Search

The lessons in setting up a community ENT service in the NHS

Sudeb Mandal, a GP with special interest in ENT, talks about the novel approach taken in the community to deliver ENT services in Kent in the UK. The Kent Community ENT service was born with the vision to bring together...

Rapid genetic testing to avoid hearing loss in neonates

Thousands of newborn babies could avoid a lifetime of hearing loss thanks to a new rapid genetic test. In this article, we learn how. We have demonstrated for the first time that a rapid genetic test from a cheek swab...

Deaf identity is not cookie cutter shaped: a CI user in a hearing world

Sam Burgess tells us what deaf identity means to her as a service manager in a busy healthcare library, with a cochlear Implant. To begin with, I have been deaf since birth due to congenital rubella. I have not known...

A brief history of adenoidectomy - a glowing report of the post nasal space

The traditional adenoid curette more closely resembles a medieval torture device than an instrument of cure. Therefore it is not much of a surprise to learn that it has changed little since its invention almost 150 years ago. During that...

Oscar Wilde’s Final Irony

The celebrated writer and poet, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on 16 October 1854 in Dublin. He distinguished himself as a classicist at Trinity College Dublin before, earning a scholarship to Oxford University, where he gained a double...

Lancet Commission on Hearing Loss

The Lancet Commission on Hearing Loss was convened in 2019, and its main report will be published in 2023. We learn more about it here. The Lancet Commission on Hearing Loss was convened in 2019, and was charged by Richard...

How the earwig got its name

What are earwigs, and how are they connected with the ear? Amr Abdelhamid explains the etymology, myths and beliefs behind the pesky creature with the otological name. Earwigs are harmless insects of the order Dermaptera that are amongst the most...

OBITUARY: Remembering Thomas J Balkany 1948 - 2025

Helen Cullington, our Specialty Editor – Audiology (implantables), pays tribute to a pioneer. Back in 1996 – having worked as a cochlear implant audiologist for three years in the UK – I felt ready for a new challenge. I faxed(!)...

The artificial eardrum: how an eggshell membrane fed a German ENT family

In the pre-antibiotic era, purulent otitis media often resulted in a permanent eardrum perforation with hearing loss. In addition to pig or fish bladders, eggshell membranes and cigarette paper were used as eardrum prostheses. I have vivid personal boyhood memories...

Sugammadex

Scott Russell is an anaesthetist with an almost unrivalled experience of complex head and neck surgery, and has seen all manner of new ideas come and go. However, in this article he describes a new pharmaceutical agent that is already...