ENTtoday
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • Practice Focus
    • Allergy
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Departments
    • Issue Archive
    • TRIO Best Practices
      • Allergy
      • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
      • Head and Neck
      • Laryngology
      • Otology/Neurotology
      • Pediatric
      • Rhinology
      • Sleep Medicine
    • Career Development
    • Case of the Month
    • Everyday Ethics
    • Health Policy
    • Legal Matters
    • Letter From the Editor
    • Medical Education
    • Online Exclusives
    • Practice Management
    • Resident Focus
    • Rx: Wellness
    • Special Reports
    • Tech Talk
    • Viewpoint
    • What’s Your O.R. Playlist?
  • Literature Reviews
    • Allergy
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Events
    • Featured Events
    • TRIO Meetings
  • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Triological Society
    • Advertising Staff
    • Subscribe
  • Advertise
    • Place an Ad
    • Classifieds
    • Rate Card
  • Search

How Otolaryngologists Can Apply Predictive Medicine to Patient Care

by Jill U. Adams • December 1, 2013

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version

And yet, newborns cannot tell doctors or parents what they hear. Physiological events in the inner ear and the electrical activity of the brain can.

You Might Also Like

No related posts.

Explore This Issue
December 2013

Hearing tests in newborns record otoacoustic emissions of the hair cells in the inner ear and the auditory brainstem response of babies exposed to sound. Patients who test poorly should receive a more detailed evaluation by an audiologist to determine which frequencies are affected and the severity of the loss. Sometimes close monitoring is all that’s needed, but in worst case scenarios, children can be given amplification devices “so they can begin the journey of language learning,” said Dr. Francis.

Genetic diagnosis of hearing loss later in life is a related field that is coming into its own, and there may be more than 200 different genes involved in deafness.

With the rapid progress in genetic sequencing methods allowing for increases in speed and capacity while decreasing costs, genetic testing is becoming routine in hearing loss evaluation. Comprehensive screenings are currently able to solve about half of the cases of nonsyndromic deafness, said Eliot Shearer, an MD/PhD student and researcher at the University of Iowa’s Molecular Otolaryngology and Renal Research Laboratories in Iowa City. Shearer helped to develop a clinical diagnostic tool called the OtoSCOPE, which has been available for clinical use for more than a year. This test can screen genes known to cause deafness.

Genetic testing is helpful in terms of counseling patients about prognosis and saves patients from unnecessary tests to rule out syndromic causes of deafness.

Still, to a certain degree, the genetics of deafness is a new enough field that, while testing can help characterize the biology of hearing loss, there’s not much impact on treatment decisions at this time, said Dr. Francis. Amplification, electrical stimulation and rehabilitation remain the go-to approaches.

Cancers Caused by HPV

Another area where preventive medicine is likely to play a larger role in otolaryngology practice is human papilloma virus (HPV) testing. In addition to its better known outcome of cervical cancer in women, HPV can cause oropharyngeal cancer in both women and men.

“Oropharygeal cancers are the fastest growing cancers in the United States,” said Dr. O’Malley. Almost everyone has been or will be exposed to HPV, which is transmitted through sexual contact, at some point during their lives. Some of those exposures will result in active infections, and some of those will cause cytological abnormalities that can convert to cancerous growth.

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: otolaryngologist, patient care, predictive medicine, preventionIssue: December 2013

You Might Also Like:

The Triological SocietyENTtoday is a publication of The Triological Society.

The Laryngoscope
Ensure you have all the latest research at your fingertips; Subscribe to The Laryngoscope today!

Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
Open access journal in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery is currently accepting submissions.

Classifieds

View the classified ads »

TRIO Best Practices

View the TRIO Best Practices »

Top Articles for Residents

  • Do Training Programs Give Otolaryngology Residents the Necessary Tools to Do Productive Research?
  • Why More MDs, Medical Residents Are Choosing to Pursue Additional Academic Degrees
  • What Physicians Need to Know about Investing Before Hiring a Financial Advisor
  • Tips to Help You Regain Your Sense of Self
  • Should USMLE Step 1 Change from Numeric Score to Pass/Fail?
  • Popular this Week
  • Most Popular
  • Most Recent
    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment
    • Some Studies Predict a Shortage of Otolaryngologists. Do the Numbers Support Them?
    • Vertigo in the Elderly: What Does It Mean?
    • Complications for When Physicians Change a Maiden Name
    • Neurogenic Cough Is Often a Diagnosis of Exclusion
    • Vertigo in the Elderly: What Does It Mean?
    • New Developments in the Management of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction
    • Some Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Resists PPI Treatment
    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment
    • Eustachian Tuboplasty: A Potential New Option for Chronic Tube Dysfunction and Patulous Disease
    • Tympanoplasty Tips: Otology Experts Give Advice on the Procedure
    • How Treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Is Evolving to Give Patients a Better Night’s Sleep
    • Vestibular Schwannoma Position Relative to Internal Auditory Canal Helps Predict Postoperative Facial Function
    • Vocal Fold Lipoaugmentation Provides Long-Term Voice Improvements for Glottal Insufficiency
    • Upper Lateral Cartilage Mucosal Flap Enables the Successful Closure of Larger Septal Perforations

Polls

Do you think there will be a shortage of otolaryngologists in the next five to 10 years?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Visit: The Triological Society • The Laryngoscope • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology

Wiley
© 2022 The Triological Society. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN 1559-4939

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.