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Head and neck cancer and PET-CT

Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) is an imaging technique in which abnormalities of tissue metabolism are precisely superimposed onto the anatomy. It relies on the premise that malignant cells are more metabolically active compared with non-malignant cells. On this basis,...

Beyond ‘sticky floors’ and glass ceilings’: eight women department and society leaders share their stories

In the United States and Canada, there have been a total of 12 women otolaryngologists who have achieved high positions of leadership. Eight of these women were interviewed for this piece. Each woman’s responses were thoughtful and truthful. Common themes...

Making audiology work during COVID-19 and beyond

‘New normal’ is another phrase that has become synonymous with this pandemic. In this article, consideration for ‘low-touch’ and ‘no touch’ audiological pathways are described for adoption as the ‘new normal’ for hearing healthcare. The COVID-19 crisis has ushered in...

Is one glass of wine on call safe?

It’s a standard question for those about to sit a Specialist Training (ST) interview; you are on call and you call a senior colleague in to perform an operation. You smell alcohol on the breath of the surgeon, so what...

Vocal cord dysfunction and dysfunctional breathing: an evolving clinical paradigm

Patients frequently present to the ENT department with breathing difficulties. The entity of ‘vocal cord dysfunction’ (also known as paradoxical vocal cord movement, inducible laryngeal obstruction, and many other names) is increasingly well recognised. Ravi Thevasagayam gives us an overview....

Music, hearing, and education: from the lab to the classroom

Historically, research assessing the impact of musical training has focused on those children whose families are able to pay for private lessons. In this article however, Nina Kraus outlines the findings of one of her recent projects; assessing the impact...

Wilde and the foundations of medical epidemiology

William Wilde (father of Oscar) was renowned as an otologist, but less well known for his work in epidemiology. The bedrock of the modern discipline of public health is good data collection, and we hear from our good friend, Ray...

The integration of targeted therapy and surgery in advanced thyroid cancer clinical trials

One of the headline speakers, Mark Zafereo, will be talking at IFOS about thyroid cancer. We hear from his team about some of the areas they will be discussing. Locally advanced thyroid cancer generally refers to patients who have significant...

Targeting the microbiome in chronic rhinosinusitis

Researchers at St Paul’s Sinus Centre and UBC in Vancouver are testing a novel treatment for CRS: transferring mucus from a healthy donor into a patient’s sinuses. Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is one of the most common diseases managed by otolaryngologists...