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Themistocles Gluck – the true father of laryngectomy

Most head and neck surgeons and ENT-specialists may know that the first laryngectomy for cancer was performed by Billroth on 31 December 1873. Billroth´s assistant, Vincenz Czerny, had outlined the operation in experimental surgery on dogs in 1870. Three years...

Churchill, Stephen Poliakoff’s dad and a KGB-bugged hearing aid

Winston Churchill was prime minister of the United Kingdom on two occasions: firstly from 1940 to 1945 and then from 1951 to 1955. He was famed for his acute wit, insight and leadership qualities that helped him navigate the British...

Discovery in the genetics of complex disease: Otitis media

Otitis media (OM), a common disease of childhood, is considered to be a complex trait with multiple genetic and environmental factors expected to contribute to a child’s risk of developing recurrent acute OM (rAOM; ≥3 episodes in 6 months or...

Acoustic shock: definitions and clinical aspects

Acoustic shock, a previously little-known and poorly understood clinical entity, came to the public’s attention in 2019 due to a high-profile legal case of a musician at the Royal Opera House. In this fascinating article, Andrew Parker and William Parker...

The basis of the bargain: outcomes not inputs

There are international drivers focusing our attention on measuring outcomes; Anthony Hogan looks at the data to see how we are currently measuring up. Introduction A global paradigm change is impacting on the provision of disability services. At its heart,...

Understanding new and emerging categories of hearing devices

The hearing device landscape is rapidly changing, and what should be given, to whom, and why, are questions that many hearing healthcare professionals are asking. Brent Edwards discusses these questions and how consumer characteristics may influence their choice. In 2016,...

Aided cortical assessment: uses in a paediatric hearing implant centre

When can an aided cortical assessment help decision making in a child’s hearing journey? In this article, the author demonstrates the application using an enlightening case study approach. A device, be it a conventional hearing aid or hearing implant, ideally,...

The changing landscape for hearing loss therapeutics: novel advances of gene and cell therapies

Recent years have seen advances in hearing loss therapeutics, with novel treatments trialled in humans, and others nearing promising first-in-kind clinical trials. First successful clinical trials for a specific form of genetic hearing loss Very exciting news has emerged in...

Screening: evaluating the outcomes of early intervention

Newborn hearing screening is now the accepted standard of care in several countries, and is becoming increasingly more established worldwide. White [1] reported eight countries screening over 90% of newborns, ten screening between 25-89% of births and a further 54...