocking your nose?
Salicylates are commonly found in a wide variety of foods, such as unripe fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and spices. They play a role in growth and development of plants, photosynthesis, transpiration, ion uptake and transport. Non-steroidal exacerbated respiratory disease (N-ERD)...
‘Pen’doscope - writing in a reduction in healthcare delivery costs
Optimal management of cleft lip and palate requires a multidisciplinary team approach to treatment, with the goal being maintenance of facial growth and improvement in speech and hearing, in addition to closure of the cleft. This can be especially challenging...
Outcomes of temporal bone-resurfacing for pulsatile tinnitus associated with vascular wall anomalies
This month’s Ed’s choice is an interesting systematic review into the management of pulsatile tinnitus. There are impressive results from resurfacing of symptomatic anatomical abnormalities of the temporal bone and I suspect that referrals for further imaging and otology clinic...
Outpatient solution for a Patulous tube?
Definitive diagnosis and management of Patulous Eustachian tube (PET) is unsatisfactory. Several different treatment methods are currently used for PET which itself indicates no satisfactory solution. The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of two different treatment...
Which graft is better for type 1 tympanoplasty in elderly patients?
Type 1 tympanoplasty is a procedure performed to repair tympanic membrane perforations, primarily to reduce otorrhoea. This may subsequently lead to improvement of hearing. The common graft materials used are temporalis fascia and cartilage from tragus or concha. The authors...
What we need to know about the new frontier of inner ear therapies
This is an interesting and topical review of the emerging biotechnology and pharmaceutical solutions for hearing loss and related conditions such as tinnitus. This paper suggests we are on the cusp of a very large step-change in the way we...
Validating a new international cholesteatoma classification – a necessary but challenging task
A European and Japanese joint consensus statement was published in 2017 which proposed a new cholesteatoma staging classification (EJS), with four stages. This follow-up publication aims to assess the internal and external validity of the staging system using existing prospectively...
Radiological diagnosis of mastoiditis in patients screened for acoustic neuroma
Magnetic resonance imaging is the ‘gold standard’ for screening patients suspected to have acoustic neuroma. Various abnormalities are picked up through this investigation, one of which, not uncommonly reported, is mastoiditis. This requires referral to otolaryngology and further evaluation. In...
