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The effect of vertigo on sleep

The authors analysed data of 20,950 individuals who completed the balance and dizziness supplements of the ongoing NHIS survey in 2008. The survey used a strict algorithm to identify individuals reporting vestibular vertigo and information on sleep duration and a...

Predicting postoperative respiratory complications following paediatric adenotonsillectomy

This systematic review aimed to compare the presence of clinical features versus the polysomnography results in predicting major postoperative respiratory complications in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy for OSA. The study was prepared according to the PRISMA checklist. Overall 22 studies met...

Sellar surgery – when to prepare for repair

Endoscopic sellar surgery, especially for adenomas, is a relatively safe, straightforward surgery with (mostly) reproducible results and few complications. One of the commonest complications is the creation of a CSF leak with the subsequent need for repair (there is usually...

Post-thyroidectomy vocal cord palsy: are there long-term sequelae?

This is a well written paper utilising the Hospital Episode Statistics dataset for all thyroidectomies performed in England between 2004 and 2012. The study had a very impressive 43,515 participants and only included young, fit patients undergoing thyroidectomy once for...

Does albumin have an effect on nasal polyposis?

Sometimes a short paper catches your eye! What causes chronic rhinosinusitis? What causes polyps? Fungi? Biofilms? Allergy? Maybe the lack of albumin? The two authors of this short paper present data that may suggest that the lack of albumin can...

Thalidomide in HHT

An interesting paper from a specialist centre in the Netherlands regarding the use of thalidomide in HHT patients. The St Antonius hospital has 1238 patients with HHT and 1% of these use thalidomide. The aim was to assess the benefits,...

How best to manage single-sided deafness?

Nowadays there is a plethora of options for patients with single-sided deafness (SSD) including: Bluetooth contralateral routing of signal (CROS) aids; in-the-ear bone conduction hearing aids (TransEar); intra-oral bone conduction aids (SoundBite) and bone-anchored technologies (BAHA). Unilateral cochlear implantation is...

Frequency Compression – is there a benefit?

The goal of this study was to investigate whether frequency compression (FC) hearing aids provide more benefit than conventional hearing aids. Twelve experienced hearing aid users 65-84 years of age with moderate to severe high frequency hearing loss wore the...

A new septoplasty technique

This article describes a novel septoplasty technique to correct a cartilaginous deflection. Although it took a while to understand it as the operative photographs were not very helpful it is an interesting concept. The author excises an inferior strip and...