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Current management of unilateral sporadic vestibular schwannoma

Vestibular schwannoma is the commonest tumour of the cerebellopontine angle (80%) and accounts for around 8% of all intracranial tumours. The commonest primary presenting symptoms are audio vestibular. Hearing health professionals are often the first contact for patients with potential symptoms of vestibular schwannoma, with the majority then being seen and diagnosed by otorhinolaryngologists.

Sniffing out the evidence – COVID-19 and loss of sense of smell and taste

Louis Pasteur once observed: “In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.” Professor Hopkins was certainly prepared when a few anecdotes of smell problems started to accumulate early in the pandemic’s course. Post-viral olfactory loss is nothing...

3D printing and sustainability in audiology and ENT

As we try to avoid disposing of equipment that is still functional, we are challenged by company policies that make equipment ‘obsolete’ and no longer supported for repairs. One innovative solution is provided by 3D printing parts that are needed...

Reducing hierarchy for individuals and teams across ENT

Alexander Pope said that “to err is human”, but medical errors can have serious consequences. How can better communication minimise the risk of them occurring in the first place? Allowing all members of the surgical team to feel empowered to...

Understanding the NAL-NL3 Prescription System: a new era of personalised hearing aid fitting

The NAL-NL3 system marks a transformative step in hearing aid fitting, shifting from a one-size-fits-most prescription to a modular, patient-centred approach. Developed by the National Acoustic Laboratories, this new system integrates a core audiogram-based prescription with targeted modules to address...

Clinical leadership and management: developing world ENT

I have been asked to share some of the initiatives I have been involved with to address ENT-related challenges in Africa and the developing world. Developing countries constitute the majority of the world’s landmass (Figure 1), are home to >50%...

Update on the development of an implantable vestibular prosthesis

Cochlear implants have revolutionised the management of profound hearing loss. Might vestibular implants be the future for the treatment of bilateral vestibular failure? James Johnston and Neil Donnelly explore. The vestibular system is highly complex, integrating visual, labyrinthine and proprioceptive...

In conversation with Jeff Small and Navid Shahnaz

The impact of COVID-19 has been felt on all levels of society and deeply affected our lives. It has challenged us to find new ways of carrying on with our activities at home, work, and school. Jeff Small, Director and...

Genetics and the newborn hearing screen: the future is now

Eliot Shearer shares the progress being made with newborn hearing screening 60 years on from where it started, and future directions for identifying hearing loss using physiologic, genetic and cCMV screening. Newborn screening had its birth in the early 1960s,...