Declan Costello, MA, MBBS, FRCS(ORL-HNS),
Consultant Ear,
Nose and Throat Surgeon,
Wexham Park Hospital,
Slough, Berkshire, UK.
E: d.costello@nhs.net
TW / X: @Voicedoctor_uk
This edition marks a milestone for me, as it is exactly 10 years since I started as editor of ENT & Audiology News. Looking back at my first editorial introduction, I am reminded that the magazine didn’t have an online offering at that point. Over the last decade, our digital presence has grown hugely, especially on social media. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 10 years at the helm and I look forward to more to come!
As always, the articles for September/October 2024 cover a very wide range of topics: two articles focus on thyroid surgery, one of which features a discussion of the (relatively new) ‘transoral’ approach for thyroidectomy. As loyal readers will know, the history of ENT is often covered by our roving historian, John Riddington Young, and this time he tells us about Per-Ingvar Brånemark, the ‘father of osseointegration’ – truly, many surgical developments have relied on his innovation. The topic of sustainability is never far from anyone’s minds these days; the healthcare sector is a large contributor to environmental degradation, and we are all mindful of the need to reduce waste. With this in mind, Andrew Swift (former President of ENT UK) discusses the balance between disposable and reusable endoscopes.
Robotics have found a place in ENT surgery, particularly in head and neck cancer surgery, and colleagues are looking for possible extended uses – we recently reported on the use of robotics in the treatment of orbital malignancy [1]. Isabelle Williams asks whether robotic surgery in rhinology is “fantasy or future”.
My eye is always drawn to topics relating to voice disorders, so I was interested to hear recently that the Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler has had to retire from performing because of his vocal issues. I was reminded that Steven Zeitels, who has treated Tyler, wrote an article for us several years ago on the subject of treating vocalists – for a blast from the past, have a look at this article.
Taking a look at our audiology articles, we continue the theme of our previous supplement on inner ear therapeutics – Marcelo Rivolta develops this topic. Audiology colleagues will be interested to hear that a team of us will be at the World Congress of Audiology in Paris in September. We will be publishing eshots from the meeting to keep you abreast of hot topics, so if you are attending the meeting, click https://bit.ly/3YRdKCq to sign up for your daily digest.
With our next edition in a couple of months, you will receive a special supplement on rhinology: Prof Claire Hopkins has brought together a series of fascinating topics – more on that in November. For our friends in industry who manufacture rhinology equipment, if there are any companies who would like to publicise their products alongside those articles, please do make contact.
And finally, all of us here in the ENT & Audiology News team would like to offer our congratulations to my co-editor Gareth Smith, who has been elevated to the post of Head of Audiological Services / Clinical Lead at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust – we wish you every success in this role, Gareth!
References
1. Jeannon JP. Robotic assisted orbital surgery (RAOS) – a novel approach to orbital malignancy surgery. ENT & Audiology News 2024;33(1):29–30.
2. Zeitels S. Medical and surgical management of performing vocalists. ENT & Audiology News 2016;25(4):67–72.
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