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Endoscopic Ear Surgery: Principles, Indications and Techniques

I was delighted to be asked to review this book. It’s big and shiny, and has 400 pages, many of which bear beautiful colour images including endoscopic photographs, radiological images and clear illustrations of middle ear anatomy. The preface to...

Voice therapy is an effective treatment for presbyphonia

The quality of an individual’s voice often declines with age. This deterioration occurs firstly as a result of vocal fold atrophy secondary to histologic alteration of the vocal fold mucosa as well as atrophy of the laryngeal musculature. Phonatory efficiency...

Posturography in persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD)

Those in neuro-otology practice will be familiar with PPPD now appearing in the forthcoming beta edition of ICD-11. This condition combines the symptoms of phobic postural vertigo and chronic subjective dizziness in which anxiety plays a part. The underlying hypothesis...

Speech and language therapy is valuable for people at all stages of dementia

The number of people living with dementia is going to increase significantly over the coming 10-20 years. The authors of this article describe the breadth of the role of speech and language therapists (SLTs) working with people with dementia. They...

Contemporary UK experience of oropharyngeal transoral laser microsurgery

It is well recognised that the current emergence of HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) as a distinct disease entity requires a fresh look at standard treatment modalities that are based on chemoradiotherapy for stage III/IVa OPSCC. The Newcastle experience...

Persistent dysphonia due to cricothyroid muscle dystonia – should we be requesting laryngeal EMGs for non-resolving ‘functional’ dysphonia?

This article is an interesting report of a case of persistent voice problems affecting a 43-year-old physician that significantly compromised her ability to converse and communicate at work. Specifically, she had a fluctuating voice quality that would ‘choke off’, combined...

Hypoglossal stimulation for OSA

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a highly effective treatment for moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), but suffers significantly from poor patient adherence. This paper reports the three-year outcomes of a prospective multicentre cohort study examining the effect of hypoglossal...

Changes in swallowing function after thyroidectomy

Evaluation of functional impact following thyroidectomy tends to be focused on voice quality. The aim of this study was to document early (seven days postoperatively) and late changes (60 days postop) in swallowing function after thyroidectomy. A preoperative naso-endoscopic evaluation...

Otolith dysfunction in congenitally deaf adults

This paper helps to further define the profile of ocular and cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (o and c VEMPs) in patients with congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss (PSHL). It highlights the prevalence of otolith (saccular and utricular) dysfunction that exists...

Surgical voice restoration after laryngopharyngectomy

Voice restoration is one of the key rehabilitative steps after laryngectomy or total laryngopharyngectomy (TLP). Patients who undergo TLP require reconstruction – increasingly commonly with microvascular free flaps. Despite their advantages in terms of fistula rates and swallowing outcomes, these...

Identifying CN IX and X using endotracheal tube electrodes

This clinical study describes the possible usefulness of endotracheal tube electrodes in monitoring vocal cord function during cerebellopontine angle surgery in 20 patients. Lower cranial nerves, especially IX and X are at risk of injury during skull base surgery although...