EBEORL-HNS key terms

The difference in decibels between pure-tone air-conduction and bone-conduction thresholds at the same frequency; it quantifies the conductive component of a hearing loss.

Behavioural hearing test measuring the softest tone audible at each frequency, plotted as an audiogram; separates conductive from sensorineural loss and defines degree and configuration.

Objective test of middle-ear function that measures acoustic immittance while pressure in the sealed ear canal is varied, producing a tympanogram classified by peak pressure, height and shape.

Low-level sounds generated by active cochlear outer hair cells and recorded in the ear canal; their presence indicates functioning cochlear amplification and is used for newborn screening.

Objective electrophysiological recording of neural activity in the eighth nerve and brainstem during the first milliseconds after a sound; used to estimate thresholds and detect retrocochlear pathology.

Benign tumour arising from Schwann cells of the vestibular division of the eighth cranial nerve, typically causing unilateral sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus and imbalance.

Vestibular test that irrigates each ear canal with warm or cool water or air; the resulting nystagmus is analysed to compare labyrinthine responsiveness and identify a unilateral weakness.

Technique recording eye movements with video cameras during oculomotor, positional and caloric tasks, allowing objective measurement of nystagmus slow-phase velocity and vestibular function.

Brief vertigo triggered by head position change when otoconia dislodge into a semicircular canal; diagnosed by a positional test provoking characteristic nystagmus and treated with canalith repositioning.

Diagnostic positional test in which the seated patient's head is turned and the trunk lowered to supine; a torsional upbeat nystagmus with latency identifies posterior-canal BPPV.

Sequence of guided head and body positions that moves displaced otoconia out of a semicircular canal into the utricle, relieving posterior-canal BPPV.

Idiopathic inner-ear disorder defined by episodic spontaneous vertigo lasting minutes to hours, fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus and aural fullness, with endolymphatic hydrops on histology.

Injection of a drug, commonly a corticosteroid or gentamicin, through the tympanic membrane into the middle ear so it diffuses across the round window into the inner ear.

Damage to cochlear or vestibular structures caused by drugs or chemicals, classically aminoglycosides and platinum compounds, producing irreversible sensorineural hearing loss or imbalance.

Sensorineural loss of at least 30 dB across three consecutive frequencies developing within 72 hours; an otologic emergency usually treated with systemic or intratympanic corticosteroids.

Failure of the tube connecting nasopharynx and middle ear to ventilate and drain it, causing negative middle-ear pressure, effusion, retraction and predisposition to chronic ear disease.

Non-infected fluid in the middle-ear cleft behind an intact tympanic membrane, causing conductive hearing loss and a flat tympanogram; common in children with Eustachian tube dysfunction.

Expanding collection of keratinising squamous epithelium within the middle ear or mastoid that erodes bone, causes chronic discharge and can produce facial palsy or intracranial complications.

Surgical removal of mastoid air cells, classified as canal wall up or canal wall down, used to eradicate cholesteatoma or chronic infection and to access the middle ear.

Reconstruction of the tympanic membrane, with or without ossicular repair, to close a perforation, restore the sound-conducting mechanism and prevent recurrent middle-ear infection.

Surgical reconstruction of the ossicular chain with prosthesis or bone graft to reduce a conductive hearing loss caused by discontinuity or fixation of the ossicles.

Disorder of abnormal bone remodelling that fixes the stapes footplate in the oval window, producing progressive conductive hearing loss, often bilateral and worse in young adults.

Operation creating a small fenestra in the fixed stapes footplate and inserting a piston prosthesis to restore ossicular movement in otosclerosis.

Device whose electrode array is inserted into the cochlea to electrically stimulate spiral ganglion fibres, bypassing damaged hair cells in severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss.

Bleeding from the nose, most often from Kiesselbach plexus on the anterior septum; posterior bleeding arises from sphenopalatine branches and is harder to control.

Endoscopic surgical closure of the sphenopalatine artery as it enters the nasal cavity, used for severe or recurrent posterior epistaxis unresponsive to packing.

Examination of the nasal cavity and nasopharynx with a rigid or flexible scope, allowing assessment of anatomy, bleeding sites and tissue sampling under direct vision.

Bilateral benign inflammatory outgrowths of oedematous nasal mucosa causing obstruction, anosmia and rhinorrhoea; associated with asthma and aspirin sensitivity in a subgroup.

Endoscopic opening of sinus ostia and removal of obstructing disease to restore ventilation and drainage while preserving normal mucosa, used when medical therapy for rhinosinusitis fails.

Surgical removal of the palatine tonsils, indicated for recurrent or chronic tonsillitis meeting frequency criteria, obstructive sleep apnoea or suspected malignancy.

Repetitive upper-airway collapse during sleep causing apnoeas, hypopnoeas and oxygen desaturation; diagnosed by sleep study and treated with weight loss, positive pressure or surgery.

Suppuration within fascial planes of the neck, such as parapharyngeal or retropharyngeal abscess, which can obstruct the airway or spread to the mediastinum and needs drainage.

Creation of a surgical opening between the anterior tracheal wall and the skin, usually with a tube, to secure the airway or facilitate prolonged ventilation and pulmonary toilet.

Office examination of the larynx and pharynx with a flexible scope passed through the nose, assessing vocal fold movement, airway patency and mucosal lesions.

Loss of movement of one or both vocal folds from recurrent laryngeal nerve injury or central disease, causing hoarseness, aspiration or airway compromise depending on position.

Diagnostic sampling of a neck mass or thyroid nodule with a thin needle; reported using a standardised cytological classification that guides the need for surgery.

Surgical removal of cervical lymph node levels at risk of or containing metastasis from head and neck cancer, classified by the levels removed and whether non-lymphatic structures are sacrificed.

Removal of the larynx, total or partial, for advanced laryngeal cancer or intractable aspiration; total laryngectomy permanently separates the airway from the pharynx, creating a stoma.

Removal of part or all of the thyroid gland, requiring identification of the recurrent and superior laryngeal nerves and parathyroid glands to avoid voice and calcium complications.