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Genetic testing in congenital hearing loss

Advances in genetic testing over the last decade have reduced the cost and time such testing required and increased understanding of the genes involved in conditions like congenital hearing loss. This study from Atlanta looks at genetic testing from a...

Salvage surgery vs. repeat stereotactic radiosurgery for progressing vestibular schwannomas

This large multicentre case series of patients treated twice with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for progressing vestibular schwannomas (VS) is reported by the International Gamma Knife Radiosurgery consortium. Progression of tumour growth after primary SRS is rare but does occur. Complications...

Delays in oral cancer

This is a review from Canada where they attempt to relate delays in oral cancer presentation to treatment and the impact on stage, diagnosis and survival. They recognise that potentially the most significant delay is between the patient first noticing...

Swallow this: management of dysphagia in progressive neurological conditions

Whether the person with the swallowing difficulty has an acquired or progressive neurological condition, understanding the aetiology will allow the speech and language therapist assessing the swallow to have a better understanding of the likely implications for future swallow management...

Cochlear implants and speech perception

Cochlear implants can be an effective treatment for specific hearing losses. They may often be the only way to restore hearing for profoundly deaf people. Therefore, it is very important to understand all processes that may influence effective fitting of...

Is bone scanning still of value?

This is an article from Australia of 109 patients, 83 of which had CT, 72 MRI and the presence of bone invasion on imaging was compared with the histopathology. Bone invasion was present in 44 of 109 resection specimens. Bone...

Long-term quality outcomes of bimaxillary surgery of obstructive sleep apnoea

This is a review of 12 patients at two years postoperatively and again at at least 17 years. Successful outcome of a decrease in apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) of greater than 50% was thought to be success. Eight of the initial...

Instrument assessment preferable over standard beside swallow to determine prevalence of aspiration

Aspiration does not trigger the protective cough response in some patients. The patient’s response may vary according to fluid viscosities and volume. The authors of this prospective study investigated the prevalence of aspiration and response to aspiration of different viscosities...

Soft tissue changes following maxillary osteotomy, comparison of three computer programmes

This small group of seven patients had a Le Fort I advancement maxillary osteotomy with vertical repositioning and alar base cinch sutures. They were assessed with cone beam CT’s three months preoperatively and one year postoperatively. A clinical comparison between...

Questionnaire to determine quality of life in Parkinson’s disease patients with swallowing problems

The quality of life (QoL) in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) is often influenced by changes in their swallowing abilities. The authors of this paper have developed a valid, statistically appropriate questionnaire which is also clinically effective and can be...

Core or fine needle assessment in lymphadenopathy and salivary gland tumours

This paper from the Republic of Korea analyses 278 patients retrospectively, 112 of which underwent fine need aspiration and 166 core needle biopsies. Eleven patients had indeterminate fine needle aspiration cytology, six of whom had an additional core biopsy. The...

Do you know what aphasia is?

In 2001 a survey was conducted in a number of towns across the world, including Exeter in the UK, to identify the level of awareness and knowledge of aphasia in the community. Aphasia is difficulty in producing or understanding language...