ENT features
COVID-19 innovations
The coronavirus pandemic has mobilised medical innovators in an amazing way. We take a look at just a few of the hundreds of innovative products and techniques that have been developed and used in the last few weeks. Some of...
Wilde and the foundations of medical epidemiology
William Wilde (father of Oscar) was renowned as an otologist, but less well known for his work in epidemiology. The bedrock of the modern discipline of public health is good data collection, and we hear from our good friend, Ray...
OBITUARY: David Moffat (1948-2020)
David Moffat, one of the leading Otologists of his generation, died on 18 March in Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, the hospital to which he had devoted his professional life. Having survived cancer of the prostate, he succumbed to a second...
The cochlear implant clinic multidisciplinary team meeting
The world’s first cochlear implant clinic was in Melbourne, where multichannel devices were designed by Graeme Clark at the beginning of the cochlear implant era. We are fortunate to hear from Claire Iseli and Rob Briggs, surgeon members of this...
Addressing ear and hearing care through task sharing: the Malawian experience
How can ear and hearing care be addressed in a setting with limited resources? Wakisa Mulwafu, Chris Prescott and Johan Fagan present an innovative model for training ear surgery technicians to perform endoscopic myringoplasty under local anaesthesia on a large...
Acoustic shock: definitions and clinical aspects
Acoustic shock, a previously little-known and poorly understood clinical entity, came to the public’s attention in 2019 due to a high-profile legal case of a musician at the Royal Opera House. In this fascinating article, Andrew Parker and William Parker...
Anaesthesia for excision of vestibular schwannomas
The ‘shared airway’ relationship between ENT surgeons and anaesthetists is well documented. But ENT surgery and anaesthesia interact in numerous other ways, particularly in complex skull base surgery. What do our anaesthetic colleagues want us to know about vestibular schwannoma...
Hearing rehabilitation after vestibular schwannoma surgery
Hearing rehabilitation is a key focus of the management of patients with vestibular schwannoma. But how do we rehabilitate hearing when the cochlear nerve has been damaged by tumour, irradiation, or resective surgery? Mathieu Trudel, Scott Rutherford and Simon Lloyd...
Ossicular reconstruction
Ossicular reconstruction often yields disappointing results, even for the most experienced and skilled of otologists. John Dornhoffer and David Walker explain that the most important determinant of outcome is the patient’s middle ear environment, and offer some valuable words of...
Active middle ear implants and bone-anchored hearing systems
The implantable hearing device market has grown significantly over recent years. But as conventional hearing aids improve and cochlear implant candidacy widens, what is the role for active middle ear implants and bone anchored hearing systems, and how should we...
Shifting paradigms – how a visionary can change a specialty
The Tarabichi-Stammberger Ear and Sinus Institute came about because of a close working relationship and friendship between two senior figures in the specialty. Professor Muaaz Tarabichi tells us the story. My first meeting with Heinz Stammberger was in 1988 in...
BACO International 2018: Key Speakers
Prof Aldo C Stamm, MD, MSc, PhD Anatomy of the paranasal sinuses and skull base, and breaking the paradigms in severe spontaneous epistaxis It is a true honour to participate as an invited faculty member at the upcoming BACO International...