1. Perspective for the treatment of Sensorineural Hearing Loss by Cellular Regeneration of the Inner Ear by Almeida-Branco, Cabrera & Lopez-Escamez (2015). Acta Otorhinolaryngol Esp 2015;66(5):286-295. My attraction to this paper include detail exposition of the mechanisms and challenges of hair cell regeneration, the subtypes of regeneration process and the technique of achieving in vivo regeneration. In addition This paper was published open access and is available to all. Other recent papers in the line of this work include Crowson, Hertzano, & Tucci (2017), Revuelta M et al (2017), Simoni E et al (2017), Dai C et al(2017), Hackleberg S et al (2017), He, Bao & Li (2017) and Bettini S et al (2017)
2. Updates and knowledge gaps in cholesteatoma research by Kuo CL et al BioMed Res Int. 2015;2015:854024 doi: 1155/2015/854024 Most ear surgeons familiar with complications of cholesteatoma will be eager to catch-up on any updates regarding this disease entity. This paper however focused on acquired cholesteatoma, highlights the history and etymology, the different classifications historically arranged, the epidemiology, histopathology, immunohistochemistry and pathogenesis, and the genetics. The clinical, radiological and ancillary Diagnostic tools as well as surgical treatment options were also highlighted. The knowledge gaps in cholesteatoma management mentioned include results reporting, inconsistency among reports via-a-via definition and classification, discrepancies in description of surgical techniques, short follow up periods in most reported series, failure of most reports to distinguish pediatric from adult cholesteatoma , and different criteria used to define ‘residual cholesteatoma’. This paper is a delight to read and was also published open access. Other recent papers on cholesteatoma management include that by Lou, Lou & Gong (2017), Anikin IA et al (2017), and Grauvogel J et al (2017)
3. Through the Eustachian Tube and Beyond: A New Miniature Robotic Endoscope to See into the middle ear by Fichera L et al IEEE Robot AutoMech Lett. 2017;2(3):1488-1494 My attraction to this paper is that while Endoscopic Ear Surgery (EES) is still taking root and newer anatomy of the middle ear mucosal/ligament folds are being described and and anatomical variation classified, this study took a bold step to inspect the middle ear through the Eustachian tube using a robotic device containing small chip-tip and fiber optic light source and reported >74% visibility of the sinus tympani using this device, and potentially positioning this device as having a future role in office trans-Eustachian Tube middle ear endoscopy. Whether it would find application beyond Diagnostic use is still not very clear, and this study is of course not dissimilar with that of Yasin R et al (2017) in over all aim but concepts and practicality are not same.
4. Intestinal permeability and Ménière’s disease by Di Beradino F et al Am J. Otolaryngol 2017 Dec 5 doi: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2017.12.002 My attraction to this paper is that despite numerous and confusing spectrum of explanations regarding MD’s etiology and etiopathogenesis, this paper premised the study on autonomic dysregulation often reported by some patients with MD and set out to test urinary lactulose and mannitol and fecal calprotectin (markers of altered intestinal permeability) and demonstrated that urinary Lactulose and Mannitol as well as fecal calprotectin were significantly elevated in symptomatic MD cases. The paper went ahead to propose a role for these in the Diagnostic workup of MD. Now what is not clear is that same lactulose/mannitol elevation has been reported elevated in Coeliac disease (Elburg RM et al, 1993) and in children with rotavirus and cryptosporidium gastrointestinal infections (Zhang Y et al, 2000). So it is not clear what Diagnostic relevance this elevation in MD patients constitutes and whether specific subtype of cases with GI manifestation should be screened.
5. New Tumor entities in the 4th edition of the World Health Organization classification of head and neck tumors: Nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses and skull base by Thompson & Franchi (2017) Virchows Arch. 2017 Apr 25 doi: 10.1007/s00428-017-2116-0 What attracted me to this paper was that it looks like addressing the same issue a 2017 paper by Seethala RR et al addressed namely Update from the 4th Edition of the WHO Classification of H&N Tumors. The highlights of this paper was the recognition of HPV related SCC as a distinct clinicopathologic entity, and introduction of new tumor entities such as NUT Carcinoma and HPV-related Carcinoma with Adenoids Cystic feature. In addition nomenclature revisions for laryngeal neuroendocrine tumors were mentioned among the changes as well as inclusion of several tumor-like entities in the classification.
No comments:
Post a Comment