Journal Reviews
Determinants influencing ageing within the vestibular system
The observation that ageing affects vestibular function is not new. However, using a whole population survey, the authors set out to evaluate quantitatively factors responsible for the age-related changes in vestibular function. As part of a national survey on health...
How are clinicians assessing suitability for voice feminisation surgery?
Voice is a key aspect of gender transition for many gender diverse individuals. Transfeminine people are offered hormone therapies, such as oestrogen to support their transition, however these do not impact laryngeal anatomy. This means that specific voice interventions are...
Conductive hearing loss – when and why to scan
Ossicular fixation or discontinuity can occur at any point along the ossicular chain and is estimated to cause conductive hearing loss (CHL) in approximately 55% of patients. Computed tomography (CT) imaging of the temporal bone identifies bony pathologies that contribute...
How to feel happier: kindness, gratitude and self-care
The number of students experiencing mental health difficulties has risen dramatically, sometimes attributed to the widespread intrusion of social media in our lives, increasing social pressures on performance, and recent other societal factors. This article describes a study undertaken with...
Swallowing assessments of the future: the role of artificial intelligence
The future’s bright, the future’s Orange AI… If you Google ‘how much is AI worth?’, the AI overview tells you “The global artificial intelligence (AI) market size is estimated at approximately $244 billion to $391 billion in 2025 and is...
Artificial intelligence and OSA
The future’s bright, the future’s Orange AI… If you Google ‘how much is AI worth?’, the AI overview tells you “The global artificial intelligence (AI) market size is estimated at approximately $244 billion to $391 billion in 2025 and is...
Management of peritonsillar abscesses – should we be offering a hot tonsillectomy?
Peritonsillar abscesses (PTAs) are one of the most common reasons for patients being referred to ENT services on an emergent basis worldwide. The conventional treatment for adult patients with a PTA in the UK involves needle aspiration or incision and...
You’re under arrest, you damned post-tonsillectomy bleed!
Tonsillectomy is a common, well-tolerated procedure most commonly performed in children for recurrent tonsilitis and sleep apnoea. Post-tonsillectomy bleeding (PTB) is a relatively uncommon complication that poses significant risks to patients and high rates of readmission and reintervention. Institutional guidance...
Migraine medication and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
BPPV is a very common form of dizziness (lifetime prevalence 2.4%) and has been noted to have an association with migraine. The cause of otoconia displacement in BPPV is often unclear. A vascular mechanism theory has been postulated in varying...
Improving music perception in cochlear implant users
Can you imagine a world without music? In the words of Hans Christian Anderson, a prolific 19th-century Danish author, “Where words fail, music speaks.” This quote highlights music’s importance as a language of emotions that transcends linguistic barriers. This case...
Endolymphatic sac surgery (ESS) revisited
Ever since the destructive articles by Toss and coworkers, ESS was considered a taboo. However more and more centres are reviving it and report favourable results in properly selected patients. In this article the authors conducted a retrospective, single-centre observational...
Bell’s palsy outcomes
Bell’s palsy is a common, idiopathic, unilateral facial paresis or paralysis of sudden onset. This retrospective study reviewed the records of 193 patients diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. The patient’s clinical data, House-Brackman (h-B) grade, and data from five electrophysiological tests...
