Journal Reviews
Vestibular functions of hereditary hearing loss patients with GJB2 mutations
Mutations of the GJB2 gene are a common cause of deafness, being found in 15-25% of cases of congenital deafness. Over 100 mutations are now recognised and may be associated with a hearing loss ranging from mild to profound. This...
Hyperbaric oxygen for sudden onset sensorineural hearing loss
Idiopathic sudden onset sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is a relatively common presentation to the ENT emergency department, and can have profound effects on patients’ lives. This retrospective study looked at 15 patients who were treated with hyperbaric oxygen after failure...
Serum urea and epistaxis
This was a small retrospective review from Swansea looking at 278 patients who attended a teaching hospital Accident and Emergency department with a diagnosis of epistaxis. Only 119 of these patients had their serum urea measured. The investigators found that...
A new free flap for the head and neck?
Reconstruction of major defects in the head and neck is usually an area where maxillofacial or plastic surgery colleagues come to assist, with consideration of the size and function any repair has to fulfil. Whilst the radial forearm free flap...
Plunging new depths for the treatment of ranulas
Within our scope of practice, we encounter a number of salivary gland pathologies, including the sublingual gland. Clinical signs are often subtle, and even with meticulous surgical management, morbidity can easily occur. Textbooks advocate excision of the gland as the...
Post-operative debridement following FESS
Postoperative treatment pathways for patients following functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) vary widely with the topic of debridement of the nasal cavity a subject of conjecture. This article is the result of two independent reviewers using the consort guidance for...
Head and neck cancer recurrence: a prospective analysis
The ‘cancer journey’ is synonymous for many individuals worldwide with frequent post-treatment hospital visits where the spectre of possible recurrence hangs over the consultation. This is a prospective analysis of 401 follow-up visits in Melbourne, Australia looking at follow-up in...
Nursing care for ENT patients
Increasingly within the UK, issues related to bed availability can lead to ENT patients receiving care away from previously well-established specialist wards. This is a cause for concern in many institutions and the authors looked to assess this. They demonstrated...
Differences in timbral cues’ perception between teenagers with cochlear implants and those with normal hearing
The authors aimed to assess timbral cues’ perception of teenagers with cochlear implants and compare it to the respective perception of normally hearing teenagers. Thirty-four teenagers were included in the study, nine Korean adolescents with cochlear implants and 25 adolescents...
Do modern multiple microphones with beamforming facility really help implantees?
In this study the authors aimed to assess the benefit beamforming multiple microphones provide to implantees. Speech reception thresholds were assessed in different situations; fixed masking noise from eight loudspeakers around the subject at 0°, ±45°, ±90°, ±135° and 180°...
Transnasal oesophagoscopy in head and neck cancer: an update
The role of transnasal oesophagoscopy (TNE) in the management of head and neck cancer patients is evolving. Until 1990, oesphagoscopy required specialist endoscopists, general anaesthesia or sedation. This review succinctly summarises updates in the evidence for TNE in: i) Screening...
Management of the neck in maxillary sinus carcinomas
Primary malignant tumours of the sinonasal tract account for less than 10% of head and neck cancers, of which the maxilla is the second most common subsite and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most prevalent histological type. Maxillary SCCs...
