Journal Reviews
Superstructure-preserving stapes surgery in otosclerosis
Stapedectomy is a well-established procedure for otosclerosis but it has a small risk of a non-hearing ear, which can be devastating for patients. The development of a procedure which is safer and with a less steep learning curve for junior...
Consequences of Meniere’s Tumarkin crises
Many will be familiar with reports of frightening drop attacks without loss of consciousness experienced by some Meniere’s disease (MD) patients. This study analysed data from an electronic survey of over 600 members of a national Meniere’s society. The aim...
Peripheral nerve reconstruction using cell-enhanced acellular nerve grafts
Autologous nerve grafts are the current gold standard for peripheral nerve reconstruction. This systematic review analyses the role of cell-enhanced acellular nerve (ANA) grafts on the regeneration of peripheral nerve injuries. Several studies have been published to examine alternatives to...
DVT prophylaxis in cranial procedures
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a result of disturbed balances in blood flow patterns, blood clotting factors promoting coagulation and vessel wall endothelial injury. The subsequent disruption of coagulation and fibrinolysis mechanisms lead to venous clot formation and propagation. The...
How to tackle the problem of ciprofloxacin-resistant ear infections?
The growing issue of ciprofloxacin-resistant ear organisms is certainly a pertinent one. The situation here in the UK, where ototoxic topical drops are frequently given initially in the presence of pus and a perforation, differs markedly from elsewhere where fluoroquinolones...
Food impaction in children is associated with eosinophilic oesophagitis
There is an increasing amount of evidence to suggest that chronic oesophageal inflammation and motility disorders play a more significant role in oesophageal food impaction (EFI) in children compared to structural defects. The authors conducted a retrospective study of children...
Cerebrospinal fluid leaks after vestibular schwannoma surgery
This study analyses 30-day readmission data after vestibular schwannoma surgery using a multicentre longitudinal State of California dataset. The authors studied risk factors, and timing of readmission in 6820 patients over 15 years. Of these, 490 readmissions were reported for...
Aural fullness in Ménière’s disease
This survey of the Finnish Ménière’s Association aimed to examine the severity and consequences of aural fullness, the least reported cardinal symptom of Ménière’s disease. An initial pilot survey informed a second, restructured survey, giving a total of 726 respondents...
Clinical evaluation of an image-guided cochlear implant programming strategy
This study ingeniously combines two current areas of active research in cochlear implantation (CI), the first is the use of imaging to assess intra-cochlear electrode position. The second, is the optimisation of a programming strategy to prevent current spread between...
Revision stapedectomy with bone cement works well!
Revision stapes surgery is notoriously difficult and results are worse than in primary surgery. This group in Utah have described the use of hydroxyapatite bone cement to stabilise the nitinol prosthesis they use in revision surgery due to incus necrosis...
Nasal decongestants don’t improve Eustachian tube function
Prescribing nasal steroids and decongestants. It’s something most of us do routinely, in an effort to reduce chronic middle ear effusion in an adult by trying to improve eustachian tube (ET) patency. This study used clever devices (tube manometry and...
Vascular loops found on MRI IAM for tinnitus
This group from the Netherlands looks at the finding of vascular loops found on MRI IAMs requested for tinnitus. It is a common finding for all who request such imaging. This work adds to the body of evidence that such...
