Otosclerosis - to scan or not to scan?

In an era of insidiously reducing thresholds for investigating patients, Maxwell and colleagues pose an important question: is high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) prior to stapes surgery for otosclerosis worthwhile? Their practice typically considers HRCT for cases of suspected otosclerosis presenting...

A new tool for assessing otoscopy skills

Medical and audiology students need to be proficient in performing otoscopy in order to undertake the routine practice required of them at work upon graduation. One significant challenge in teaching otoscopy is the lack of objective and validated assessment tools...

Office-based otology procedures

This edition of the Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America covers office-based surgery in ENT. This article discusses procedures in otology that could be performed in the outpatient setting and covers innovations in office-based otologic procedures. The endoscope features prominently in...

The video head impulse test: an aid to the diagnosis of spinocerebellar ataxias

Spinocerebellar and Friedreich ataxias (SCA and FA) by their nature present in neuro-otology clinics. The diagnosis is ultimately genetic but the authors investigated the characteristics of the VOR using the video head impulse test (vHIT) in order to distinguish between...

Evidence for balloon eustachian tuboplasty

Balloon eustachian tuboplasty is an emerging intervention aimed at the management of eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) and its sequelae. The authors acknowledge that ETD is a common but frequently ill-defined problem, with no well-established direct treatment. They performed a systematic...