Journal Reviews
Gastro-oesophageal reflux and cricopharyngeal dysfunction – how do they link?
It has been hypothesised that cricopharyngeal muscle hypertrophy develops as a response to chronic gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. The cricopharyngeus muscle is an important component and contributor to the upper oesophageal sphincter that creates a barrier between the pharynx and oesophagus....
Narrow band imaging improves diagnosis of malignant laryngeal lesions
The manufacturers of narrow band imaging (NBI) claim better visualisation of mucosal abnormalities when compared with simple white light. The primary aim of the study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of NBI and white light to diagnose malignant laryngeal...
Cochlear implants and speech perception
Cochlear implants can be an effective treatment for specific hearing losses. They may often be the only way to restore hearing for profoundly deaf people. Therefore, it is very important to understand all processes that may influence effective fitting of...
Macrolinguistic assessment in early Alzheimer’s disease
Deficits in language production like word finding difficulty, and lexical-sematic impairment have been documented early in the course of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). According to the authors, the current language assessment methods used in AD patients do not account for macrolinguistic...
Is bone scanning still of value?
This is an article from Australia of 109 patients, 83 of which had CT, 72 MRI and the presence of bone invasion on imaging was compared with the histopathology. Bone invasion was present in 44 of 109 resection specimens. Bone...
Bone grafting in orthognathic surgery
In this systematic review of 48 articles the authors reviewed the complication, stability, aesthetics and healing of Le Fort I, sagittal split, chin and zygomatic osteotomies. They concluded that there was strong evidence that bone grafting promotes healing of a...
Socially appropriate part 1: assessing people with TBI
Social communication disorders are one of the most common and yet most under-addressed sequelae of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Yet speech and language therapists report a lack of assessment tools and a lack of time to fully assess these...
Socially appropriate part II: therapy for people with TBI
Social communication is a complex behaviour comprising social and cognitive communication skills. Providing speech and language therapy (SLT) interventions for people with social communication difficulties following traumatic brain injury (TBI) requires the clinician to understand how ingredients from an evidence-based...
A global survey of tracheostomy healthcare provision and patient participation: requirements for improvement
Patients with tracheostomy require comprehensive care which should begin in the preoperative phase and go through immediate postoperative and discharge phases with patient involvement as well. The authors assessed this with a multicentre, cross-sectional survey using a mailing list held...
Do steroids improve outcome in acute vestibular neuritis?
The role of steroids in short and long-term recovery from acute vestibular neuritis has been a subject of debate for several years. The authors reported findings of a prospective randomised trial in 60 adult patients. Inclusion criteria were acute vertigo...
Bamboo nodes – a case series
Bamboo nodes are band-like, cream-coloured submucosal deposits affecting the middle third of the vocal cord. They are reported to affect women exclusively and are frequently bilateral but can be asymmetrical. They are distinct from vocal cord nodules but can be...
Facial palsy: What do patients and healthcare care about?
The article describes the process for establishing a collaborative research agenda to address gaps in understanding of the diagnosis, treatment management of facial palsy. A Delphi technique was used in order to establish a facial palsy research agenda. In round...
