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Well drilling vs. subperiosteal pocket for cochlear implants – comparison of operative time, complications and cost-effectiveness

The choice of method for securing the receiver/stimulator (R/S) package during cochlear implant surgery is usually dependant on several factors, but primarily surgeon preference. The initial recommendation from manufacturers was to drill a bony well (WD technique) and use bony...

Essentials of Modern Hearing Aids - Selection, Fitting, Verification

In the preface to this book, the authors state that the purpose of the book is to take “a student through the entire hearing aid process from beginning to end in a logical and clinically applicable manner”. The book eschews...

Comparing patient and surgeon concerns in sinus surgery

This prospective observational study had a total of 180 patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis with or without polyposis. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance. Subjects felt the greatest level of concern regarding potential...

Thyroid nodule update

This excellent article summarises the current diagnostic difficulties with an endocrine gland that frequently produces nodules, some of which may harbour malignancy. At 50 years of age and over there is about a 50% chance of having a nodule; at...

Tracheostomy safety project

Tracheostomy care is evolving, with the majority of procedures now performed percutaneously to facilitate weaning from mechanical ventilation in the critically ill. Traditional surgical indications remain, but surgical tracheostomies are increasingly performed in more complex patients. This brings unique challenges...

Cochlear implants with an absent or hypoplastic cochlear nerve?

The cornerstone of successful cochlear implantation has been the presence of a population of cochlear nerve endings which are able to mount a neural response to electrical stimulation. The authors of this paper present their experience of five children with...

Resection margins in head and neck surgery

Although an increasing proportion of head and neck malignancies are treated with non-surgical modalities, when surgery is undertaken an incomplete clearance results in significantly worse prognosis. However, the intraoperative assessment of an adequate margin is difficult. The personal practice of...

Objective versus subjective – again!

The use of objective measurements of nasal airflow has a long history; however, its clinical application remains, at most, patchy. The main reason for that has been the lack of convincing studies showing a good correlation between the findings of,...

Cheek reconstruction following melanoma excision

Malignant melanoma occurs most commonly on the cheek and thus is usually diagnosed early, and rarely needs large reconstructions for advanced disease. This is a retrospective study looking at 26 patients that had undergone treatment for cheek melanomas between 1996...

The impact of bilateral implantation on language outcomes

An American study retrospectively looked at the language outcomes of 204 children implanted either bilaterally, sequentially or unilaterally. All children received their first implant before the age of three years, and language measures were collected when the children were aged...