Journal Reviews
Age is not an issue in sinus surgery
We have an increasingly aged population, and hence older and older patients are presenting with sinonasal issues and the potential need for endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). The authors sought to identify if older patients (age >70) have more complications post...
A more comprehensive management for eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis after FESS
In recent years there has been increasing recognition of eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis which, in particular, results in persistent symptoms and recurrence of nasal polyps, even after FESS surgery. It therefore calls for measures adjuvant to FESS to stop persistence of...
Sinonasal inverting papilloma and HPV - a meta-analysis of recurrent tumours
Sinonasal inverting papilloma (SNIP) is a common benign tumour of the sinuses. Difficulty lies in the association with metachronous or synchronous SCC of the sinus and also in the complete removal of the lesions due to their anatomical location. An...
Not as rare as we think? Silent sinus syndrome incidence on CT heads
It is relatively uncommon to come across a case of silent sinus syndrome (SSS), but not as rare as the prevalence in the literature might suggest – the authors of this study note that only 100 cases are reported in...
Balloon Eustachian tuboplasty – is it time to start doing it in children?
Given the potential applications for balloon Eustachian tuboplasty (BET) in children, its uptake in most centres has been slow. The reasons for this are multifactorial. There are technical issues – the feasibility of obtaining the correct size balloon and manoeuvring...
Why do some people get their smell back so quickly after a COVID infection whilst others don’t?
Of course, we are all too familiar with the effect that COVID-19 infection has on our sense of taste and smell, but why do most patients get better whilst, for many, the misery lingers on and on? This paper looks...
QoL post-endoscopic hypophysectomy
This prospective study conducted over four years surveyed more than 300 patients after endoscopic pituitary adenoma resection. The authors used the Anterior Skull Base Questionnaire-35 and the Sinonasal Outcome Test-22, and the scores were analysed for quality of life (QoL)...
Nasopharyngeal versus nasal swabs for COVID-19
This systematic review from Austria compares nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) and PCR test to nasal swabs from the other nasal areas with PCR. After finding 425 articles, using PRISMA guidelines 18 were deemed suitable for comparison. Anterior nasal swabs (ANS) and...
Endoscopic sinus surgery improves Eustachian tube dysfunction
This prospective, multicentre trial from China looked at the improvement in Eustachian tube function after endoscopic sinus surgery. Seventy patients from three tertiary units were included in the study. They all completed the Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETDQ-7) and SNOT-22 questionnaires...
When to operate on a patient without chronic disease?
As ENT surgeons, we spend a lot of time managing chronic rhinosinusitis, so a review and update on the management of the acute disease is always helpful. The standard medical treatment of antibiotics, nasal steroids and nasal decongestants are reported...
Serum biomarkers for CRSwNP
This cross-sectional comparative study looked at 50 patients with nasal polyps who, at the time of diagnosis, also had a blood test evaluating serum total IgE, IL-17 and Pentraxin-3. The study assesses whether these blood markers are useful in the...
Olfactory function and vitamin D
This Turkish prospective study evaluated olfactory function in individuals with primary vitamin D deficiency and the effect of replacement therapy on olfactory function over an eight-month period in 2019. A total of 91 individuals with vitamin D insufficiency were included,...
