Journal Reviews
Use of technological aids and interpretation services
Hearing loss attracts large interest among researchers all over the world due to its prevalence and negative psychological side-effects. Usually hearing loss is managed with hearing aids. However, there are several additional technologies that can be of great help for...
Can telemetry predict sleep apnoea in Pierre Robin sequence?
The aim of this study was to see if telemetry data gathered on patients with Pierre Robin sequence (PRS) correlated with sleep study data. A retrospective review of 46 patients from a tertiary referral centre were included in the study....
Live versus e-learning – which is the most effective communication training approach for health care staff?
If staff are unable to communicate with their patients this can impact negatively on the patient’s healthcare. They may be excluded from decisions about their own care and their rights to informed consent may be violated. Conversation partner training has...
Predicting the prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma after salvage surgery
Loco-regional recurrence of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) continues to be a life-threatening and difficult clinical situation. Salvage surgery can result in significant morbidities, and survival following recurrence is generally poor. In this study from Ontario, Canada, prognostic factors...
Managing the thyroglossal duct cyst
Although the operation to remove thyroglossal cysts and their tracts is commonly performed, a full understanding of the possible anatomical locations of the tracts may be less appreciated. This article helps the reader understand the possible variations available which should...
No increase in papillary thyroid cancer during pregnancy
This small study of 19 pregnant patients, who were diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer before or during the early stages of pregnancy (up to 20 weeks), assessed the changes of thyroid tumours during pregnancy. Conducted at a single centre over...
What causes delays in head and neck cancer treatment?
This article identifies which factors are responsible for delays in cancer management by a retrospective case-control series study, statistically comparing two groups, each of 50 patients, one receiving timely treatment and the other breaching set targets. It was observed that...
Healthcare economics and device approvals
We use several FDA-approved devices in our clinical practice but are rarely aware about the stringent procedures followed by manufacturers, as well as the FDA, before the devices become commercially available. The authors of this paper undertook a comprehensive review...
Discharge planning
For a specialty such as ENT in which so many procedures are performed as day case surgery, there is a pressing need for objective discharge criteria to facilitate safe decision making post-op. This review strikes a good balance between prescriptive...
Concussion and vestibular processing deficits
It is well known that patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), also referred to as concussion, display longstanding vestibular symptoms but often clinical signs and objective vestibular function test abnormalities are lacking. The aim of the study was to...
Are vascular loops at the CPA of any clinical significance?
Neurotologists have grappled with this question for many years. The aim of the study was to determine the clinical relationship of vertigo symptoms with vascular loop compression syndrome using 3D T2WI turbo spin echo high-resolution MRI. The study included 417...
Long-term results of injection laryngoplasty with polydimethylsiloxane (Vox) for unilateral vocal fold paralysis
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is widely used for vocal cord injections to treat patients with a vocal cord palsy. It is commercially available as the Vox implant system. Alternative compounds that can be employed include hyaluronic acid and calcium hydroxyapatite (Radiesse Voice)....
