Gabriel Weston’s new novel chronicles four traumatic weeks in the life of its narrator, Dr Nancy Mullion. Nancy is a young trainee in obstetrics and gynaecology, the subject of a General Medical Council (GMC) investigation into her clinical performance following...
Healthcare systems and training programmes vary significantly across the world. By learning about other healthcare systems, we can identify blind spots in our own system and continue to improve training. Sofia Anastasiadou, an ENT Registrar in South West England, describes...
Joseph‑Ignace Guillotin. The politician and physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814) was so disgusted by brutal head and shoulder injuries sustained in ‘failed attempts’ by drunken axe-wielding executioners during the French Revolution that he and surgeon Antoine Louis (1723-1792) advocated not only...
Language and communication difficulties are common in Alzheimer’s disease and, of course, language-led dementia (primary progressive aphasia). Communication difficulties are highlighted as one of the biggest burdens for family members caring for loved ones with dementia. This is often associated...
The creator of ENT Expert Opinion, Dr Niall Jefferson, was in the midst of his surgical training in Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery in Australia in 2012. In contemplating his upcoming Fellowship exams, he began to seek out resources that...
There are few ENT surgeons who have as much insight into singers’ problems as Nick Gibbins. A good knowledge of working patterns, repertoire and the physiology of ‘vocal athletes’ is essential. He shares a few thoughts with us. When deciding...
This retrospective study compares paediatric with adult patients undergoing pituitary adenoma surgery over a period of 26 years at a single institution. All surgeries were performed via a sublabial approach using the operating microscope. An endoscope was used occasionally for...
Several factors are responsible for readmission after acoustic tumour removal. The authors retrospectively studied the association between hospital, patient and insurance factors with the rate of readmission following acoustic tumour removal in the United States using the Nationwide Readmission Database...
There are a multitude of ways in which to damage the nasal epithelium, whether iatrogenically through nasal surgery, via injury, allergy, infection or inhalation of an environmental pollutant. This study looks at the role of the herb rosemary, in the...
This paper presents the largest series of pre-school age children undergoing tympanoplasty compared with older children. The authors have collected much prospective data on 259 children undergoing 284 surgeries so were able to perform multivariate analysis. The age groupings of...
There are a variety of ways to reduce the bulk of hypertrophied turbinates. Kimberley Lau and Showkat Mirza describe their technique which can be used in difficult cases and with minimal morbidity. As ever, one aim should be to avoid...
This retrospective Turkish study looked at the audiological and surgical outcomes of 40 patients who underwent endoscopic stapes surgery over a three-year period. To assess the learning curve, the patients were divided into two groups based on the date of...