“None of today’s young doctors can start to imagine the feeling of professional helplessness and despair that prevailed before the invention of the laryngeal mirror. Thousands of people died, whom we were not able to help, or even bring relief...
Medical journals have a fascinating history. One early journal, The Lancet, was founded in 1823 and its first Editor, London surgeon Thomas Wakley (1795-1862), had a turbulent life. He lived in an era where quackery was rife and where the...
Cochlear synaptopathy is a condition in which noise interrupts the synaptic communication between sensory inner hair cells and low spontaneous rate cochlear nerve fibres. Since these nerve fibres are associated with signal coding in noisy backgrounds, their disruption leads to...
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is often idiopathic. Although the aetiology of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is unclear, vascular compromise is one of the frequently proposed hypotheses to explain its pathophysiology. Existing studies have shown an association between ISSNHL...
Acute peripheral facial palsy occurs annually in 30 in 1,000,000 individuals in the general population. Bell’s palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome account for about 70% of cases of peripheral facial palsy. They are believed to be caused by viral reactivation...
Otitis media with effusion (OME), also known as glue ear, is a common cause of hearing loss in children. Most cases resolve spontaneously within three months. Early and proper management of OME can help avoid hearing and speech impairment that...
The closure of the vocal folds during swallowing is known to contribute to airway protection along with epiglottic inversion and closure of the false vocal folds. It is therefore plausible to expect that unilateral vocal fold impairment without complete closure...
Vestibular rehabilitation is a widely used treatment for vestibular dysfunction. It can improve dizziness, fall risk, balance, and emotional status. However, some patients do not get benefit from vestibular rehabilitation. In this study, the authors assessed the impact of dizziness...
Mr Yakubu Karagama recently returned from a travelling fellowship at Isshiki Memorial Clinic Kyoto where he was delighted to interview Professor Isshiki about his groundbreaking work in laryngeal framework surgery. Professor Isshiki (left) discusses the history of thyroplasty with Mr...
Current treatment options for a bilateral vocal cord palsy (tracheostomy, posterior cordotomy, arytenoidectomy) are suboptimal, with a focus primarily on a static means of airway restoration at the expense of voice production and potentially swallow safety. This paper reports on...
Hearing rehabilitation in the elderly is of utmost importance as it is associated with depression and dementia in this age group. Cochlear implantation is indicated for hearing-impaired individuals who do not derive adequate benefit from conventional hearing aids. In this...