Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA methylation changes in HPV-associated head and neck cancer.

Despite the rising incidence, currently, there are no early detection methods for HPV-driven HNC (HPV-HNC). Cervical cancer studies suggest that HPV DNA methylation changes can be used as a biomarker to discriminate cancer patients from HPV-infected individuals. As such, this study was designed to establish a protocol to evaluate DNA methylation changes in HPV late genes and long control region (LCR) in saliva samples of HPV-HNC patients and HPV-positive controls.

Artificial intelligence in medical referrals triage based on Clinical Prioritization Criteria.

The clinical prioritisation criteria (CPC) are a clinical decision support tool that ensures patients referred for public specialist outpatient services to Queensland Health are assessed according to their clinical urgency. Medical referrals are manually triaged and prioritised into three categories by the associated health service before appointments are booked. We have developed a method using artificial intelligence to automate the process of categorizing medical referrals based on clinical prioritization criteria (CPC) guidelines.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo in a young child.

A girl in her early childhood presented to a regional otolaryngology outpatient clinic with classic signs of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). She reported episodic dizziness when rolling in a supine position. She did not convey any other associated audiovestibular symptoms.

Inter-rater agreement between 13 otolaryngologists to diagnose otitis media in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children using a telehealth approach.

Introduction: Telehealth programs are important to deliver otolaryngology services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in rural and remote areas, where distance and access to specialists is a critical factor.

Objective: To evaluate the inter-rater agreement and value of increasing levels of clinical data (otoscopy with or without audiometry and in-field nurse impressions) to diagnose otitis media using a telehealth approach.

Design: Blinded, inter-rater reliability study.

Diagnostic and management plan concordance across advanced audiologists, paediatric audiologists and non-specialist ENT doctors.

Objective: To compare the concordance of advanced audiologists (AA), junior doctors (JD) and paediatric audiologists (PA) with an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist on the diagnosis and management of children with middle ear or hearing concerns.

Design: A clinical equivalence (concordance) study.

Study Sample: Three AAs, five JDs, three PAs and one ENT specialist asynchronously reported diagnoses and management plans for ten, online paediatric cases consisting of video-otoscopic images and clinical findings.

Speech pathology prescribing in the outpatient setting: A review of requirements, considerations and barriers.

Background: As health systems face increasing demands, non-medical prescribing is a workforce redesign strategy adopted within some services. Despite successful implementation in other professional groups, non-medical prescribing within speech pathology (SP) has not yet been described.

Aims: To provide a descriptive account of the development and planned implementation of two SP prescribing models.

Evaluation of health service outcomes for an audiology first point of contact retrocochlear clinic: a 6-year retrospective cohort study.

Objective: Although existing studies of audiology first point of contact clinics which screen for retrocochlear pathology have demonstrated positive clinical outcomes, they have provided limited information regarding service impacts. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate both the clinical and health service outcomes of an audiology first point of contact (FPOC) clinic for adults referred to ENT services with suspected retrocochlear pathology.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Outcomes from an extended scope of practice speech-language pathology service for low risk ENT outpatients: A 5-year service review.

: Early evidence supports the safety and efficiency of extended scope speech-language pathology (SLP) clinics designed to manage low risk ear nose and throat (ENT) outpatient referrals, however long-term data is lacking. The aim of this study was to complete a 5-year audit of clinical outcomes, including rates of re-referral, for a SLP Allied Health Practitioner (SLP AHP) led dysphagia and dysphonia service within an Integrated Specialist ENT Service.: A retrospective audit was undertaken of all patients referred with non-urgent dysphonia and/or dysphagia symptoms over a 5-year period since establishment of the SLP AHP service.

Parental satisfaction with an advanced audiology-led triage service in paediatric ENT outpatient clinics.

Objective: The advanced audiology-led service is designed to triage and manage children who are referred to Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) outpatient services with middle ear or hearing concerns. This service has resulted in shorter waiting times for children to receive ENT treatment, and improved ENT capacity. The aim of this study was to explore parental satisfaction with the advanced audiology-led ENT service and to determine if there were cultural or process factors affecting satisfaction.

Can an advanced audiology-led service reduce waiting times for paediatric ear nose and throat outpatient services?

