Practice Focus

Swimmer’s Ear: Be on the Alert For Complications

As spring spreads across the country, the change in temperature and slanting of the sun promises that summer is soon on its heels. For many primary care physicians and otolaryngologists, particularly those living in northern climes, that means an upsurge in people presenting with acute otitis externa, a condition that is estimated to afflict from 1 in 100 to 1 in 250 persons in the general population.

New Approaches to Vascular Anomalies On the Horizon

Infantile hemangiomas and lymphatic malformations (LM) are vascular anomalies that otolaryngologists-head and neck surgeons often encounter in their practices. Infantile hemangiomas and LMs differ from one another in prevalence, etiology, and clinical presentation, but both may be undergoing potential shifts in treatment, depending on research outcomes.

Keeping Rhinoplasty Complications to a Minimum

PHILADELPHIA-It’s a moment that rhinoplasty surgeons dread: They’ve performed a surgery, the operation is over, then they realize that something has gone wrong. To fix it, there will have to be another surgery.

Multidisciplinary Treatment Needed for Vascular Anomalies

Few medical conditions that otolaryngologists treat possess the breadth of heterogeneity of vascular anomalies. The size of lesions ranges from minute to massive, and the manifestations range from trivial to life-threatening, with the severity of symptoms not always proportional to the size of the lesion.

Computer Technology Boosts Rhinologic Surgery, but Poses Choices for Surgeons

PHILADELPHIA-Constantly advancing computer technology in rhinologic surgery leads to the possibility of better patient care, but also can mean difficult decisions for surgeons weighing whether to make an expensive purchase. Three surgeons gathered to discuss some of the nuances of the technology in a mini seminar at Rhinology World 2009.

Rooting Out CRS Causes Is Cause for Debate

PHILADELPHIA-It is generally accepted that foreign microbial antigens drive the inflammation in chronic rhinosinusitis. Which antigens are responsible, though, is not certain. But researchers are trying to find out.

Superior Canal Dehiscence Linked to Abnormal ECoG Readings

While Paul Kileny, MD, PhD, of the University of Michigan Medical Schoo, was treating patients with superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD), he noticed something a bit strange: The patients had abnormal readings on electrocochleographic tests. And not just some of them-all of them did.