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Septoplasty revisited

Septoplasty is one of the commonest rhinological surgeries performed. With the advent of minimally invasive surgical concepts, endoscopic targeted septoplasty was introduced. This study aimed to compare the complications and outcomes between endoscopic septoplasty and conventional septoplasty by a PRISMA...

How common is oropharyngeal dysphagia amongst the adult population?

It is well known that oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) is a symptom arising from many different aetiologies or disease conditions and that it is a significant morbidity affecting people’s quality of life. Establishing the prevalence of OD is complicated by the...

The hidden dementia in motor neurone disease

It is now well recognised that people with motor neurone disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) are at risk of developing frontotemporal dementia. It can be difficult to recognise the symptoms of cognitive decline in this group due to...

Paediatric conductive hearing loss management

This review article discusses the current guidelines for the management of paediatric otitis media, tympanostomy tube placement indications, management of risk factors for chronic otitis media, intraoperative and postoperative management guidelines and the management of complications. The important takeaways include...

Maxillomandibular advancement and airway morphology

This is a cadaveric study comparing alterations in airway volume. Seven advancements of the maxillomandibular complex were undertaken, each with a 2 mm incremental advancement being scanned with a total of eight scans per cadaver. They showed that comparisons between...

Say what you don’t mean: cognitive difficulties in Parkinson’s can worsen intelligibility

Hypokinetic dysarthria, seen in 70–90% of people with Parkinson’s, causes reduced range of movement during speech production, reduced volume, rate, pitch and intelligibility. This study aimed to explore the role of higher cognitive function in speech production by asking 20...

Talk your brain well: discourse training to fortify your cognitive functioning and protect against dementia

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) can be described as a transitional stage prior to a diagnosis of dementia. Approximately 15% of people with amnestic MCI (where memory is the leading symptom) develop dementia. Nonpharmacological interventions, specifically cognitive training, has shown some...

Do intranasal corticosteroids resolve eustachian tube dysfunction?

Eustachian tube dysfunction is a widely prevalent problem, both in children and adults. In many ways, it affects the quality of life in terms of earaches, feeling of blockage and variable hearing. Use of intranasal corticosteroids is customary but whether...

Impact of COVID-19 on ear surgeries

The authors review the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the practice of ear surgeries in this article. The pandemic has changed how we practise medicine and introduced new guidelines to ensure safety of healthcare personnel. Studies have demonstrated COVID-19...

Why do some people get their smell back so quickly after a COVID infection whilst others don’t?

Of course, we are all too familiar with the effect that COVID-19 infection has on our sense of taste and smell, but why do most patients get better whilst, for many, the misery lingers on and on? This paper looks...