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Surgical anatomy for central auditory device implantation

This cadaveric study by researchers in the USA and Japan examined the cerebellopontine angles with the aid of the surgical microscope and 45o endoscope via the retrosigmoid and translabyrinthine approach. Using fibre dissection technique, the ascending auditory pathways between the...

Rare, aggressive pituitary adenomas

This is a review article on published cases of the rare Crooke’s pituitary adenoma. These tumors are usually invasive and may be clinically aggressive; they may be endocrinologically silent or may produce adrenocorticotropic hormone causing Cushing’s disease. They often recur...

Clival chordoma recurrence

Chordomas are generally slow growing and are histologically considered low grade tumours. Their high recurrence rate even after postoperative radiation renders them difficult to treat. This is particularly true for clival chordomas whose deep anatomic location and proximity to vital...

Choosing Wisely!

This article focuses on the prickly topic of healthcare costs and specifically on reducing spending on neuroimaging for headaches. Epidemiological studies indicate that the prevalence of lifetime headaches is 93 to 99% and accounts for 1.5% of all primary care...

Comparing surgical freedom of four transsphenoidal approaches to the sella

Four transspenoidal approaches to the sella were performed and studied by the authors on eight silicon-injected cadaveric heads. Surgical freedom, that is, the ability of the surgeon to move his or her hands in a fixed space, was determined with...

Argh! Facial pain! What to do??

We often come across patients with presentation of facial pain, but unless this is sinugenic in origin, our understanding and management of it can often be found wanting. Craniofacial pain is in fact highly complex and encompasses a wide range...

Outcomes after facial nerve preservation surgery for large vestibular schwannomas

Large vestibular schwannomas (Koos grade three or four) are traditionally treated by surgical resection. Gross total resection of such large tumours often results in facial nerve dysfunction. Hence facial nerve preservation surgery was introduced in which maximal surgical resection is...

Cost effectiveness and vestibular schwannoma surgery

This is the first cost effectiveness modelling study looking at the three main treatment options for small to medium sized vestibular schwannomas. This study uses the widely accepted cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY) outcome measure to evaluate three...

Does vestibular rehabilitation help patients with vestibular migraine? Is this also true if these patients have had a traumatic brain injury?

Vestibular migraine (VM) is a common diagnosis in ENT, and there is growing evidence that vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) is an effective treatment, reducing self-perceived dizziness and improving gait. This is a retrospective review of the outcomes of 93 patients...

Neuromodulation in drug resistant epilepsy

Treatment of epilepsy can be considered generally as medical or surgical. Anti-epileptic drugs achieve a five-year seizure freedom in 54-70% patients. It is estimated that 50-90% of patients with drug-refractory epilepsy may not be candidates for resective surgery. For example,...

Preoperative prediction of pain outcomes in patients with trigeminal neuralgia

The authors of this retrospective study have developed a preoperative trigeminal neuralgia (TN) grading system for the preoperative prediction of long-term pain relief after microvascular decompression (MVD). Patients who had become refractory to or developed toxicity to carbamazepine or oxycarbamazepine...