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Speech predictors after glossectomy

This is a cross-sectional study from India where 69 patients were assessed for speech intelligibility and phonetics using an assessment tool in the local language. Volume defects were classified into thirds and the location of this defect noted. Not unsurprisingly,...

Don’t be too apologetic: disclosing communication difficulties

People who stutter are frequently considered less intelligent or less confident, and are often discriminated against. These negative perceptions have been found to differ slightly across different cultural groups. For Hebrew speakers in Israel, having a stutter can have a...

Implications of tonsillectomy in very young children

This is a comprehensive study comprising 157 children who underwent tonsillectomy below the age of two years, mainly for sleep-disordered breathing (86.6%) and recurrent tonsillitis (7%). With relatively recent understanding of OSAS, the indications for tonsillectomy in children under two...

QoL post-endoscopic hypophysectomy

This prospective study conducted over four years surveyed more than 300 patients after endoscopic pituitary adenoma resection. The authors used the Anterior Skull Base Questionnaire-35 and the Sinonasal Outcome Test-22, and the scores were analysed for quality of life (QoL)...

All you need to know about childhood hearing loss - an update

This is an excellent update on childhood hearing loss. It is a comprehensive collection of five chapters, providing a summary of a broad range of practice guidelines to inform screening, diagnosis, and management of hearing loss in children. It has...

Endoscopic sinus surgery improves Eustachian tube dysfunction

This prospective, multicentre trial from China looked at the improvement in Eustachian tube function after endoscopic sinus surgery. Seventy patients from three tertiary units were included in the study. They all completed the Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETDQ-7) and SNOT-22 questionnaires...

When to operate on a patient without chronic disease?

As ENT surgeons, we spend a lot of time managing chronic rhinosinusitis, so a review and update on the management of the acute disease is always helpful. The standard medical treatment of antibiotics, nasal steroids and nasal decongestants are reported...

Clinical pathological features associated with malignant change in oral leukoplakias

This is a retrospective study from Sweden where 234 patients, diagnosed between 2003 and 2013 with a median nine-year follow-up, were reviewed. Of these 234 patients, 11.5% developed oral squamous cell carcinoma. Non-homogenous leukoplakia showed a 15-times higher transformation rate...

Eosinophilic or not eosinophilic: dupilumab seems to work

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a type 2 inflammation with interleukin (IL)-4, IL-13, and IL-5. Tissue eosinophilia in nasal polyps dramatically increased over a 10-20-year period. Classification of the severity of eosinophil status is expected to lead to...

A more comprehensive management for eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis after FESS

In recent years there has been increasing recognition of eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis which, in particular, results in persistent symptoms and recurrence of nasal polyps, even after FESS surgery. It therefore calls for measures adjuvant to FESS to stop persistence of...

Molecular and genetic nature of skull base tumours drives management

This article reviews the molecular basis and paradigm shift in the diagnosis and management of skull base tumours. It is now known that the phenotype of meningiomas is influenced by their genotype. Endolymphatic sac tumours are observed in up to...

How can we manage children with poor speech discrimination but with normal audiogram

We often come across children and young adults brought in for consultation for suspected hearing loss and having hearing difficulty in noisy backgrounds but who often have normal audiograms. Such patients are suspected to have auditory neuropathy. The term auditory...