Journal Reviews
The cocktail party conundrum
I feel, with slight sadness and disappointment, that a good cocktail party, dresses, punch bowls and all is not currently in its heyday and, therefore, opportunity of attending is slim. However, from what I remember, they tend to be a...
Expectations and practice
Reading this paper is reassuring. It does not appear to be groundbreaking in its results but research can be as useful, if not more so, when it consolidates knowledge and helps unify the research base. This paper focuses on those...
Temporal bone fractures in children – are we doing enough?
This is a retrospective study which assessed clinical presentation and prognosis in 91 children under the age of 18 who developed temporal bone fractures from trauma, the commonest of which was falls from heights followed by motor vehicle accident. The...
Cognitive development in children with cochlear implants
This systematic review investigates the comparative cognitive outcomes in children using bilateral versus unilateral cochlear implants, as well as those using cochlear implants versus hearing aids. The review synthesises findings from 30 studies involving a total of 11,986 children and...
Canal cholesteatoma
This is a retrospective study of patients with external auditory canal cholesteatoma (EACC) managed at a single tertiary centre from 1 January 2010 to 1 January 2021. Ninety patients (100 ears) were included. Mean age at diagnosis was 56+23 years....
Hear me out – tiny steroid implants for fighting meningitis-induced deafness
Sensorineural hearing loss is the most common neurological complication of pneumococcal meningitis. Bacterial infiltration into the inner ear triggers inflammation, leading to cochlear fibrosis and sclerosis – damage that, in over a third of cases, affects both ears. Current Infectious...
Management of patulous eustachian tube dysfunction
Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (iSSNHL) is defined as a hearing loss of 30 dB or more at three contiguous frequencies within 72 hours, with acute low-tone hearing loss (ALHL) excluded from this category. Despite standard treatment, outcomes vary: one-third...
Endolymphatic pressure disturbances precede endolymphatic hydrops on MRI in definitive Ménière’s disease
The diagnosis of Ménière’s disease is clinical, and the authors tried to verify if endolymphatic hydrops (EH) could be demonstrated on MRI. In this prospective study, they analysed 3D3T FLAIR MRI images of 32 ears with definitive Ménière’s disease (DMD)...
Not to be mis-underestimated
It is a very rare occurrence to find a paper looking at NF2 and the auditory system. There seems to only be a couple on NF2 prevalence in the population, so this is unsurprising. As far as I can recall...
Cochlear implant and age
In an American ageing society with more prevalent hearing loss, fewer geriatric patients are opting for cochlear implants (CI). This is mainly due to comorbidities and potential complications. Authors conducted a retrospective review of CI patients from 2015 till 2021....
Association of tinnitus with dementia
In this large case-controlled study, the authors have compared the presence of tinnitus prior to the diagnosis of dementia in the study group with those without dementia. Dementia patients were selected from the National Health Insurance group. The control group...
Current AI audiology knowledge
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are becoming increasingly popular and can be utilised by patients, healthcare professionals and students. The performance of chatbots can be variable between different AIs and, indeed, different topics. There is no current consensus for the best...