Aim: Children with middle ear disease often experience lengthy delays waiting for outpatient paediatric ear nose and throat (ENT) services. This study aimed to investigate whether an alternative service delivery model using audiologists working in an expanded scope of practice reduced waiting times for children to access such services.

Methods: A total of 131 children consecutively referred to a large ENT outpatient service in Queensland, Australia, for middle ear and hearing concerns were prospectively allocated to either a standard ENT service or an advanced audiology (AA)-led service.

Effectiveness and Safety of Advanced Audiology-Led Triage in Pediatric Otolaryngology Services.

Objectives: Expansion of the scopes of practice of allied health practitioners has the potential to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of healthcare, given the identified shortages in medical personnel. Despite numerous examples in other allied health disciplines, this has yet to be applied to pediatric Audiology. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of using audiologists with advanced training to independently triage children referred to otolaryngology (ORL) services, and compare the subsequent use of specialist resources, and postoperative grommet care to a standard medical ORL service.

Oral HPV16 Prevalence in Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders and Oral Cavity Cancers.

The role of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) in oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) and oral cavity carcinoma (OC) is still under debate. We investigated HPV16 prevalence in unstimulated saliva, oral rinse samples, oral swabs and tumour biopsies collected from OPMD ( = 83) and OC ( = 106) patients. HPV16 genotype, viral load, physical status (episomal vs.

A Collective Route to Head and Neck Cancer Metastasis.

Distant metastasis (DM) from head and neck cancers (HNC) portends a poor patient prognosis. Despite its important biological role, little is known about the cells which seed these DM. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) represent a transient cancer cell population, which circulate in HNC patients' peripheral blood and seed at distant sites.

Surgical management of plunging ranulas: a 10-year case series in South East Queensland.

Background: Plunging ranulas are rare mucous extravasation pseudocysts that arise in the floor of the mouth and pass into the submandibular space of the neck. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnosis, surgical management and outcomes of patients with a plunging ranula at our institution in South East Queensland over a 10-year period.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of adult patients diagnosed with and treated for plunging ranula between 2006 and 2016 at Logan Hospital was conducted.

Implementation of an extended scope of practice speech-language pathology allied health practitioner service: An evaluation of service impacts and outcomes.

Purpose: Extended scope of practice roles can address health service challenges and enhance patient services; however there has been limited research of extended scope roles in the discipline of speech-language pathology (SLP). The aim of this study was to examine the clinical outcomes and service impacts of a Speech-Language Pathology Allied Health Practitioner (SLP AHP) led dysphagia and dysphonia service within an Integrated Specialist Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Service.

Method: Low risk referrals were triaged by ENT from the waiting list into the SLP AHP dysphagia and dysphonia clinic.

Diagnosis and management of hearing loss in elderly patients.

Background: Hearing loss is the most common sensory deficit in elderly patients, and is often under-recognised and poorly managed. It is essential for all clinicians to have awareness and knowledge in this field to enable the institution of early and appropriate care.

Objective: The goal of this article is to review the causes, diagnosis and management of hearing loss as it applies to elderly patients.

In vivo androgen treatment shortens the QT interval and increases the densities of inward and delayed rectifier potassium currents in orchiectomized male rabbits.

Objectives: Women have longer rate-corrected QT intervals (QTc) and are at higher risk for developing life-threatening torsades de pointes ventricular arrhythmias than men, especially after taking medications that block cardiac human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG)-encoded K(+) channels. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the male sex steroid hormone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), influences QT intervals in orchiectomized (Orch) male rabbits.

Methods: ECG and whole-cell patch-clamp analyses were employed to evaluate cardiac repolarization and K(+) currents in hearts isolated from orchiectomized (Orch) male New Zealand White rabbits receiving subcutaneous sustained release pellets for either dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or placebo.

Differential rate responses to nicotine in rat heart: evidence for two classes of nicotinic receptors.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are pentameric, typically being composed of two or more different subunits. To investigate which receptor subtypes are active in the heart, we initiated a series of experiments using an isolated perfused rat heart (Langendorff) preparation. Nicotine administration (100 microM) caused a brief decrease (-7 +/- 2%) followed by a much larger increase (17 +/- 5%) in heart rate that slowly returned to baseline within 10 to 15 min.