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The newest robot from da Vinci – what can it offer for hypopharyngeal cancer surgery?

The standard existing da Vinci surgical robot (the Si model) has been much maligned for not being optimally designed for transoral access and endoscopic manoeuvrability in head and neck surgery. This preclinical work from Holsinger and his team looks at...

Depth of invasion of oral cancer should be incorporated in new AJCC staging system

Since 1977, when the first edition of the Manual for Staging of Cancer was published by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), the primary tumour staging for oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has remained unchanged. In the last four...

A safe and useful surgical procedure for allergic rhinitis?

Although the best management of allergic rhinitis is medical, intractable cases are not uncommon. Immunotherapy helps but is more practical if there is a single allergen involved. The authors compare the effects of submucosal inferior turbinoplasty alone with submucosal turbinoplasty...

Allergy and the ear

Allergic disease is commonly associated with asthma, eczema and rhinosinusitis. The authors reviewed possible associations between allergy and otologic diseases. The authors first explored the possible association between allergy with otitis media with effusion (OME) and found the majority of...

Novel method for determining BCC margins

This correspondence describes a new technique for determining basal cell carcinoma (BCC) borders, to aid in obtaining clear peripheral resection margins. Whilst this can be straightforward in small well-defined nodular BCCs, some BCC subtypes are ill-defined or morphoeic, and resection...

Perception of verticality during attacks of Ménière’s

Ménière’s disease (MD) affects the cochlea and all peripheral vestibular receptors. The perception of verticality, a function of the utricle, is evaluated by the subjective visual vertical (SVV) test. The authors studied SVV in two groups of MD patients: a)...

Impact of COVID-19 on ear surgeries

The authors review the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the practice of ear surgeries in this article. The pandemic has changed how we practise medicine and introduced new guidelines to ensure safety of healthcare personnel. Studies have demonstrated COVID-19...

To scan or not to scan?

This comprehensive review article seeks to establish how useful is MRI in the evaluation of patients with a history of smell loss or distortion. Interestingly, while some studies found the imaging unhelpful, one paper described found a 25% rate of...

Finding the elusive parathyroid glands

While reading in the literature about new advances in knowledge and surgical techniques, it is often easy to lose track of the longstanding knowledge that we all acquired during our training. This is why this article on the anatomy and...