You searched for "protective"

4477 results found

Advances in neural stimulation of the auditory pathway

This article reviews the use of neuroprosthetic devices such as cochlear and auditory brainstem implants (ABI) to stimulate the auditory pathway, discussing the successes, limitations and advances in this area. Currently, neuroprosthetic devices deliver electrical impulses to the cochlear nerve...

The association between pregnancy and otosclerosis could be due to psychosocial factors around parenthood rather than biological factors

The association between pregnancy and otosclerosis is controversial. If pregnancy physiologically increases the likelihood of otosclerosis progression, then one would expect that there would be a difference between male and female patients with regards to whether having children affects how...

Dead regions in patients with cochlear implants

The very nature of a dead region (DR) in a cochlea means that they are often found in patients who are eligible for cochlear implants. However, a variety of different hearing configurations are found in those with DRs because of...

Enhanced recovery following surgery for head and neck cancer – the current evidence

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programmes are now well established in many surgical specialities as a means of reducing postoperative complications and length of stay in hospital. Whilst many head and neck teams have interventions used to aid postoperative recovery,...

OSA – do the parents know best?

The difficulty in using the history and examination to determine the severity of sleep disordered breathing in children is well established. The relative prevalence of sleep disordered breathing symptoms in children, and the relative paucity of capacity and restrictive cost...

Gender inequality across medical specialties in the United States

The authors of this study collected and evaluated 4222 surveys of patient satisfaction ratings of male and female residents across subspecialties in the United States. Half of the evaluated residents were females, with first and second year residents being evaluated...

Prolactinomas: when to operate

Prolactinomas are the most common functional pituitary adenomas, comprising 40% of all pituitary adenomas. There are consensus guidelines and several common management pathways. This article discusses the role of surgery for these patients. Following diagnosis, the goals of treatment are...

A novel graft material for endoscopic tympanoplasty using the pre-tragal SMAS layer

The traditional biological graft materials for providing a scaffold for tympanic membrane reconstruction include temporalis fascia as well as conchal and tragal perichondrium/cartilage. This group from Taiwan present a novel graft option using the superficial musculo-aponeurotic system (SMAS) layer. They...

Vestibular migraine or BPPV?

There are close similarities between benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and vestibular migraine (VM) as both can be presented by positional nystagmus. Though BPPV remains the commonest cause of pure positional vertigo, VM can mimic this condition. This study is...

A predictor of successful treatment of posterior canal BPPV

Reversal of nystagmus on returning to the upright sitting position from the Hallpike position is a common observation. However, its relevance as a predictor of a successful canal repositioning manoeuvre (CRM) is not known, hence this study. The retrospective study...

Quality of life in adolescence

Adolescence can be a difficult time and the added complexity of a hearing loss can exacerbate feelings during this period. In the literature, there are mixed findings that show while some children with hearing loss score poorly on some aspects...

Do we need contrast MRI when screening for vestibular schwannoma?

Gadolinium contrast enhanced T1-weighted (gT1w) MRI images of the internal acoustic meati have long been considered the gold standard in the diagnosis of vestibular schwannoma (VS). However, the addition of contrast to the MRI examination increases the cost and time...