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Paediatric pituitary surgery - is it lagging behind?

Endoscopic sellar surgery, especially for adenomas, is a relatively safe, straightforward surgery with (mostly) reproducible results and few complications. However, the evolution of pituitary surgery was a long process, starting from open/transfrontal approaches all the way to transsphenoid to the...

Balloon dilatation is an effective adjunct

This is a good study design, sufficiently powered, comparing medical management to balloon sinus dilatation. All patients had failed medical management and were thoroughly assessed preoperatively with Lund-Mackay score confirming abnormal CT findings, SNOT 20 index score, chronic sinusitis score...

Mobile phones to assess productivity in rhinitis

Uncontrolled and moderate to severe allergic rhinitis (AR) has significant negative impact on work productivity. Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Allergic Specific Questionnaire (WPAI:AS) used to measure that impact showed this. Work productivity seems to improve when AR is treated....

IL-25 and nasal polyps, another target

Immune response in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is mainly via type 2 T-helper (Th2) cells while Th1 cells characterise chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps (CRSsNP) immune response. CRSwNP is heterogeneous on a cytological level causing a varied response...

The microbiological environment of the paranasal sinuses

This article reviews the ecology of the sinuses and tries to make sense of the confusing literature on the subject. This covers the details of molecular studies, particularly those which attempt to differentiate normal sinuses from those in patients with...

Olfactory neuronal damage in sinusitis

So many patients with nasal disorders have poor olfactory function, yet sometimes the nose may seem comparatively clear of conductive problems. This study postulated that neuronal damage in the olfactory apparatus would lead to a leakage of neuron specific enolase...

Is epistaxis affected by the weather?

In this Bosnian study, the authors attempted to determine if air pressure, temperature and humidity had any effect on idiopathic epistaxis. The study took place over a three-year period and included 300 patients. A comparison was performed of meteorological data...

Does albumin have an effect on nasal polyposis?

Sometimes a short paper catches your eye! What causes chronic rhinosinusitis? What causes polyps? Fungi? Biofilms? Allergy? Maybe the lack of albumin? The two authors of this short paper present data that may suggest that the lack of albumin can...

Allergen specific subcutaneous immunotherapy helps in prolonged control of allergic rhinitis

One of the commonest allergens involved in perennial allergic rhinitis is house dust mite. A good proportion of these cases prove intractable to treatment with oral and intranasal antihistamines and intranasal steroid sprays. Immunotherapy is considered a useful alternative and...

Combined sprays for allergic rhinitis maintenance

This meta-analysis looked at the reported efficacy for allergic rhinitis control of various topical sprays, particularly comparative studies. There were fewer ‘head to head’ studies than we would have hoped to exist. This review included intranasal anti-histamines, intranasal steroids and...

Is non-allergic rhinitis as bad as allergic?

Non-allergic rhinitis (NAR) occurs when rhinitis symptoms are not associated with allergic, infective or anatomical reason. It is responsible for almost half of all cases of rhinitis and affects around 300 million worldwide. Assessing NAR patients’ quality of life (QoL)...

Back to basics: nasendoscopy beats CT, again!

There are few otolaryngologists (or patients) who have not been confronted with a computed tomography scan referring to a deviated septum. In a very similar way to the accidental findings of sinus mucosal thickening, the clinician is left in a...