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Balloon dilatation of the eustachian tube - largely very safe but not entirely without risk

Consent is a fundamental part of our daily working lives. This is something as simple as consent to examine a patient, consent to undertake a procedure as minor as taking blood, through to consent for a major operation. Whatever the...

In the West of Scotland, what factors impact and what are the survival trends for laryngeal cancer?

The TV and radio presenter Jamie Theakston recently returned to his radio show to announce he is cancer free. He had been off air for a year after having surgery to treat early-stage laryngeal cancer. His diagnosis was made when...

Gardasil vaccination as an adjuvant treatment for established recurrent laryngeal papillomatosis in male adults - does it stimulate an immune response?

Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is well known to be caused by infection with the human papilloma virus (types 6 and 11). Recurrence after surgical removal is common and potentially frequent and severe. Previous research has established that many patients with...

Does turbinoplasty outcome vary in the presence of allergic disease?

This well organised study from Australia looks at inferior turbinoplasty outcomes in patients with allergy and non-allergic rhinitis who have become refractory to medical treatment. There were 190 patients undergoing turbinoplasty with or without septoplasty assessed in this case-control study...

Is Dymista® useful for paediatric allergic rhinitis?

Allergic rhinitis (AR) affects up to 14.6% of the paediatric population. Whilst a recent Cochrane review has considered the evidence for intranasal corticosteroids as `weak and unreliable’ in paediatric AR, this product is a novel formulation combining Fluticasone and Azelastine...

Which bit of our brains do we need to recognise fear, disgust and happiness?

Recognising other people’s emotions is a useful life skill for human interaction in both social and vocational situations. Yet there remains significant debate about which areas of the brain are required to enable us to read and understand these facial...

Vitamin C, a possible remedy for seasickness?

The internet is full of devices and medicines vying for superiority over which one is the best for preventing seasickness. This study was based on the following observations: elevated histamine levels trigger seasickness; blockade on histidine decarboxylase prevents seasickness while...

Swallowing outcomes following partial laryngectomy: objective assessment and pre-operative predictive factors

Partial laryngectomy constitutes one of the treatments for early stage glottic carcinoma (i.e. T1N0 and T2N0) in specialised centres. Over the years, several partial laryngectomy and reconstruction techniques have been described in the literature. The choice of technique depends on...

Endoscopic myringoplasty: a promising alternative to microscopic surgery

Endoscopes have revolutionised otitis media surgery in recent years and are increasingly used in the surgical management of cholesteatoma, sinus tympani pathology and facial nerve surgery. Despite this, the development of endoscopic myringoplasty and how this compares to its microscopic...

CRSwNP, another monoclonal antibody

Interleukins 4, 5 and 13 were shown to be important factors in type 2 inflammation, which characterises chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP). In CRSwNP non-responders and those who recur short after-surgery monoclonal antibodies might be an answer. Examples include...