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Corticosteroid prescribing in ENT - are we at risk of being sued?

Of medications leading to malpractice claims, corticosteroids comprise the third most common. They are used widely and have a significant side-effect profile: hypertension, lipodystrophy, diabetes, avascular necrosis of the femoral head, peptic ulceration and psychiatric reactions to name but a...

A diagnosis-based scoring system to predict outcomes in necrotising otitis externa

Patients admitted with necrotising otitis externa have increased six-fold in the last 10 years. The prognosis is variable and dependent on co-existing morbidities. Charlston Comorbidity Index (CCI) is a weighted comorbidity scoring method, based on the presence or absence of...

Vascular disease and sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Oussoren et al performed a systematic review and meta-analyses of current literature on the above topic: specifically, cardiovascular risk factors for developing idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (iSSNHL), the presence of white matter hyperintensities in patients with iSSNHL and the...

Older patients hospitalised for pneumonia: what factors determine survival after discharge?

A high proportion of older adults hospitalised for pneumonia may have co-existing risk of aspiration due to dysphagia. The authors of this single-centre retrospective cohort study followed up patients over the age of 65 who were admitted to hospital with...

Association of tinnitus with dementia

In this large case-controlled study, the authors have compared the presence of tinnitus prior to the diagnosis of dementia in the study group with those without dementia. Dementia patients were selected from the National Health Insurance group. The control group...

Long-term swallowing function in bilateral vocal cord immobility

Vocal cord immobility is the second most common abnormality of the larynx in the paediatric population. The team from New York aimed to characterise the long-term swallowing function in a cohort of patients with bilateral vocal cord immobility over a...

Audiology Services in Diverse Communities: A Tool to Help Clinicians Working With Spanish-Speaking Patients and Families

As a bilingual audiologist (Spanish-English), I have found this book to be a bridge between the two languages in the audiological world. It is a resourceful niched book that enables the practising audiologist dealing with Spanish-speaking adult and paediatric patients...

Age and the SSCC

This is a radioanatomical study on the CT scans of 385 temporal bones to measure some parameters of the superior semicircular canals (SCCC) including bony thickness, diameter and projection into the middle cranial fossa. All measurements were performed on a...

Benign oesophageal strictures: overview and management strategies

Benign oesophageal strictures may have several attributable causes including caustic injuries, long-term acid reflux, eosinophilic oesophagitis, anastomotic strictures and endoscopic therapy. Endoscopic dilation via bougies or balloon dilators may treat most strictures successfully and satisfactorily. However, in some situations treatment...