Measuring otoplasty outcome: Expanding the validity to caregivers' perspective and to Portuguese-speaking children.

Objective: The GBI (Glasgow Benefit Inventory) and the GCBI (Glasgow Children's Benefit Inventory) are used to evaluate patient-reported Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) following otoplasty for prominent ears. The aim of this study was to validate them through patients' and caregivers' perspectives and in Portuguese language versions.

Study Design: After translation to Portuguese, the GBI and the GCBI were applied to patients (n = 255) who underwent otoplasty throughout a five-year span and to their caregivers, respectively.

Improvement of cerebral blood perfusion in certain cerebral regions after cranioplasty could be monitored via tympanic membrane temperature changes.

Objective: Delayed neurological deficit was often observed in patients underwent craniectomy, which could be improved by cranioplasty. Little is known about hemodynamic improvement before and after cranioplasty.

Methods: Cerebral blood perfusion, tympanic membrane temperature (TMT), neuropsychological and cognitive function were assessed in eleven craniectomy patients before and after cranioplasty.

Patterns of hospital admission in 54 501 patients with epistaxis over a 20-year period in Scotland, UK.

Background: Epistaxis affects most people over their lifetime. It is the commonest ear, nose and throat emergency. Hospital admission and socio-economic deprivation have been associated with mental health disorders, respiratory illness and with emergency hospital admissions.

Does focused and dedicated teaching improve the confidence of GP trainees to diagnose and manage common acute ENT pathologies in primary care?

Background: General practitioners (GPs) are key members of the health care profession who are required to have a considerable breadth of knowledge to manage and treat patients effectively in the community. Their skills and experience varies depending on the medical school they attended and their foundation training and specialist GP training schemes. Exposure to ear, nose, and throat (ENT)-specific pathology is often insufficient due to the lack of formal otolaryngology rotations, minimal relevant teaching opportunities, and inconsistencies in curricula, despite ENT-related pathology presentations being one of the commonest consultations in primary care.

The effect of light intensity on image quality in endoscopic ear surgery.

Objectives: Endoscopic ear surgery is a rapidly developing field with many advantages. But endoscopes can reach temperatures of over 110°C at the tip, raising safety concerns. Reducing the intensity of the light source reduces temperatures produced.

Spontaneous closure of branchial sinus of the pyriform fossa.

Management of third and fourth branchial cleft anomalies are similar. These anomalies should be suspected in a child with recurrent low-anterior neck abscess. Investigations in the form of cross-sectional studies and examination of the pharynx under anaesthesia will facilitate diagnosis and resolution of abscess.

Publisher Correction: Protein-altering variants associated with body mass index implicate pathways that control energy intake and expenditure in obesity.

In the version of this article originally published, one of the two authors with the name Wei Zhao was omitted from the author list and the affiliations for both authors were assigned to the single Wei Zhao in the author list. In addition, the ORCID for Wei Zhao (Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA) was incorrectly assigned to author Wei Zhou. The errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

Publisher Correction: Protein-altering variants associated with body mass index implicate pathways that control energy intake and expenditure in obesity.

In the published version of this paper, the name of author Emanuele Di Angelantonio was misspelled. This error has now been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

Psychophysical evidence for auditory motion parallax.

Distance is important: From an ecological perspective, knowledge about the distance to either prey or predator is vital. However, the distance of an unknown sound source is particularly difficult to assess, especially in anechoic environments. In vision, changes in perspective resulting from observer motion produce a reliable, consistent, and unambiguous impression of depth known as motion parallax.

Long-term results of atresiaplasty in patients with congenital aural atresia.

Objectives: To evaluate long-term benefits of atresiaplasty on hearing and the impact of surgery on quality of life (QoL) in congenital aural atresia (CAA) patients.

Methods: We evaluated the long-term hearing results, the impact of atresiaplasty on QoL, the meatal diameter of the operated ear canal, and the cumulative number of post-operative hospital visits in 14 CAA patients, on average, 12 years (range: 4-17 years) post-operatively.

Results: The mean preoperative pure tone average (PTA) was 61 dB HL.

An unusual case of infective pneumocephalus: case report of pneumocephalus exacerbated by continuous positive airway pressure.

Background: Pneumocephalus, illustrated by air in the cranial vault is relatively infrequent and generally associated with neurosurgery, trauma, meningitis and barotrauma. However cases of spontaneous non-traumatic pneumocephalus remain rare. While the relationship between continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and atraumatic pneumocephalus has been previously reported, to our knowledge the rare presentation associated with sinus wall osteomyelitis has never been described.

Systematic review of benefits or harms of routine anaesthetist-inserted throat packs in adults: practice recommendations for inserting and counting throat packs: An evidence-based consensus statement by the Difficult Airway Society (DAS), the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (BAOMS) and the British Association of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (ENT-UK).

Throat packs are commonly inserted by anaesthetists after induction of anaesthesia for dental, maxillofacial, nasal or upper airway surgery. However, the evidence supporting this practice as routine is unclear, especially in the light of accidentally retained throat packs which constitute 'Never Events' as defined by NHS England. On behalf of three relevant national organisations, we therefore conducted a systematic review and literature search to assess the evidence base for benefit, and also the extent and severity of complications associated with throat pack use.

