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Radiological diagnosis of mastoiditis in patients screened for acoustic neuroma

Magnetic resonance imaging is the ‘gold standard’ for screening patients suspected to have acoustic neuroma. Various abnormalities are picked up through this investigation, one of which, not uncommonly reported, is mastoiditis. This requires referral to otolaryngology and further evaluation. In...

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...

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...

Pituitary tumour associated headaches

This longitudinal cohort study presents data with significant clinical implications for patients with headaches and the clinicians and surgeons who treat them. For the study, patients completed a self-administered survey on headache characteristics on initial presentation and after surgery of...

Hearing protectors and speech perception

This study tested 31 subjects using hearing protectors by maintaining a constant intensity level for the speech signal while varying background noise levels. The goal was to use this test to detect speech perceptual abilities under different hearing protectors –...

Alcohol and the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR)

I was drawn to this paper initially for slightly unscientific reasons but in fact it proved a worthwhile read. It describes the effect of alcohol consumption on the VOR of eight healthy subjects as measured using video head impulse testing...

Rhoton’s Atlas of Head, Neck, and Brain

Albert Rhoton was a renowned American neurosurgeon with an intense interest in anatomy. This book was published after his death in 2016 and aims to continue Rhoton’s philosophy of patients benefit deriving from surgeons’ knowledge and understanding of complex anatomy....

Bell’s palsy incidence in Korean population

Bell’s palsy is an acute idiopathic paresis or paralysis of the peripheral facial nerve. It is the most common cause of facial nerve palsy with a reported incidence ranging from 11.5–55.3 per 100,000. The aetiology remains unclear. Several studies have...