Anatomy of the Round Window Region With Relation to Selection of Entry Site Into the Scala Tympani.

Objectives/hypothesis: The aim of cochlear implantation is to safely insert an electrode array into the scala tympani (ST) while avoiding damage to surrounding structures. There is disagreement on the optimal way of entering the ST-the round window (RW) approach versus cochleostomy. Regardless of the chosen approach, it is vital to understand the regional anatomy, which is complex, difficult to conceptualize, and rarely dissected in temporal bone courses.

Is cartilage interposition required for ossiculoplasty with titanium prostheses?

Objective: To demonstrate that cartilage interposition between the head of a titanium prosthesis and the tympanic membrane is not necessary to prevent extrusion.

Study Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: District general hospital.

National UK survey on the assessment and surgical management of suspected paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

Background: Controversy exists amongst ENT surgeons as to the best way to manage a non-syndromal and otherwise healthy child with suspected OSAS. In 2002, The American Association of Paediatricians stated that the gold standard is a full polysomnography (PSG) for all children with suspected OSA and the revised version in 2012 repeated that requirement but recognized that facilities are not always available. In 2009 a UK Multidisciplinary Consensus Statement disagreed and reserved a full PSG for younger and syndromal or complicated children.

The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA): maintaining and operating a public information repository.

The National Institutes of Health have placed significant emphasis on sharing of research data to support secondary research. Investigators have been encouraged to publish their clinical and imaging data as part of fulfilling their grant obligations. Realizing it was not sufficient to merely ask investigators to publish their collection of imaging and clinical data, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) created the open source National Biomedical Image Archive software package as a mechanism for centralized hosting of cancer related imaging.

Common cavity and custom-made electrodes: speech perception and audiological performance of children with common cavity implanted with a custom-made MED-EL electrode.

Objective: Few studies exist on children with common cavity, fewer still on their long-term audiological development after having received a cochlear implant. Our goal was to observe and report the long-term audiological progress of children with common cavity who were implanted with a custom-made electrode.

Methods: In this longitudinal, multi-center study, 19 children were implanted with a MED-EL custom-made electrode via either single slit cochleostomy or double posterior labyrinthotomy.

Facial recognition from volume-rendered magnetic resonance imaging data.

Three-dimensional (3-D) reconstructions of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) brain imaging studies are a routine component of both clinical practice and clinical and translational research. A side effect of such reconstructions is the creation of a potentially recognizable face. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule requires that individually identifiable health information may not be used for research unless identifiers that may be associated with the health information including "Full face photographic images and other comparable images .

The prescribing of methadone and other opioids to addicts: national survey of GPs in England and Wales.

Background: GPs occupy a pivotal position in relation to providing services to opiate misusers in the UK, and this is now cited to support initiatives in other countries.

Aims: To investigate GP involvement in the management of opiate misusers; and to examine the nature of this prescribing of methadone and other opioids.

Design: GP data collected via self-completion postal questionnaire from a 10% random sample of the 30 000 GPs across England and Wales.

Coronary heart disease prevention and age inequalities: the first year of the National Service Framework for CHD.

Background: The National Service Framework for Heart Disease sets national standards and defines service models for coronary heart disease (CHD). Little is known about the impact of this intervention on age inequalities.

Aim: To determine the changes in the uptake of coronary prevention measures before and after the first year of implementation of the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease, and to compare these changes in uptake of coronary prevention in patients aged 75 years and over with younger patients.

The impact of oral corticosteroid use on bone mineral density and vertebral fracture.

The use of oral corticosteroids is associated with an increased risk of fracture, but there is limited information on the relationship between corticosteroid dose, bone mineral density (BMD), and fracture. We examined this relationship in a community population (more than 50 years) taking oral corticosteroids for chronic lung disease. Details of corticosteroid use and lifestyle were obtained by questionnaire, general practice records, and patient interview.