Journal Reviews
Does the season affect the diagnosis of vestibular disorders?
There are mixed results in the literature regarding seasonal variation in the presentation of various peripheral vestibular disorders. In this large population study involving over 20,000 patients recruited from 116 ENT practices across Germany, the authors analysed the demographic characteristics...
A voice as smooth as silk?
A number of materials currently exist for vocal fold injection medialisation. Popular options include calcium hydroxylapatite (CaHA), hyaluronic acid (HA) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The authors of this paper state that there is an unmet need for an injectable material that...
Salvage surgery vs. repeat stereotactic radiosurgery for progressing vestibular schwannomas
This large multicentre case series of patients treated twice with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for progressing vestibular schwannomas (VS) is reported by the International Gamma Knife Radiosurgery consortium. Progression of tumour growth after primary SRS is rare but does occur. Complications...
Endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery versus dopamine agonist therapy for microprolactinomas
This study addresses the importance of the location of microprolactinomas in determining prognosis after surgery. Long-term dopamine agonist treatment is the current standard of treatment for microprolactinomas. However, patients often seek surgical removal. The authors of this study retrospectively analysed...
Home alone with aphasia
Relationships and social networks are known to impact outcome following a stroke. Studies have shown that group-housed animals who have had a stroke show greater neurological recovery than those who are isolated. Similarly, adults who are socially isolated following a...
Can you hear the speech disorder?
Dysarthria is often the first or most pronounced feature of a Parkinson’s disease (PD) presentation, yet may be difficult to discern from normal ageing changes that impact voice and speech. Thus, it is important to be able to differentiate in...
Is there increased cardiovascular risk with macrolide antibiotics?
This month’s Ed’s Choice delightfully reviews the potential cardiovascular consequences of long-term macrolide use in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis. This used to be one of my ‘go-to’ topics of conversation at home after a bad day at work, although...
Intratympanic steroids - to give or not to give?
The treatment of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is controversial and different modes of steroids have been tried without any universal consensus. Various authors have reported combined oral and intratympanic steroid therapy in SSNHL, with consistent results in several...
Are elective neck dissections needed during salvage laryngectomy?
There has recently been a move away from elective neck dissections in the setting of salvage laryngectomy. This has mainly resulted from an appreciation of the increase in morbidity, in particular pharyngocutaneous fistula formation, and an improvement in cross-sectional imaging...
Management of frontal sinus fractures
Frontal sinus fractures are uncommon (associated with around 5-15% of facial fractures). The authors divide frontal sinus fractures into isolated anterior table fractures, fractures involving the frontal sinus outflow tract and posterior table fractures, discuss some of the recent relevant...
Assessing post-extubation dysphagia on the intensive care unit
The incidence of post-extubation dysphagia (PED) is reported to be about 12% in the general ICU population and around 18% in patients admitted to ICU as emergencies. PED was found to be an independent predictor of 28-day and 90-day mortality....
The hippo and the nose
Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) leads to histological changes including thickening of the basilar membrane and epithelial proliferation. Molecular mechanisms underlying these changes are still not fully clear. A signalling pathway called the hippo with Yes‐associated protein (YAP) as...
