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Audiological monitoring in ototoxicity - Are we doing enough?

In this article Ghada Al-Malky explores the dichotomy of life-saving, yet hearing loss-causing medication, and questions whether the hearing healthcare community is doing enough to prevent preventable hearing loss. Ototoxicity is the damage to hearing and / or balance functions...

The challenges of facemasks for people with hearing loss

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen an exponential increase in the use of face masks. Guidance around the globe varies on the use of face masks as an effective barrier to the coronavirus. Whereas in pre-covid...

2014: Are today’s implantable devices better than conventional solutions for patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss?

Patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss become candidates for amplification when reconstructive surgery is not viable. Three common amplification options are conventional acoustic devices, such as behind-the-ear devices (BTEs), (implantable) bone-conduction devices and active middle ear implants. The goal...

Migration and training: a British-Nigerian surgeon’s perspective

Less than 4% of doctors on the UK’s medical register describe their ethnicity as African or part African, yet there are myriad driving forces behind the migration of medical trainees from Africa to the UK and other developed countries. Ekpemi...

‘The Sun does not forget a village just because it is too small’ – African proverb

Solar powered hearing aids In the middle of the morning of January 24, 2002, I had been in Otse for only three days, a village of 3500 in the south of Botswana, when I heard a knock at the door....

OTC hearing aids

The potential for the deregulation of hearing aid technology, through the Over-The-Counter Act has led to a tremendous amount of opinions and views from all stakeholders in the US. You don’t have to go far on the internet, social media...

Discovery in the genetics of complex disease: Otitis media

Otitis media (OM), a common disease of childhood, is considered to be a complex trait with multiple genetic and environmental factors expected to contribute to a child’s risk of developing recurrent acute OM (rAOM; ≥3 episodes in 6 months or...

Staphylococcus aureus as a cause of refractory chronic rhinosinusitis

Staphylococcus aureus has long been linked to chronic rhinosinusitis, particularly recalcitrant cases. In this article, Alkis Psaltis describes how newer techniques have shown higher rates of S. aureus infection than were previously thought, and explains how the bacteria are able...

Branchio Oto Renal syndrome

Branchio Oto Renal Syndrome (BOR) is an autosomal dominant disorder with branchial, otologic and renal manifestations. The presence of clinical signs varies among and within affected families. Three causative genes for BOR syndrome have been reported thus far: EYA1, SIX1...