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The initial management of nasal trauma

Fractures of the nose are the most common facial fractures and reported to be the third most common fracture of the human skeleton. Nasal trauma can lead to obvious or more subtle loss of function or form and cosmetic compromise....

Does teaching affect patient satisfaction?

Teaching practice on real patients has several advantages in terms of lower costs and genuine clinical material but it is often a concern that using real patients for undergraduate teaching may result in patient dissatisfaction and many patients would prefer...

Vestibular screening in occupational medicine

Occupational vestibular disorders carry a high medico legal and economic burden. The occupational medicine physician must rely on rapid, non-invasive, economical and reproducible screening tests. This article compares the simplified caloric test of Veits (CTV) with the skull vibration-induced nystagmus...

Back to basics: nasendoscopy beats CT, again!

There are few otolaryngologists (or patients) who have not been confronted with a computed tomography scan referring to a deviated septum. In a very similar way to the accidental findings of sinus mucosal thickening, the clinician is left in a...

The effect on taste buds due to severing of the chorda tympani nerve

The long-term histological effect on taste buds following cutting of the chorda tympani in humans is not clear. Confocal laser scanning allows in-vivo examination of the same group of taste buds and is aiding our understanding of why patients recover...

Head and neck myxofibrosarcoma: a case report and review of the literature

Myxofibrosarcoma is the most common soft tissue sarcoma that occurs in late adult life, peaking in the seventh decade, and it is mainly encountered in the lower extremities. Cases within the head and neck region are extremely rare and to...

Is bone scanning still of value?

This is an article from Australia of 109 patients, 83 of which had CT, 72 MRI and the presence of bone invasion on imaging was compared with the histopathology. Bone invasion was present in 44 of 109 resection specimens. Bone...

What about the older adults?

The authors of this paper propose that significant changes in the delivery of services, including speech and language therapy management of swallowing difficulties, may be required. Among the most common causes of dysphagia in older adults are stroke, progressive neurological...

Paediatric vestibular dysfunction

This Malaysian study looked at the awareness amongst otorhinolaryngologists in the investigation and management of paediatric vestibular dysfunction. The authors noted that, although paediatric vestibular dysfunction is a common problem, there seems to be limited literature in assessing the proficiency...

Hearing aids to improve balance in the elderly?

Patients with hearing loss have been found to be more likely to develop dementia. Hearing loss is also associated with poor balance and higher risk of falls, especially in the elderly population. There is increasing evidence that treating hearing loss...

Thyroid nodule update

This excellent article summarises the current diagnostic difficulties with an endocrine gland that frequently produces nodules, some of which may harbour malignancy. At 50 years of age and over there is about a 50% chance of having a nodule; at...