Journal Reviews
Paediatric nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Between 11 and 18% of nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC) occur in the paediatric age group but there are no specific management guidelines for this age group. Tunisia is a region with an intermediate incidence of NPC, the authors studied 40 cases...
Multi-layered repair of lateral sphenoid CSF rhinorrhoea
This case series describes the author’s results with repairing lateral sphenoid encephalocoeles in seven patients. Alloderm inlay with abdominal fat onlay and nasoseptal flap onlay repair resulted in a 100% success rate with no recurrence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhoea,...
Post-thyroidectomy vocal cord palsy: are there long-term sequelae?
This is a well written paper utilising the Hospital Episode Statistics dataset for all thyroidectomies performed in England between 2004 and 2012. The study had a very impressive 43,515 participants and only included young, fit patients undergoing thyroidectomy once for...
The hot nose
Capsaicin nasal spray can offer moderate to significant symptomatic relief to 70-80% of patients with idiopathic rhinitis (IR). Efficacy was also shown in lab studies. Nasal hyper reactivity (NHR), absence of allergy / infective rhinosinusitis, age limits (18-60), no anatomical...
The double-half bilobed flap or traditional bilobed flap: which is better?
Reconstruction of the nasal tip following ablative surgery can be taxing. The nasal tip is a very visible area with largely immovable skin and reconstruction needs an appreciation of the various subunits to achieve best results. The traditional superiorly based...
The newest robot from da Vinci – what can it offer for hypopharyngeal cancer surgery?
The standard existing da Vinci surgical robot (the Si model) has been much maligned for not being optimally designed for transoral access and endoscopic manoeuvrability in head and neck surgery. This preclinical work from Holsinger and his team looks at...
How to talk about hearing aid costs?
Money is always a controversial topic if discussed in reference to healthcare. This study raises the interesting topic of difficulties when it comes to discussing the costs of hearing aids with customers. Sixty-two audiological appointments were recorded and discussions concerning...
Static positional nystagmus
This study aimed to clarify the interpretation of positional nystagmus (PN) by looking at the current criteria for significance of PN, comparison of PN in symptomatic patients with normative data, prevalence of PN among participants with balance problems and assessing...
Developmental language disorder
Disorders such as attention deficit disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder and developmental dyslexia have received widespread recognition. As a result, children affected by these conditions are able to receive remedial services. In this article, the author discusses the possible reasons...
Obstructive sleep apnoea: Does maxillomandibular advancement work?
This is a paper from the Netherlands reviewing 62 patients who underwent maxillomandibular advancement for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea. The authors observed a 71% success rate with mean apnoea hypopnea index (AHI) reduction of 69%. There was no...
Cinch suture: Does it work?
Flaring of the nostrils is a common side-effect of a maxillary osteotomy. At times flaring is minimal or of no significance. In some instances, it can be a significant postoperative concern to the patient, even to the extent of declining...
CT-scan instead of rigid bronchoscopy in paediatric foreign body aspiration?
Many centres would still use rigid bronchoscopy as the gold standard for possible foreign body aspiration (FBA) in children. Evidence is growing that CT scanning in these situations is a reliable alternative, especially as rigid bronchoscopy (RB) still carries a...
