Search

St Blaise - patron saint of the throat

In a previous article, we looked at some interesting legends surrounding patron saints of the ear and hearing [1]. As we celebrate the Feast Day of St Blaise of Sebastia on 3 February, we hear some fascinating tales and myths...

Roshna Rose Paul: interview between trainee and senior surgeon

Professor Paul has been heavily involved with training and educating multiple cohorts of ENT trainees over the years, since 2010. In this article, Mr Reid (a current ENT registrar from the West Midlands) picks her brains. Prof Roshna Rose Paul....

Transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy / parathyroidectomy – a new approach

Historically, scarless surgery has been popular in certain cultures. But is it gaining traction around the world? A UK team tell us more. Background Alternative, remote access approaches to thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy are increasing in popularity, the newest of these...

Cocaine-induced ENT pseudo-GPA (CIEpGPA): an underdiagnosed entity

Cocaine-induced ENT pseudo-GPA is increasingly seen in our ENT clinics. The authors of a new ENT UK guideline offer a concise overview for day-to-day recognition and management. Use of cocaine has steadily increased in Europe since 2010 and now represents...

Screening for hearing aid fittings – an approach for primary care

Introduction The communication difficulties related to hearing loss can lead to ‘depression, social withdrawal and problems with employment and access to information sources’ [1]. Furthermore, unmanaged hearing loss is associated with dementia, a poorer quality of life, depression, anxiety and...

Inter-professional teamwork and hearing care for older adults with cognitive loss

There is growing awareness that hearing loss is linked to dementia [1]. The average first-time hearing aid user is about 70 years old. By this age, approximately 1 in 2 people have hearing loss and 1 in 7 have cognitive...

The role of significant others in hearing aid adoption

Presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, is one of the most common conditions affecting older adults and its prevalence is found to increase with age. Over the years, amplification technology has advanced significantly from analogue to digital signal processing. Despite this,...

A psychophysical perspective on single-sided deafness and its treatment by cochlear implants

Bob Carlyon gives us a psychophysical perspective on the hearing benefits that can and cannot be achieved for patients with single-sided deafness with a cochlear implant, and discusses some of the challenges in maximising the effectiveness of the treatment. He...

Database WG2. The Tinnitus Patient Database in the TINNET COST Action BM1306

Berthold Langguth describes an innovative project that is creating the world’s largest multi-national patient database containing standardised information on tinnitus and medical history, otological examination and psycho-acoustic measures of tinnitus. A challenge for tinnitus treatment and tinnitus research is the...

The effects of hormonal changes across menstrual cycle on high frequency auditory thresholds

Physiological changes during the menstrual cycle are well documented; do these changes extend to the auditory system? Lalsa Shilpa Perepa and Rewa Indurkar delve into the literature to find the evidence. Menstrual cycle refers to a series of changes that...

Health related quality of life measures as outcome parameters in middle ear diseases

Surely the only outcome needed for post-surgical ears is a better PTA? Marcus Neudert argues there should be more to it than that. To draw a comprehensive picture of the disease-associated restrictions in patients with chronic otitis media, audiometric outcome...