Features
Article: Another Option for Allergic Rhinitis?: Study examines long-term safety, efficacy of RF turbinoplasty
When patients with allergic rhinitis don’t respond to medical therapy, an otolaryngologist’s arsenal of treatment includes surgical options. Among these is radiofrequency (RF) turbinate reduction, also known as RF turbinate ablation or turbinoplasty, an office procedure that advocates say is cost-effective and minimally invasive, with fewer complications than other surgical remedies. Some otolaryngologists, however, are still hesitant to use this relatively new therapy.
Article: New Frontiers: Medical tourism brings potential for big business but poses big questions
More patients every year are traveling outside of the U.S. in search of lower health bills and treatments that might be unavailable to them at home.
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Departments
Article: Solve this Case Answer
A CT scan of the temporal bones revealed a dehiscence of his right superior semicircular canal. The bone overlying the left superior semicircular canal was thin, but intact. The remainder of the scan was unremarkable. Given that his only symptom was hearing loss, he was offered a hearing aid. Discussion: The differential diagnosis for a conductive hearing loss is extensive. In this patient, with his findings of mild myringosclerosis and a low frequency conductive loss, the initial consideration was either...
Cover Article: Solve this Case: A Patient with Conductive Hearing Loss
A 71-year-old male presented with an approximately 10-year history of a gradually progressive right-sided hearing loss. He had significant noise exposure history having been in the Navy for 30 years, often on aircraft carriers, with his bunk beneath the flight deck. He denied any history of significant childhood ear disease, ear surgery/trauma or family history of hearing loss. He denied any dizziness, imbalance or vertigo. He had no autophony or sound/pressure-related dizziness. On physical examination,...
Health Policy: Physician Groups Set 2011 Agenda: Medicare payment reform tops the list
Physician groups representing otolaryngologists have ambitious 2011 policy and legislative agendas that include pushing for replacement of the Medicare physician payment formula and helping to shape health reform’s implementation.
Literature Review: Literature Review: A roundup of important recent studies
Purpura Formation a Poor Clinical Endpoint for Laser Treatment; Link Between Mortality and Post-Surgery Complications Unclear; Cost Analysis of Transoral Surgery versus XRT for Early-Stage Glottic Cancer; Hearing Conservation Program Helps Elementary School Children; Laryngeal EMG Is Best Technique to Differentiate Arytenoid Dislocation from Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis; Goiter Size Associated with Increasing Symptoms
Legal Matters: A Seller's Market: How to prepare your practice for sale to a hospital
It’s 2011 and the pendulum is once again moving toward private practices selling to hospitals or affiliated foundations. Several years ago, the same phenomenon drove the medical market. Management companies and hospitals went on an acquisition frenzy, purchasing practices at breakneck speed. Soon, hospitals were dissatisfied, management companies went broke and physician practices went private again. Physicians simply proved to be less motivated and productive when employed by hospitals or affiliated...
Special Report: Falling on Deaf Ears: Hearing loss in older adults may be an undertreated condition
Most people will experience some degree of hearing loss as they age. Statistics from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders at the National institutes of Health (NIH) indicate that 30 percent of adults ages 65 to 74, and 47 percent of adults 75 years or older, have hearing loss.
