Facial paralysis, whether caused by a virus, tumor, trauma, or congenital abnormality, can be devastating to patients and significantly impact their quality of life, but new treatments and specialized facial nerve centers can make a big difference.
In today’s media-saturated environment, an otolaryngologist’s chances of winding up as a mainstream media source have risen considerably. Although this can be personally and professionally rewarding, physicians must navigate a learning curve and consider some risks.
There are otolaryngologists who focus their surgical practices on patients with thyroid/parathyroid diseases; some have completed fellowships while others have not, and continuing board certification activities aren’t currently focused on this content. These issues, among others, were part of the genesis of the new focused practice designation.
Having a better understanding of what is important to patients and educating patients and referring providers may help decrease the number of patients with an expectation that surgery is the only answer.
ENTtoday serves as a central community publication in our field, and taking on these topics as its editor isn’t for the faint of heart. But with her friendly demeanor and insight, ENTtoday’s first female physician editor, Robin Lindsay, MD, is willing to tackle the challenging issues surfacing in our specialty.
We may be at a saturation point in otolaryngology where the number of fellows is as high as it’s going to get, but who knows what the future holds?
The primary advantage of laryngeal reinnervation is prevention of denervation atrophy, which limits the long-term voice outcomes of static procedures. Recovery or maintenance of muscle tone is expected to lead to more symmetric vibratory masses, symmetric mucosal wave propagation, and improved voice quality.
Platelet-rich plasma has a therapeutic role in hair restoration, with most trials examined having a low risk of bias.
Nuclear medical imaging is strongly recommended in the diagnosis of paragangliomas that are familial, SDHB variants, malignant, or potentially multifocal, but those that have classic presentations do not routinely require peptide receptor imaging.
Middle cranial fossa and transmastoid approaches to superior semicircular canal dehiscence repair are effective approaches that result in acceptable rates of favorable hearing outcomes for patients.
Rapid additive manufacturing of a superlight obturator for large oronasal fistula in pediatric patients are considered more comfortable, more cost-effective, and precise than conventional impression techniques
Novel sternocleidomastoid flap augmentation of tracheal reconstructive technique for invasive thyroid cancer is designed to incorporate the sternocleido-mastoid muscle flap directly over the tracheal suture line to minimize the risk of anastomotic complications.
A multi-database search comparing the diagnostic accuracy among seven radiological methods in analyzing CSF rhinorrhea showed Gd-MRC to be significantly superior to other imaging methods regarding sensitivity and accuracy.
Patients with a diagnosis of trisomy 13 or 18 often require multidisciplinary management, and the range of care spans the breadth of otolaryngology. Although T13 and T18 are considered mostly universally fatal, improvements in cardiac surgery have increased survival rates.
Socioeconomic and patient factors impact two-year survival in patients with newly diagnosed head and neck cancer more than travel distance alone.
The controversial effects of Guizhi decoction added to olfactory training in studies of patients who had been unresponsive to steroid or zinc treatment confers limited functional benefit to patients with traumatic anosmia.
Mastoid obliteration in cholesteatoma surgery tries to combine the advantages of two traditional surgical techniques: canal wall up, which keeps the posterior wall of the outer ear canal intact, and canal wall down, in which the posterior wall is removed, and helps in reconstructing the posterior wall.
Although American Academy of Audiology guidelines call for six to eight aftercare appointments, this criterion can strain in-clinic resources and pose hardships. Reducing to a four-appointment EBM approach delivered efficient and effective audiological aftercare to cochlear implant recipients in the first year.
This novel method of positioning the patient for SCD repair allows for optimal head rotation, requires less set-up and patient manipulation, does not require surgical pins, and allows the surgeon to maintain an ergonomically ideal posture during microdissection.