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936 results found

Pharmacological treatment of glue ear in children

Otitis media with effusion (OME), also known as glue ear, is a common cause of hearing loss in children. Most cases resolve spontaneously within three months. Early and proper management of OME can help avoid hearing and speech impairment that...

How do objective ratings of swallowing compare with patient-reported dysphagia QOL measures in the head and neck cancer population?

Swallowing may be assessed by a comprehensive battery of tools including instrumental/objective assessments, clinician-rated measures and patient-reported measures. The authors of this paper use secondary analysis to explore concordance between videofluoroscopy and a patient-reported dysphagia quality of life (QOL) measure....

Active surveillance for papillary thyroid cancers – what is the risk of progression?

Papillary thyroid cancers (PTCs) are generally considered to be indolent malignancies with favourable outcomes. Active surveillance (AS) has consequently been trialled as a management option for small PTCs with no evidence of regional lymph node involvement, especially papillary thyroid microcarcinomas...

Can prediction models help identify dysphagia in ventilated patients?

Dysphagia commonly affects patients in intensive care units (ICU), particularly those on mechanical ventilation, and is associated with high risk of mortality. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to identify predictors for dysphagia in ventilated ICU patients by summarising existing...

Systemic steroids for sensorineural hearing loss

This Japanese retrospective study looked at whether the dosage of prednisolone affects the response rate in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. The authors included a total of 159 patients over a 14-year period who were treated with 200mg/day...

What does an Olympic medal and surgery have in common?

Competing against female Eastern Bloc athletes in the 1980s was a thankless task, demanding a mulish tenacity in an often futile cause. Ideal preparation for a career in surgery? My path to medicine was unusual, in that I left school...

Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer

The authors propose that high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is associated with poor disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with human papillomavirus positive (HPV+) oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). This is a retrospective study that compared the outcomes of 43 patients treated for HPV+...

Is surgery in obese children with obstructive sleep apnoea effective?

The authors present the results of their literature review and meta-analysis of studies examining adenotonsillectomy, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), supraglottoplasty, tongue base surgery or a combination in obese children with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). The one study investigating effects of UPPP was...

COVID vaccination and its relation to Bell’s palsy

The SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak in 2020 continues to be investigated as well as its after-effects on those infected by it. The vaccines created for the public were groundbreaking achievements, evidenced by the lives saved by them and the return to...

Diabetes and hearing loss: a review

As hearing health professionals we often ask, especially in older patients, if they have diabetes; but what is the link? How is it manifested and should it change current practice? Alec Lapira reviews the changing evidence. Early attempts to establish...

Healthcare Disparities in Otolaryngology

The topic of this book seems timely given the increasing focus in recent years on equality and prevention of discrimination. But my initial reaction was, do we need a 300-page textbook on this topic? Is there so much to say?...

To monitor the nerves or not?

Whilst intraoperative nerve monitoring has become the standard of care for mastoid and parotid surgery, its benefit in thyroid surgery remains unclear. In the UK NICE was agnostic on the subject in 2008, stating that it was potentially helpful and...