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Allergy and the ear

Allergic disease is commonly associated with asthma, eczema and rhinosinusitis. The authors reviewed possible associations between allergy and otologic diseases. The authors first explored the possible association between allergy with otitis media with effusion (OME) and found the majority of...

Prognostic value of vascular ultrasonographic findings in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is often idiopathic. Although the aetiology of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is unclear, vascular compromise is one of the frequently proposed hypotheses to explain its pathophysiology. Existing studies have shown an association between ISSNHL...

Gadolinium enhanced MRI and the diagnosis of Ménière’s disease

Despite various criteria applied over the years to diagnose Ménière’s disease since the concept of endolymphatic hydrops was first observed in postmortem examinations of patients in 1938, the diagnosis still remains mainly clinical. To visualise endolymphatic hydrops in MRI imaging,...

Diagnosis and management of acute sensorineural hearing loss: a Japanese perspective

In this paper, the authors set out the clinical guidelines to standardise diagnosis and treatment of acute sensorineural hearing loss in Japan. They categorised acute sensorineural hearing loss into five disorders: idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (iSSNHL), acute low-tone sensorineural...

Hear me out – tiny steroid implants for fighting meningitis-induced deafness

Sensorineural hearing loss is the most common neurological complication of pneumococcal meningitis. Bacterial infiltration into the inner ear triggers inflammation, leading to cochlear fibrosis and sclerosis – damage that, in over a third of cases, affects both ears. Current Infectious...

Management of patulous eustachian tube dysfunction

Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (iSSNHL) is defined as a hearing loss of 30 dB or more at three contiguous frequencies within 72 hours, with acute low-tone hearing loss (ALHL) excluded from this category. Despite standard treatment, outcomes vary: one-third...

Validating a new international cholesteatoma classification – a necessary but challenging task

A European and Japanese joint consensus statement was published in 2017 which proposed a new cholesteatoma staging classification (EJS), with four stages. This follow-up publication aims to assess the internal and external validity of the staging system using existing prospectively...

Complications associated with intra-tympanic steroid injections for sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Around 15,000 people in the UK experience a sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) each year, and in the majority of cases the cause is unknown. Treatment options for idiopathic SSNHL include various modalities of steroid treatments which have known limitations...

Lost and sound: exploring hyperbaric oxygen therapy for refractory SSNHL

Can hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) offer a breakthrough for patients with refractory sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL)? SSNHL is defined as acute hearing loss of ≥30 decibels in three consecutive frequencies within three days. Typically, it’s treated with two weeks...

Direct intratemporal facial nerve to hypoglossal nerve coaptation for facial reanimation

The hypoglossal nerve is a common axonal source for dynamic facial nerve rehabilitation. In its regular and modified forms of splitting the nerve it is associated with tongue hemiatrophy, speech and swallow dysfunction, facial movement and hyper contracture. This case...