<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> The aim of the study was to establish the usefulness of preservation of the stapedius tendon and the incudo-stapedial joint during the surgical procedure for the treatment of otosclerosis, to find out the advantages of neo-stapedotomy over standard stapedotomy and to compare the hearing improvement in neo-stapedotomy and stapedotomy.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> A prospective, randomised, controlled study with a sample size of 150 patients (ears) presented with pure conductive deafness, paracusis willisii and tinnitus was done. The patients were divided in to group A (n=60) &amp;and group B (n=90), where neo-stapedotomy and standard stapedotomy procedure were performed respectively. Pure tone audiometry and tympanometry were done both pre and postoperatively. Speech discrimination score (SDS) and loudness discomfort levels (LDL) were measured at 3 months postoperatively.   </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Postoperative hearing improvement in both groups was almost identical. Improvement in middle ear compliance was marginally more in group A patients. Stapedial reflex could be elicited in 72 % of the patients in group A, but remained absent in group B, at 3 month post-operatively. The SDS became worse with more than 20 dB suprathreshold sounds in group B patients whereas it was maintained even with 80 dB in most patients of group A. Post-operative mean LDL for both pure tone and speech frequency in group A patients were higher than those in group B.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> The difference of SDS and LDL between two groups were statistically significant. Hence, neo-stapedotomy is a better procedure, as no postoperative pseudo-recruitment ‘rollover’ observed and also dynamic range of hearing increased.</p>

Laryngeal cancer is the ninth and the seventh most common cause of cancer in males in Asia and India, respectively, and enlisted as one of the tobacco-related cancers. The carcinogen in tobacco is the tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). Both secondary and tertiary amines can react with nitrite yielding nitrosamines which are excreted in urine. This study aims at quantifying urinary nitrosamines. Aims and objectives:• To quantify urinary nitrosamines in smokers and subjects consuming chewable forms of tobacco.• Correlation of urinary nitrosamine levels with the development of laryngeal cancer.Materials and methods: This study was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted in adult patients presenting at the outpatient department of ENT in a tertiary care hospital over a period of 2 years. One hundred twenty-six cases were studied in detail. The urine of all adult patients presenting with malignant or premalignant lesions of larynx was analyzed and the sample was then subjected to liquid chromatography followed by mass spectrometry and the final amount of urinary nitrosamines was obtained in picograms/nanoliter (pg/nL). Results: Out of 126 laryngeal lesions that presented at the outpatient department, 107 cases were malignant and 19 cases had premalignant lesions. The mean of quantity of urinary nitrosamines was found to be the highest 843pg/nL among the subjects practicing combined modality (smoke + smokeless) of tobacco consumption. The mean of urinary nitrosamines was significantly higher 778.23 pg/nL in smokers as compared with tobacco chewers 613.45 pg/nL. Out of the 107 patients of carcinoma larynx (Ca larynx), 78 cases were smokers suggesting smoking that has a stronger association in the development of carcinoma larynx. Conclusion:The amount of urinary nitrosamines was higher in smokers, high in cases when more than one modality of tobacco was consumed and was more in cases of malignancy of larynx as compared to benign lesions.

Background: Allergic rhinitis is one of the most common diseases affecting globally. The burden of this disease is huge, causing sickness absenteeism at school and workplace, dependence on medication, and suboptimal work performance by the affected population. The objective of this study is to compare the treatment outcome when intranasal corticosteroids administered along with oral antihistamines and leukotriene receptor antagonists versus oral antihistamines and leukotriene receptor antagonists alone. Methods: This is a single blinded prospective study from