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How the world sees facial palsy patients

This paper from Australia gives an insightful perspective on the impact of facial paralysis on patients, and may explain the well-documented poor quality of life scores in this patient group, particularly those ‘successfully reconstructed’ with surgery. It explores how the...

How much does it cost to simulate speech and language therapy placements?

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists report that 20% of speech and language therapy positions are unfilled in the UK. Consequently, there is an urgent need to offer as many training courses as possible to fill these gaps....

Paediatric hearing following chemotherapy

This study examined the effect of platinum compounds on hearing in 104 children with solid tumours. As would be expected, this group was heterogeneous and included a range of ages, tumour types, chemotherapeutic agents and dosing regimens. Age-appropriate audiometry was...

Safety of outpatient thyroid and parathyroid surgery

This study examined the safety and outcomes of matched groups of patients, undergoing either inpatient thyroid / parathyroid surgery or being discharged within eight hours of surgery. There were 2,362 patients in each group who were matched by a ‘propensity...

Steroids pre-FESS

This meta-analysis and systematic review from the Netherlands and the UK aims to answer the question of whether corticosteroids inhaled and / or taken orally are beneficial to patients with chronic rhinosinusitis undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery. Refreshingly 18 RCTs...

MRI and the endolymphatic space

This is an interesting study which was performed to evaluate the endolymphatic space in patients with endolymphatic hydrops (EH), using MR imaging. Seven patients aged between 21–77 years; five female, two male with unilateral or bilateral symptoms of EH were...

Learning curve for sialendoscopy

Sialendoscopy represents a minimally invasive technique that permits direct salivary tree visualisation and treatment using endoscopic techniques. Previous studies have shown that it is an efficacious, safe and potentially gland preserving method to treat major salivary gland disease. However, it...

Stimulation for a good night’s sleep

This article was an interesting read. It is an update from the authors’ original paper printed in the NEJM in 2014 regarding the results of an implantable pulse generator (IPG) for stimulating the hypoglossal nerve in response to respiration. This...

Olfactory neuronal damage in sinusitis

So many patients with nasal disorders have poor olfactory function, yet sometimes the nose may seem comparatively clear of conductive problems. This study postulated that neuronal damage in the olfactory apparatus would lead to a leakage of neuron specific enolase...

Thalidomide in HHT

An interesting paper from a specialist centre in the Netherlands regarding the use of thalidomide in HHT patients. The St Antonius hospital has 1238 patients with HHT and 1% of these use thalidomide. The aim was to assess the benefits,...

Surgery in the only hearing ear

In this study the Turkish authors attempted to investigate how quality of life was impacted in patients who underwent surgery for chronic otitis media in their only remaining hearing ear (OHE). Some surgeons view this as high risk due to...

Does teaching affect patient satisfaction?

Teaching practice on real patients has several advantages in terms of lower costs and genuine clinical material but it is often a concern that using real patients for undergraduate teaching may result in patient dissatisfaction and many patients would prefer...