Journal Reviews
Malignant change of pleomorphic adenoma
Pleomorphic adenoma is the most common salivary gland tumour. The potential to undergo malignant transformation is rare but well described. The authors of this article present a case report of metastasis where the preceding submandibular gland pleomorphic adenoma preserves its...
British English speech test for occupational hearing assessment
It is very important to properly assess occupational fitness for several occupations such as police officer, military personnel or fire fighter. The aim of this study was to develop a British English speech in noise (SiN) test as a tool...
Self-report of hearing aids handling difficulties
The authors have raised an interesting subject concerning the ability of customers to self-assess their hearing aid handling skills. Previous studies showed that 96% of customers when asked if they are able to manage their hearing aids answered ‘yes’. However,...
Tongue twisters to evaluate speech disorders
This interesting study compared errors in tongue twisters produced by adult patients with dysarthria with those produced by age-matched healthy controls. Audio recordings of all patients while they were vocalising tongue twisters were studied. The authors marked one word prominently...
Relationship between early language delays and long-term outcomes
This epidemiological study from Australia, spanning 16 years, explores the influence of early language delays over time on outcomes in affected adults. Based on vocabulary skills at age five, the study population was classified into four groups: persistently good, persistently...
Risk factors in free flap failure
This is a retrospective analysis from China of 881 free flaps over nearly four years, 49 of which were ‘taken back’, 26 of which were lost, giving a 97% success rate. The commonest cause of flap failure was venous thrombosis....
Keep the condyle if you can
This is a study of 41 patients who underwent benign tumour resection and reconstruction over a four year period. Patients fell into three groups; condyle preserved, condyle sacrificed, condyle frozen in combination with a DCIA free flap. Following this, they...
Intracranial complications of otitis media – the difference between kids and adults
Despite a decrease in intracranial complications from otogenic infections since the introduction of antibiotics, there is still morbidity and mortality associated with this. This group from the Netherlands conducted a retrospective review of all the patients treated for intracranial complications...
Same, same: similarities in conversation between people with dementia and aphasia and their loved ones
This article proposes that studying the commonalities between the effect of dementia and aphasia (post stroke language impairment) on communication could result in greater sharing of clinically relevant interventions. To date the separate study has resulted in significant separation of...
Do nasal septal deviation and septoplasy affect Eustachian tube function?
The authors suggest that nasal septal deviation (NSD) or septoplasty possibly affect Eustachian tube (ET) function. They conclude this from their prospective study on 25 patients who underwent septoplasty for NSD. These patients aged above 14 years had no other...
Approach to the orbital floor: which is better?
During skeletal surgery sufficient exposure is key – often a direct approach through the overlying tissues is the easiest route. In the face, however, as the scar would be readily visible, approaches are designed to hide this. Surgical access to...
Mindfulness meditation versus relaxation therapy for tinnitus
Tinnitus, defined by McFadden as “a conscious experience of sound that originates in the head of its owner, without an external acoustic source”, has a high prevalence and variable psychological impact. It results from maladaptation of the brain to a...
