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Chorda tympani in middle ear surgery

This was a prospective study at a single Belgian centre that aimed to monitor postoperative taste problems after middle ear surgery. The authors also looked at the influence of pathology and manipulation of chorda tympani (CT) on its function. Taste...

Success of butterfly myringoplasty in myringosclerosis

Butterfly inlay myringoplasty is a simple surgical technique used in the repair of tympanic membrane perforation. The authors evaluated the effects of myringosclerosis on the success of surgery by reviewing demographic data, perforation size and hearing outcomes of patients undergoing...

Present and future in myringoplasty

Tympanic membrane perforations are a common finding in ENT practice. Whilst watchful waiting or formal tympanoplasty are standard options – wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a low cost, safe, in-clinic option to immediately help patients (I hear you...

Endoscopic stapes surgery - pearls and pitfalls

Endoscopic ear surgery has gained popularity in recent years with wide panoramic visualisation of the operative field one of its key strengths. This article summarises the approach, set-up and outcomes of patients undergoing endoscopic stapes surgery. A key step during...

What are the non-inflammatory causes of a conductive loss?

This retrospective study looked at patients with an intact tympanic membrane with non-inflammatory causes – i.e. otitis media and cholesteotoma. They document their findings based on exploratory tympanotomy. They operated depending on the findings with either a stapedectomy or a...

The effect on taste buds due to severing of the chorda tympani nerve

The long-term histological effect on taste buds following cutting of the chorda tympani in humans is not clear. Confocal laser scanning allows in-vivo examination of the same group of taste buds and is aiding our understanding of why patients recover...

Which graft is better for type 1 tympanoplasty in elderly patients?

Type 1 tympanoplasty is a procedure performed to repair tympanic membrane perforations, primarily to reduce otorrhoea. This may subsequently lead to improvement of hearing. The common graft materials used are temporalis fascia and cartilage from tragus or concha. The authors...

Diagnostic performance of non-echo-planar diffusion weighted MRI in detection of suspected cholesteatoma

Even though a ‘second look’ remains a gold standard for detection of residual cholesteatoma after intact canal wall techniques, non-echo-planar diffusion weighted MRI is considered a reasonable alternative to avoid further surgery. However, to establish or exclude a cholesteatoma de...

Biologics for deafness

Cochlear implants and hearing aids are inherently limited in their ability to restore ‘natural’ hearing. Biological therapy to treat inner ear pathology still is evolving rapidly with several ongoing clinical trials, though none are available for clinical practice to date....

Outpatient solution for a Patulous tube?

Definitive diagnosis and management of Patulous Eustachian tube (PET) is unsatisfactory. Several different treatment methods are currently used for PET which itself indicates no satisfactory solution. The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes of two different treatment...