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Static positional nystagmus

This study aimed to clarify the interpretation of positional nystagmus (PN) by looking at the current criteria for significance of PN, comparison of PN in symptomatic patients with normative data, prevalence of PN among participants with balance problems and assessing...

Is Gamma Knife Surgery effective for intracanalicular vestibular schwannomas?

Vestibular schwannomas (VSs) are rare, occurring in approximately five per 100,000 adults a year. In circa 8% of cases, the VS is contained within the internal auditory canal, i.e. intracanalicular (iVS). Although radiosurgery is a recognised treatment modality for VSs,...

Using SNOT-22 to predict revision sinus cases

A simple way of predicting which patients will require revision endoscopic surgery does not yet exist. This study, which is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study, part of the UK national audit, aims to predict this by using a relatively simple,...

Marshmallows for swallowing assessments!

The complaint of ‘food sticking in my throat’ is one many of us will have heard several times in clinical practice. The authors of this study report the prevalence of this symptom to be between 5-8% in the general population...

Chronic rhinosinusitis – a pre-malignant condition?

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a relatively uncommon diagnosis in the West but is prevalent in Southeast Asia. Several factors have been established to be associated with a higher risk of developing NPC, including salted fish consumption, smoking, alcohol, and Epstein...

Vascular disease and sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Oussoren et al performed a systematic review and meta-analyses of current literature on the above topic: specifically, cardiovascular risk factors for developing idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (iSSNHL), the presence of white matter hyperintensities in patients with iSSNHL and the...

Olfactory ensheathing cells and their safe harvest

This interesting and unique paper not only demonstrates that biopsy of olfactory mucosa in the region of the superior turbinate is a safe procedure but also provides valuable insight into an engaging area of research by a world class team...

Measuring is understanding: an unsupervised PROM clustering of CRS patients

It has been clear for quite some years, at least for anyone dealing daily with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients, that CRS is an ‘umbrella’ diagnosis. There are significant differences between patients, including different demographic data, different endoscopic and radiographic images,...

Postoperative ultrasound surveillance in patients undergoing hemithyroidectomy

Hemithyroidectomy, as opposed to total thyroidectomy with radioiodine remnant ablation, is now increasingly undertaken for low-risk, differentiated thyroid cancer. If on histology, this proves ‘high risk’, completion thyroidectomy is done fairly soon. In this retrospective study, a total of 105...

Is submandibular gland transfer effective in prevention of post irradiation xerostomia in head and neck cancer patients?

Post irradiation xerostomia is a common side effect of irradiation to the head and neck region, with up to 90% of patients reporting some symptoms. Submandibular glands account for 70% of resting saliva production. Surgically transferring the submandibular gland to...

High dose betahistine as effective as, but slower acting compared to intratympanic dexamethasone in intractable Meniere’s disease

The management of intractable Meniere’s disease poses a complex conundrum to otolaryngologists. The focus of treatment is decreasing the severity and frequency of vertigo and tinnitus whilst trying to preserve hearing. Betahistine has been used for many years in the...