Journal Reviews
Promising surgical technique for pulsatile tinnitus caused by sigmoid sinus dehiscence?
Pulsatile tinnitus (PT) can be caused by sigmoid sinus dehiscence (SSD). The authors report the results of 17 patients who underwent sandwich surgical technique for sigmoid sinus (SS) wall reconstruction for the treatment of pulsatile tinnitus caused by sigmoid sinus...
Chorda tympani in middle ear surgery
This was a prospective study at a single Belgian centre that aimed to monitor postoperative taste problems after middle ear surgery. The authors also looked at the influence of pathology and manipulation of chorda tympani (CT) on its function. Taste...
Endoscopic stapes surgery
This retrospective Turkish study looked at the audiological and surgical outcomes of 40 patients who underwent endoscopic stapes surgery over a three-year period. To assess the learning curve, the patients were divided into two groups based on the date of...
Paediatric idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss
This Turkish retrospective study looked at the radiological and clinical characteristics, prognostic factors and treatment outcomes in children diagnosed with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). Forty-eight children were included over an eight-year period. Complete recovery (CR) was achieved in...
A cost reducing protocol for magnetic resonance imaging in patients suspected to have acoustic neuroma
Magnetic resonance imaging is the ‘gold standard’ for screening patients suspected to have an acoustic neuroma. However, inappropriate referrals for imaging are not helpful, especially with the growing need to reduce costs. In this study the authors compared two audit...
Cochlear implantation in adults has a positive impact on overall cognitive function as early as six months postop
The link between improving hearing and thus improving cognition is an important emerging area of research in hearing rehabilitation, due to the independent association between hearing loss and dementia. This study uses visually assessed neurocognitive tests of working memory, information...
Tablet-audiometer school hearing screening in the context of a developing country
This paper presents a novel use of innovation to tackle the challenges of providing school-age hearing screening in low and middle income countries (in this case Nicaragua, second poorest in the western hemisphere), from the creators of a tablet-based audiometer...
CIs and lymphoma
In this editorial, the authors raise a very serious (albeit hypothetical) question: can the silicon of cochlear implants induce an anaplastic lymphoma akin to breast implants? The case of breast implant-induced large cell anaplastic lymphoma has been highly publicised. Although...
Treatment of incus lysis with hydroxyapatite bone cement
Middle ear implants provide a suitable alternative for some patients with a certain degree of sensorineural or mixed hearing loss, not wanting a hearing aid. Vibrant SounBridge® (VSB) middle ear implant (MEI), of Med-El®firm, is one such implant. In this...
Learning from reimplantation
The Irish implant centre in Dublin undertook a retrospective study of their reimplantation cases to look at what lessons could be learnt. Device failures fall into two classes: hard and soft failures. Hard failures are implant malfunction or altered performance....
Patient factors associated with spontaneous CSF leak
This article highlights the role of obesity, sleep apnoea and raised intracranial pressure as linked pathologies in the aetiology of the spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (sCSF) leak. The authors link sCSF leak with obesity and comment on sCSF leak incidence increasing...
Diagnosing complications of acute mastoiditis in emergency situations
In many cases, acute mastoiditis is manageable with intravenous antibiotics and hospitalised care. However, the decision whether to intervene surgically remains crucial and reliance is based on radiological findings – CT scans for bony changes and MRI for possible intra-cerebral...
