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Predicting speech recognition in adults with cochlear implants

This was a combined prospective and retrospective study from Belgium that looked at factors influencing speech recognition scores in quiet conditions (retrospectively) and speech reception threshold levels (SRT) in fixed noise conditions (prospectively) after cochlear implantation in postlingually deaf adults....

Role of ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration in management of the neck after chemoradiotherapy

Primary chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is a well-established treatment for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, not every patient has a complete response to this treatment modality, necessitating eventual salvage neck dissection. Some patients with persistent adenopathy following...

A higher aspiration for fine needles

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) has aided in the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules for decades. Now a rapid evolution is hoped to benefit an increasing cohort of patients with small nodules and non-diagnostic investigations. This review discusses the...

New biomarkers for salivary gland tumours

Salivary gland tumours comprise approximately 6-8% of head and neck neoplasms. Elevated haematological inflammatory markers, such as neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), have been shown to be predictive and prognostic in various malignancies. This...

Patient-related factors that require revision surgery for otosclerosis

Stapes surgery for otosclerosis has a high success and low complication rate but, over a period of time, good results can deteriorate, requiring revision surgery. In this study, the authors have focused on patients’ demographic data as predictive factors for...

Use of topical steroids and antibiotics, compared to systemic antibiotics in the treatment of acute rhinusinusitis

Acute rhinusinusitis is mainly initiated by viral infections. Bacterial infection is usually superadded. The inflammatory cascade upregulates the pro-inflammatory mediators resulting in pain, nasal obstruction and nasal discharge. Local application of steroids and antibiotics could provide a higher concentration of...

When should that child’s wet ear be operated on?

The team from Birmingham have provided a meta-analysis to answer the question of when to perform a type 1 tympanoplasty on chronic paediatric perforations (under 18 year olds). Forty-five studies were included which resulted in 2609 cases. Closure rate at...

Metaplasia of the concave septum

This group conducted a one year prospective study and sampled mucosa from 42 randomly selected patients with septal deviation at a single centre. They found significantly higher rate of squamous metaplasia and lymphocytic infiltration in septal mucosa on the concave...

TMJ arthrocentesis

This is a paper from Brazil where they attempted to clarify the volume required for an arthrocentesis to the temporomandibular joint. Nineteen cadavers had methylene blue injected into the upper joint space. Conventional arthrocentesis was then conducted with 300ml of...

Can comorbidities predict complications after total laryngectomy? Utility of the Modified Frailty Index (mFI) score

Decision making regarding appropriate treatment for laryngeal cancer is complex. Patients undergoing total laryngectomy experience significant changes in anatomy and physiology and are at risk for significant postoperative complications. These patients represent a group with significant comorbidities. In addition, patients...

Listening in noise to predict learning disability

Noise disrupts the neural coding of consonants more than vowels. Listening in noise presents a challenge for everybody, but particularly to children whose language skills are underdeveloped. This team views background noise as a disruption to the necessary neural mechanisms...