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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...

Core biopsies are good enough for lymphomas

This paper, from the South of England, has reviewed ultrasound-guided core needle biopsies over a six-year period investigating the use of the detection of head and neck lymphomas. There were 367 samples included from 226 patients; 215 of the 226...

Choline PET-CT: an accurate diagnostic tool for the detection of parathyroid adenoma?

Hyperparathyroidism (HPT) is an endocrine disorder characterised by an increase in the secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH), with a resulting increase in calcium plasma levels, which can cause renal lithiasis, fractures, and osteoporosis, the most frequent symptoms of the disease....

Can you hear the speech disorder?

Dysarthria is often the first or most pronounced feature of a Parkinson’s disease (PD) presentation, yet may be difficult to discern from normal ageing changes that impact voice and speech. Thus, it is important to be able to differentiate in...

Differences between paediatric and adult cholesteatomas

An understanding of the differences between adult and paediatric cholesteatomas should be helpful in more effective management of the disease in children. In this study, the authors focused their comparison between paediatric and adult cholesteatomas to the operative findings, rates...

One anastomosis or two

This is a cumulative meta-analysis from Hong Kong reviewing 27 articles and a total of 7,389 flaps. The authors, at the outset, acknowledge that the number of anastomoses is not the only factor of venous compromise and flap failure. Nonetheless...

Are upper respiratory symptoms and macroscopic changes in children always due to gastro-oesphageal reflux?

In children, symptoms such as chronic cough, wheezing, stridor, voice changes, persistent asthma and dental erosion are often presumed to be due to gastro-oesophageal reflux and empirical treatment with PPIs is offered. Usual investigations, such as a barium meal, gastroscopy...

Amount of dietary iodine and thyroid cancer

Two molecular scientists from Zurich wrote this paper as a systematic review, asking the question of whether dietary iodine intake is a risk factor for developing thyroid cancer later on life. They speculate that low iodine intake is a risk...

Endoscopic findings and prediction of outcome in unilateral vocal cord paralysis

Unilateral vocal cord paralysis which is not due to irreversible causes such as malignancy, systemic disease or trauma varies considerably in terms of full recovery and restoration of voice. Usually electromyography is used to make possible predictions, but this facility...

Facial Landmark localisation by curvature maps and profile analysis

The detection of three dimensional (3D) landmarks by scanning surfaces is a well established method in medical science. Anatomical landmarks are visually or palpably detectable and act as reference points for clinical measurements. When measuring these landmarks with a sliding...