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Scary Cases in Otolaryngology

When I was first presented with the Halloween-like graphic that is displayed on the cover of this 230-page book, I wondered what scary stories may lie ahead. To my delight, by the time I’d turned over the first few pages,...

Post-operative tonsillectomy bleeding with a normal clinical exam

Tonsillectomy is amongst the most common surgical procedures performed across the western world. For patients who report bleeding post-tonsillectomy, but have no clinical findings on examination, the management can be unclear. The accepted current management in most centres would be...

Microsurgical trainees to avoid strenuous exercises?

It is commonly believed among microsurgeons that over-exertion can impair microsurgical performance. The authors aimed to investigate if they could prove this theory and compared the performance of medical students, postgraduate trainees and expert controls who were microsurgery tutors. A...

Monitoring the mouth in ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; or motor neurone disease) is characterised by gradual loss of function in the speech muscles resulting in a progressive deterioration in a person’s ability to communicate. The aim of this study was to investigate the use...

Is there a role for facial nerve decompression in Ramsay Hunt syndrome?

This is an interesting paper. The authors recommend a transmastoid facial decompression for patients with complete facial nerve paralysis with House Brackman HB 5/6 who do not show any sign of recovery after two weeks of treatment following a diagnosis...

Maintaining a voice throughout the MND journey

Amytrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as motor neurone disease (MND), is a progressive neurological disease that destroys the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movements resulting in severe dysarthria in 95% of people with MND. It may lead to...

Spread the therapy thick and quick to make sure it works

Speech sound disorders, such as apraxia, can negatively impact a child’s wellbeing - both their social wellbeing and their academic achievement. Traditionally speech and language therapy has attempted to remediate these difficulties using auditory feedback. More recently, advances in technology...

Training people with Parkinson’s disease and their partners to have better conversations

Parkinson’s disease is predominantly considered a motor disorder, impacting speech, particularly voice volume, amongst other physical functions. Language and cognitive difficulties, such as difficulties in word finding and social pragmatics are also a key feature of Parkinson’s disease. Given the...