Journal Reviews archive for September 2014
Objective versus subjective – again!
The use of objective measurements of nasal airflow has a long history; however, its clinical application remains, at most, patchy. The main reason for that has been the lack of convincing studies showing a good correlation between the findings of,...
Early intensive aphasia therapy in stroke patients
The impact of aphasia following stroke is devastating. Very early aphasia rehabilitation studies have been the subject of ongoing debate. This paper describes the comparison of a very early aphasia therapy regimen with a historical ‘usual care’ control group after...
Early habilitation for hearing impairment in children with Down syndrome
Approximately 40-80% of children with Down syndrome have hearing impairment in addition to speech and language impairment. The commonest cause of hearing impairment in young children is otitis media with effusion. This paper investigated the impact of early hearing loss...
BAHA stability measurement in children
This useful paper reports the experience of using resonance frequency analysis for single stage bone-conduction implants in a paediatric population. A smartpegTM is attached to the abutment and vibrated by a close quarters magnetic field. The amount of vibration is...
Are biofilms present in deep neck abscesses?
Why are some cervical abscesses resistant to antibiotic treatment? The authors postulate that a biofilm develops to allow the bacteria to overcome normal host defences. They investigated the micro-environment of deep neck abscesses in a largely paediatric cohort. Biopsies of...
Cheek reconstruction following melanoma excision
Malignant melanoma occurs most commonly on the cheek and thus is usually diagnosed early, and rarely needs large reconstructions for advanced disease. This is a retrospective study looking at 26 patients that had undergone treatment for cheek melanomas between 1996...
Extranodal natural killer / T-cell lymphoma in the head and neck
The authors present a retrospective single institution review of patients with a very rare variant of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). They report on the occurrence, clinical course and outcomes of their patients with natural killer / T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL) nasal type....
‘Dead ear’ after mastoid surgery
The primary aim of surgery in the management of cholesteatoma is eradication of the disease which can potentially result in serious complications such as intracranial extension, facial nerve weakness and further hearing loss. A profound hearing loss resulting postoperatively considerably...
Can smaller cancer centres deliver high quality care for patients with laryngeal cancer?
There is a continuing conflict between treating patients as close to their homes as possible and centralising specialised services, taking into consideration the critical mass and the multi-disciplinary expertise available. This is a report of outcomes in the treatment of...
Hearing loss in the contralateral ear after mastoid drilling
It is difficult to conceive that most of the noise generated by drilling the mastoid would not be conveyed to the contralateral cochlea, by direct transmission through the skull bone, where the attenuation factor is only 5-10 dB. Only a...
Noise induced hearing loss caused by nightclubs
Legislation on hearing loss and tinnitus, occurring due to noise exposure at work, has been well established in terms of protection and compensation, but the same damage resulting from noise in nightclubs remains an open issue. This study, based on...
Clinical value of 3 T magnetic resonance imaging after intratympanic gadolinium injection in cases of delayed endolymphatic hydrops
Recurrent vertigo can continue after severe unilateral or bilateral hearing loss. This is a condition similar to Ménière’s disease, the diagnosis of which can be difficult. In this study intratympanic injection of gadolinium-diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid dimeglumine was done in 25...
