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Head injury and prolonged bed rest, but not inner ear disease, predict poorer outcome after Epley manoeuvre in posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertgo (P-BPPV)

This Japanese study included 197 patients with P-BPPV treated over a two and a half year period. The vast majority had idiopathic BPPV (n=157). The remaining 40 had secondary BPPV, eight following head trauma, 14 due to prolonged bed rest...

X-ray vs. intraoperative testing for determining cochlear implant placement

Most cochlear implant centres confirm electrode position after surgery using X-rays to ensure optimal electrode placement. As well as transorbital view X-rays, this team check placement using impedance measures and neural response telemetry (NRT) performed intraoperatively. The former indicates whether...

Preoperative prediction of pain outcomes in patients with trigeminal neuralgia

The authors of this retrospective study have developed a preoperative trigeminal neuralgia (TN) grading system for the preoperative prediction of long-term pain relief after microvascular decompression (MVD). Patients who had become refractory to or developed toxicity to carbamazepine or oxycarbamazepine...

Electrocochleography and speech-perception in cochlear implant (CI) patients

It is difficult to predict the speech perception outcomes of cochlear implantation. Previous studies showed that total response electrocochleography (ECochG-TR) may explain the variance in CI performance better than biographic, audiometric, and surgical factors combined. The authors’ objectives were to...

Can diet alone be used to treat laryngopharyngeal reflux?

In this crossover observational study, a low-fat, low-quick-release sugar, high-protein, alkaline, and plant-based diet was investigated as a single treatment for laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). Authors recruited 50 participants with demonstrated LPR on hypopharyngeal-oesophageal multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH-monitoring (HEMII-pH), off acid suppressive...

Remembering the first word first or the last word first: what does this mean about the interaction between language and short term memory?

This article reviews theories of how verbal short term memory (STM) interacts with other language functions and thus how semantics or phonology of target items can influence what individuals remember. The authors describe examples from the research literature that have...

Diagnostic performance of non-echo-planar diffusion weighted MRI in detection of suspected cholesteatoma

Even though a ‘second look’ remains a gold standard for detection of residual cholesteatoma after intact canal wall techniques, non-echo-planar diffusion weighted MRI is considered a reasonable alternative to avoid further surgery. However, to establish or exclude a cholesteatoma de...

Selective otolith dysfunctions objectively verified

Three cases of patients with acute onset vertigo are presented here. The presenting symptoms are described for each case along with the results of vestibular and audiologic examination. This paper focuses on the results of vHIT in the plane of...

Do nasogastric tubes affect aspiration risk?

A nasogastric tube (NGT) is frequently used for patients who are at risk of endotracheal aspiration of oral diet. However, this cannot eliminate the aspiration of saliva. The incidence of aspiration pneumonia in patients with NGT therefore remains high. Some...

Family-centred early hearing detection and intervention

This mixed-methods study provides important insight into how caregivers in South Africa experience early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) services. Using both survey data and narrative interviews, the authors explore how well current services reflect the principles of family-centred early...