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2218 results found

Swallow toxicity score (DIGEST) and its clinical utility in oncology practice

The Dynamic Imaging Grade of Swallowing Toxicity (DIGEST, graded from 0–4) was developed as a tool for clinicians to grade dysphagia from modified barium swallow studies (MBSS). The purpose is to provide a common terminology for adverse events of pharyngeal...

Honouring Raj Singh on International Cochlear Implant Day

The cochlear implant team at University Hospital Crosshouse has honoured the founder of the Scottish Cochlear Implant Programme by renaming its department after him. Since International Cochlear Implant Day on Friday 25 February, it is to be known as the Raj Singh Cochlear Implant Unit.

Medication and its effect on the larynx

This article summarises different medications and their effect on the voice. A growing number of patients we see in clinic are on multiple medications that could affect vocal cord function. The author summarises different classes of medications and their potential...

Hyposalivation: a review of current and future treatments

Hyposalivation remains a stubbornly difficult condition to treat, but novel therapies may not be far away. Saliva has many essential functions, including aiding digestion and swallowing, lubrication, maintaining tooth integrity and antibacterial activity. When patients experience reduced saliva production (hyposalivation),...

Association between Meniere’s disease and vestibular migraine

Meniere’s disease (MD) and vestibular migraine (VM) are two conditions with overlap in their symptoms. There is often a lack of understanding regarding symptom-based differentiation between them. MD presents with episodic vertigo, fluctuating hearing loss and tinnitus. MD has been...

Psychoacoustics: Auditory Perception of Listeners with Normal Hearing and Hearing Loss - Second Edition

Dr Lentz’s Psychoacoustics: Auditory Perception of Listeners with Normal Hearing and Hearing Loss, Second Edition is a 287-page introduction to the eponymous field that fills some (like myself) with great interest, though I have recognised the soporific effect of even...

How to tell if a bone anchored hearing device is working?

Bone anchored hearing aids are becoming increasingly more commonplace with more than 120,000 users worldwide. These devices are based on the principle of direct bone conduction, where sound is transmitted directly through the skull via a titanium implant to the...

BLA Connections: A Clear Voice – BLA podcast celebrates its first anniversary with the launch of series 3

The British Laryngological Association's popular podcast, BLA Connections: A Clear Voice, is now a year old and continues to go from strength to strength. In May 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BLA launched its first...

Update on the development of an implantable vestibular prosthesis

Cochlear implants have revolutionised the management of profound hearing loss. Might vestibular implants be the future for the treatment of bilateral vestibular failure? James Johnston and Neil Donnelly explore. The vestibular system is highly complex, integrating visual, labyrinthine and proprioceptive...

An algorithm to distinguish between distant metastases and metachronous lung primary in patients with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer

Distinguishing between distant metastases of HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) and metachronous primary lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is important as it has implications for treatment, prognosis counselling, and registry data. Although p16 immunohistochemistry (p16 IHC) is widely accepted...

The future of biologics?

This paper takes a deep dive into how eosinophilia affects the responsiveness of the host to the two monoclonal antibodies mepolizumab and bendralizumab, both of which are active against IL5. We know that eosinophils are attracted and trapped into the...

Motor learning: better knowing how, not how well

Motor learning is described as the ability to perform a motor skill due to practice and/or experience. Research on interventions to enhance limb motor skills can be influenced through the amount, distribution, variability and schedule of practice as well as...