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The association between pregnancy and otosclerosis could be due to psychosocial factors around parenthood rather than biological factors

The association between pregnancy and otosclerosis is controversial. If pregnancy physiologically increases the likelihood of otosclerosis progression, then one would expect that there would be a difference between male and female patients with regards to whether having children affects how...

Tablet-audiometer school hearing screening in the context of a developing country

This paper presents a novel use of innovation to tackle the challenges of providing school-age hearing screening in low and middle income countries (in this case Nicaragua, second poorest in the western hemisphere), from the creators of a tablet-based audiometer...

Allergic rhinitis, the usual suspects

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is characterised by allergen binding to IgE on mast cells and basophils and subsequent histamine, prostaglandine D2 (PGD2) and cysteinyl leukotrienes (cysLTs) release causing early-phase response. This is followed by late-phase response mediated by eosinophils. Other cells,...

Advances in diagnosis and management of allergic rhinitis

This article reviews advances in the diagnosis and management of allergic rhinitis. Recent advances in the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis include testing of local immunoglobulin E (IgE), urinary test to diagnose aspirin hypersensitivity and optical rhinometry to assess degree of...

Assessment of genetic disorders: congenital sensorineural hearing loss

Severe or profound sensorineural hearing impairment (SNHI) is a common birth defect, affecting approximately 1 in 1000 newborns [1]. SNHI may result from environmental causes or have a genetic basis. The genetic causes can be further subdivided into non-syndromic (isolated...

Muscle tension dysphagia: an underdiagnosed problem

In this article, the authors introduce the description of swallowing problems which have been recently attributed to muscle tension dysphagia (MTDg). The authors are clear that this is a diagnosis of exclusion, and it is important to rule out other...

American Thyroid Association Thyroid Cancer Management Guidelines: utilising risk stratification to optimise patient care

The steep rise in thyroid surgery around the globe, has led to the development of risk stratification to define the indications for surgery and the extent of surgery as well as adjuvant therapies for papillary carcinoma, to avoid over treatment....

Patient initiated follow-up in head and neck cancer

Is it time for a change in the way we follow up head and neck cancer patients after treatment? Paul Nankivell and Hisham Mehanna explain the rationale for the PETNECK2 trial. After completion of curative intent treatment, clinical follow-up currently...

MRI scanning patients with cochlear implants and auditory brainstem implants

In the last five to six decades, MRI scanning has gone from physics experiments in Nottingham University through to Nobel prize-winning work by Sir Peter Mansfield and Paul Lauterbur, to a ‘routine’ imaging modality with an estimated 60 million MRI...

Will it ever happen?

Audiology is a rapidly evolving field, with many exciting developments on the horizon. David Baguley identified some topics of interest, and asked some international experts ‘will it ever happen?’ Gene therapy for deafness After years of development, gene therapy for...

Rapid, non-invasive and differential diagnosis of laryngopharyngeal reflux

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is a significant condition that frequently goes undiagnosed at a primary care level, resulting in patients being unnecessarily referred to secondary care with symptoms such as a sore throat, persistent cough, vocal problems and issues with swallowing.

Interacoustics introduces the game-changing Audible Contrast Threshold (ACT™) test

For more than a century, hearing aids have been prescribed based solely on the pure tone audiogram.With the introduction of ACT, Interacoustics goes beyond the audiogram, and is now able to address the number one complaint from people with hearing loss: hearing conversations in noisy situations.