Journal Reviews
The effect of sleep deprivation on auditory processing
This article caught my eye for personal and professional reasons. As a full time ENT trainee working 24-hour on-calls, I also have young children who have never slept through the night and don’t respect weekends or days off. My FRCS...
Cochlear implantation in Ménière’s disease
This was a Belgian retrospective study of seven patients with Ménière’s disease who underwent cochlear implantation. All patients had bilateral severe to profound hearing loss and all met AAO-HNS criteria for Ménière’s disease. Follow-up for patients ranged from six months...
Promotion of trust with adult hearing impairment in hearing healthcare
The goal of this study was to assess how trust is promoted among adult hearing impaired patients seeking hearing healthcare. Previous interview transcript data collected from 29 adults across hearing health care centres in four countries was re-analysed thematically in...
A higher aspiration for fine needles
Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) has aided in the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules for decades. Now a rapid evolution is hoped to benefit an increasing cohort of patients with small nodules and non-diagnostic investigations. This review discusses the...
Thyroid nodules in children
Whilst 5% of nodules in adults may harbour malignancy it is reported in this review that about a quarter of nodules may do so in children. Malignancies in this group are almost always well-differentiated subtypes of papillary, follicular and medullary...
What’s the risk of regrowth with partial (intracapsular) tonsillectomy
Partial (intracapsular) tonsillectomy is enjoying somewhat of a revival offering the potential for less postoperative pain and bleeding whilst relieving the obstructive element. The authors look at 303 patients, 82 of whom had partial tonsillectomy using coblation. They measured pre...
Lipofilling for scar improvement
Since Coleman et al. in 1991 reported on lipofilling, numerous applications have been reported; these include but are not limited to contour restoration, lip augmentation, and wrinkle therapy. There has also been some one off reported improvements in scars following...
Thyroid nodule update
This excellent article summarises the current diagnostic difficulties with an endocrine gland that frequently produces nodules, some of which may harbour malignancy. At 50 years of age and over there is about a 50% chance of having a nodule; at...
Thyroid cancer: to dissect the neck or not?
This is a good review of the much-debated management of the neck in thyroid cancer. It discusses oncological goals that must be achieved whilst maintaining voice, swallowing and parathyroid function. A clear description is made of the common nodal basins...
Risk factors for post tonsillectomy bleeds
This paper reviews post-tonsillectomy bleeding in 692 patients and attempts to tease out risk factors. The overall bleed rate of 11.6% seems very high. The return to theatre rate was 2.6%. The paper identifies male patients and adult patients as...
Is it time for cone-beam CTs to replace the traditional orthopantomogram in the primary diagnosis of temporomandibular joint disorders?
Cone-beam CT requires a lower dose of radiation compared to the multidetector CT and provides much more detailed information in 3D about the bony structures of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) when compared to the traditional orthopantomogram (OPG). In this article...
An analysis of 60 treated cystic lesions in children
This is a retrospective single-centre study of 60 consecutive cases in children. Children aged four months to 14-years-old underwent intervention under general anaesthetic from 2000 to 2012. As one might expect, most of these cysts were mucoceles and ranulas. Of...
