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Getting It Right First Time in ENT

Andrew Marshall, a Consultant ENT Surgeon at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, visited 126 departments across England before publishing his recent ENT surgery national report for the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme. Here, he explains how identifying unwarranted...

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 ENT operating theatre viewed down the retrospectoscope

We learn much of our future by looking at our past; Douglas MacMillan provides us with a fascinating glimpse into his years as a junior doctor. The operating theatre was a somewhat alien environment in the late 1960s: theatre sisters...

Aerosol research and performance

Is singing safe? This was a question asked around the world at the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Natalie Watson and Chris Orton tell us about a rapidly-convened research group that led to profound changes in UK Government...

Reflux – diagnostic tools and special considerations in singers

Depending on your point of view, laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is either ubiquitous or is over-diagnosed. Are singers more prone to LPR? What are the best tests? Mark Watson and Jane Shaw tell us more. Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR: the backflow of...

Emerging robotic systems for head and neck surgery

As of December 2020, seven robotic surgical systems have received approval for use in different jurisdictions, and many more task-specific robots are in the pipeline. Jack Faulkner takes us through what’s on the horizon for head and neck cancer surgery....

Detecting cancer margins during robotic head and neck cancer surgery using ambient mass spectrometry

We have known about altered metabolism in cancer cells since Otto Warburg described it 97 years ago. But can we take advantage of this knowledge in curing cancer? Jim Higginson explains the value of smoke generated during cancer surgery. The...

Setting up a robotic surgical practice: view from India

Transoral robotic surgery has an established role in head and neck cancer surgery. But how easy is it to set up a service in a resource-constrained environment? Gouri Pantvaidya and Ameya Pai give us a view from the Indian subcontinent....

Endolymphatic sac surgery: controversial procedure for the treatment of Ménière’s disease

Landmark Paper: Thomsen J, Bretlau P, Tos M, Johnsen NJ. Ménière’s disease: endolymphatic sac decompression compared with sham (placebo) decompression. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1981;374:820-30. Of all of the chapters in the Landmark Papers book, the chapter that discussed...

Wellbeing – a Scandinavian perspective

The Swedish concept of ‘fika’ is a state of mind and can help to promote wellbeing in teams. But what is it, and how can it help? It is an interesting thought that being well is not the same as...

Biologic therapies for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps: a new paradigm

Surgery for nasal polyposis has evolved significantly in the last 30 years, and now the medical management may be on the cusp of a revolution. Biologics using monoclonal antibodies to target specific immune pathways have introduced a paradigm shift in...

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...