Dysphonia in Pediatric Professional Voice Users: Is It Just Nodules?

Objectives/hypothesis: Professional voice users of any age are often concerned about nodules, particularly in pediatric singers. However, an accurate diagnosis allows formulation of an optimal management plan and a successful continuation of these young patients' careers. There is very little literature regarding pediatric professional singers; we aimed to share our experience of over a decade of referrals to our tertiary pediatric voice clinic.

Non-aesthetic uses of botulinum toxin in the head and neck.

Introduction: The use of botulinum toxin in the specialty of aesthetic surgery in the head and neck is well known. However, it has also been used for other conditions affecting the head and neck, and in recent years its use, as well as the number of relevant applications, has expanded enormously.

Review: This article presents a summary of the current range of uses in the laryngeal, pharyngeal, cervical, oromandibular and facial muscles and salivary glands.

Too many tags spoil the metadata: investigating the knowledge management of scientific research with semantic web technologies.

Scientific research is increasingly characterised by the volume of documents and data that it produces, from experimental plans and raw data to reports and papers. Researchers frequently struggle to manage and curate these materials, both individually and collectively. Previous studies of Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs) in academia and industry have identified semantic web technologies as a means for organising scientific documents to improve current workflows and knowledge management practices.

Management of laryngeal papillomatosis using coblation: another option of surgical intervention.

Purpose: Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis is a disease caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). HPV is frequently localised in the larynx. The disease tends to recur and frequent intervention is usually required.

From Voice Clinic to Operating Room: Are We Out of Tune?

Introduction: To determine the consistency and accuracy of preoperative diagnosis in the voice clinic with intraoperative diagnosis and to suggest a standardized laryngeal examination protocol in the UK that is supported by evidence-based findings.

Method: From January 2011-September 2014, 164 patients were referred to the Multidisciplinary Team voice clinic and diagnosed with laryngeal pathology that required phonosurgery. The visualization (videostrobolaryngoscopy) in clinic was performed using either rigid laryngoscope or a video-naso-laryngoscope.

Electronic lab notebooks: can they replace paper?

Despite the increasingly digital nature of society there are some areas of research that remain firmly rooted in the past; in this case the laboratory notebook, the last remaining paper component of an experiment. Countless electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs) have been created in an attempt to digitise record keeping processes in the lab, but none of them have become a 'key player' in the ELN market, due to the many adoption barriers that have been identified in previous research and further explored in the user studies presented here. The main issues identified are the cost of the current available ELNs, their ease of use (or lack of it) and their accessibility issues across different devices and operating systems.

The evolution of laryngeal reinnervation, the current state of science and thoughts for future treatments.

The treatment of unilateral vocal fold palsy (UVFP) or bilateral vocal fold palsy (BVFP) has been the subject of debate and experiment for 150 years. To date, dozens of different surgical methods have been described to reinnervate this most complex of organs, the larynx. As yet, there is no consensus on the most functionally effective method of reinnervation.

Long-term quantitative results of an Isshiki type 4 thyroplasty-a case study.

Objective: We believe that we have described the first instance of long-term follow-up of a bilateral Isshiki type IV thyroplasty in a 58-year-old woman after bilateral superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) damage.

Method: Comparison of voice handicap index-10 (VHI-10) questionnaire and electrolaryngographic measurements pre- and post-thyroplasty (type IV).

Results: VHI-10 scores reduced from 25 pre-thyroplasty to seven and five at 6 and 34 months, respectively.

How I do it: securing tracheostomy tubes.

Securing a tracheostomy tube after insertion is essential to prevent accidental decannulation. Although this is uncommon, its associated mortality is high. Common practice involves suturing the lateral edges of the tube flanges to the skin.