Protein-altering variants associated with body mass index implicate pathways that control energy intake and expenditure in obesity.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified >250 loci for body mass index (BMI), implicating pathways related to neuronal biology. Most GWAS loci represent clusters of common, noncoding variants from which pinpointing causal genes remains challenging. Here we combined data from 718,734 individuals to discover rare and low-frequency (minor allele frequency (MAF) < 5%) coding variants associated with BMI.

COAST (Cisplatin ototoxicity attenuated by aspirin trial): A phase II double-blind, randomised controlled trial to establish if aspirin reduces cisplatin induced hearing-loss.

Background: Cisplatin is one of the most ototoxic chemotherapy drugs, resulting in a permanent and irreversible hearing loss in up to 50% of patients. Cisplatin and gentamicin are thought to damage hearing through a common mechanism, involving reactive oxygen species in the inner ear. Aspirin has been shown to minimise gentamicin-induced ototoxicity.

The Effects of Music during a Physical Examination Skills Practice: A Pilot Study.

Some veterinary students experience elevated stress, anxiety, and depression resulting in disease and psychological changes. Elevated arousal, negative moods, and lack of interest can negatively affect performance and learning. Psychoacoustic music promotes calming effects using simple and slow piano sounds and can positively impact well-being and functioning.

Aesthetic and hearing rehabilitation in patients with bilateral microtia-atresia.

Objectives: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of auricle reconstruction and active transcutaneous bone-conduction implantation in patients with bilateral microtia-atresia.

Design: Patients were chosen prospectively, with each being his/her own control.

Setting: The setting was a tertiary referral center.

Effects of cavity reconstruction on morbidity and quality of life after canal wall down tympanomastoidectomy.

Introduction: Canal wall down tympanomastoidectomy is commonly used to treat advanced chronic otitis media or cholesteatoma. The advantages of canal wall down mastoidectomy are excellent exposure for disease eradication and postoperative control of residual disease; its disadvantages include the accumulation of debris requiring life-long otological maintenance and cleaning, continuous ear drainage, fungal cavity infections, and the occurrence of dizziness and vertigo by changing temperature or pressure.

Objective: To evaluate whether cavity-induced problems can be eliminated and patient comfort can be increased with mastoid cavity reconstruction.

TFOS DEWS II Diagnostic Methodology report.

The role of the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) Dry Eye Workshop (DEWS) II Diagnostic Methodology Subcommittee was 1) to identify tests used to diagnose and monitor dry eye disease (DED), 2) to identify those most appropriate to fulfil the definition of DED and its sub-classifications, 3) to propose the most appropriate order and technique to conduct these tests in a clinical setting, and 4) to provide a differential diagnosis for DED and distinguish conditions where DED is a comorbidity. Prior to diagnosis, it is important to exclude conditions that can mimic DED with the aid of triaging questions. Symptom screening with the DEQ-5 or OSDI confirms that a patient might have DED and triggers the conduct of diagnostic tests of (ideally non-invasive) breakup time, osmolarity and ocular surface staining with fluorescein and lissamine green (observing the cornea, conjunctiva and eyelid margin).

Dissection of the internal carotid artery and stroke after mandibular fractures: a case report and review of the literature.

Background: We present a report of a patient with blunt trauma and mandibular fractures who developed a significant cerebral infarction due to an initially unrecognized injury of her left internal carotid artery. We believe that increased knowledge of this association will facilitate early recognition and hence prevention of a devastating outcome.

Case Presentation: A 41-year-old ethnic Norwegian woman presented to our Emergency Room after a bicycle accident that had caused a direct blow to her chin.

Compliance to guidelines for the prescribing of antibiotics in acute infections at Namibia's national referral hospital: a pilot study and the implications.

Background: Sub-optimal antibiotic prescribing remains a public health concern in Namibia. The objective was to determine the level and predictors of compliance to guidelines in the prescribing of antibiotics in acute infections at a national referral hospital in Namibia to improve future prescribing.

Methods: An analytical cross-sectional survey design.

A proposed scoring system for assessing the severity of actinic keratosis on the head: actinic keratosis area and severity index.

Background: Actinic keratosis (AK) severity is currently evaluated by subjective assessment of patients.

Objectives: To develop and perform an initial pilot validation of a new easy-to-use quantitative tool for assessing AK severity on the head.

Methods: The actinic keratosis area and severity index (AKASI) for the head was developed based on a review of other severity scoring systems in dermatology, in particular the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI).

Quality of life of patients who underwent aesthetic rhinoplasty: 100 cases assessed with the Glascow Benefit Inventory.

Objectives/hypothesis: The aim of the present study is to assess the long-term effect of classic rhinoplasty on patients' quality of life.

Study Design: Outcomes research.

Methods: The study included 100 operated patients; there were 34 males and 66 females.

Rare and low-frequency coding variants alter human adult height.

Height is a highly heritable, classic polygenic trait with approximately 700 common associated variants identified through genome-wide association studies so far. Here, we report 83 height-associated coding variants with lower minor-allele frequencies (in the range of 0.1-4.