ENT Flashcards
What is the criteria used as a clinical scoring tool that is used to decide whether antibiotics are warranted to treat a possible streptococcal tonsillitis
Centor criteria
What are the components of the Centor criteria
Tonsillar exudate
Tender anterior cervical lymphadenopathy
Temperature >38
Absence of cough
Centor criteria is a clinical scoring tool that can be used to decide whether antibiotics are warranted to treat a possible streptococcal tonsillitis.
Name a rare but serious complications of strep throat
Scarlet fever
Name 3 common complications of acute tonsillitis
1) Recurrent tonsillitis (most common)
2) Retropharyngeal Abscess
3) Peritonsillar Abscess (Quinsy)
Likely Dx
Sore throat, dysphagia, peritonsillar bulge, uvular deviation, trismus and muffled voice
Peritonsillar Abscess (Quinsy)
Management of peritonsillar abscess (quinsy)
Antibiotics and aspiration
Likely Dx:
Elderly patient
Gradual symmetrical bilateral hearing loss which is most noticeable at higher frequencies
Presbycusis
Due to natural ageing of the auditory system: cochlear hair cells and auditory nerve fibres damaged symmetrically over time
What is the most appropriate management for proliferative diabetic retinopathy
Urgent laser photocoagulation (within 72h to prevent further neovascularisation)
You sacrifice the peripheral retina to reduce the production of vascular endothelial growth factor produced by this ischaemic retina and thus prevent neovascularisation
What do you prevent from happening by urgently doing laser photocoagulation for proliferative diabetic retinopathy
Blindness
Recurrent otitis media is a key characteristic of which inherit condition?
Turner’s Syndrome
What is the first line antibiotic used in the treatment of bacterial tonsillitis
Phenoxymethylpenicillin
What is the first line antibiotic used in the treatment of bacterial tonsillitis with a penicillin allergy
Clarithromycin or Erythromycin for 5 days
Name an extra-cranial complication of otitis media
1) Facial nerve palsy (CN VII)
2) Mastoiditis (infection spread to cause abscess formation in the mastoid air spaces of the temporal bone)
3) Petrositis
4) Labrynthtitis
Name an intra-cranial complication of otitis media
1) Meningitis
2) Sigmoid sinus thrombosis
3) Brain abscess
Hoarseness is a red flag for which kind of head and neck cancer?
Laryngeal cancer
Name a cause of hoarseness
1) Laryngeal cancer
2) Chronic Laryngitis (most commonly hoarseness in the morning)
3) Laryngitis (inflammation of the larynx i.e. voice box)
4) Reinke’s Oedema (caused by enlargement of the vocal cords and is associated with hypothyroidism it leads to prolonged and persistent hoarseness)
Tonsillectomy is considered if a patient suffers more than how many episodes of tonsillitis per year for 2 years and if the episodes interfere with daily life
5 episodes of tonsillitis per year for 2 years
What is the inheritance pattern of Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (Osler-Weber-Rendu Syndrome)
Autosomal dominant
This condition should be suspected in a patient with recurrent epistaxis, telangiectasia, and arteriovenous (AV) malformations.
What medication should be started immediately if novel sensorineural hearing loss
ENT emergency
High dose steroids as are highly effective if started early
Immediate referral to ENT for assessment within 24 hours
Likely Dx:
Sudden, unpredictable attacks of vertigo lasting between 20 minutes and 12 hours
Associated sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus
Ménière’s disease
What medication is used prophylactic to reduce the frequency of attacks of vertigo in Ménière’s disease
Betahistine
What medication is used acutely when a patient experiences an attack of vertigo in Ménière’s disease
Prochlorperazine
A single nasal polyp unilaterally should be investigated with an urgent ENT referral as it suspicious for what kind of cancer?
Nasopharyngeal cancer
HINTS examination is used to determine if the vertigo is peripheral or central in origin.
What does HINTS stand for?
Head Impulse
Nystagmus
Test of Skew
HINTS examination: negative head impulse, bidirectional/vertical nystagmus and abnormal test of skew
Is the vertigo central or peripheral in origin?
The vertigo is central in origin e.g. posterior circulation strokes.
The nystagmus would be bidirectional or vertical
HINTS examination: positive head impulse, no or unidirectional nystagmus and normal test of skew
Is the vertigo central or peripheral in origin?
The vertigo is peripheral in origin
They may have nystagmus but it would be unidirectional rather than bidirectional or vertical which is the case for central origin vertigo
Name 3 common causes of peripheral vertigo
1) Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
2) Vestibular neuronitis (or labyrinthitis)
3) Ménière’s disease
What is the diagnostic test for Benign positional paroxysmal vertigo (BPPV)
Dix-Hallpike manoeuvre is diagnostic, where certain movements of the head causes fatiguable nystagmus.
What is the treatment manoeuvres for Benign positional paroxysmal vertigo (BPPV)
Epley manoeuvres
Peripheral vertigo after a recent viral illness is a pathognomonic presentation of what condition
Vestibular neuronitis
Characterised by inflammation of the vestibular nerve, often after a viral infection
What is the first line symptomatic treatment of Vestibular neuronitis
Prochlorperazine (anti-sickness medication)
Recurrent episodes of vertigo, sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus are cardinal features of what condition?
Ménière’s disease
Patients may also experience a feeling of aural fullness however it is not a cardinal feature of MD
Presence of Reed-Sternberg cells on biopsy is a pathognomonic finding of what type of lymphoma
Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Likely Dx:
20 year or 70 year old
Non-tender and “rubbery” lymph nodes
Presence of B symptoms (fever, night sweats and weight loss)
Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Midline neck lump, ascends on swallowing but not on protrusion of the tongue is what:
A) Thyroid lump
B) Thyroglossal lump
A) Thyroid lump
Voice hoarseness due to hypothyroidism is secondary to laryngeal oedema, which varies in intensity over time; therefore this type of hoarseness is intermittent. In contrast, permanent hoarseness in the setting of a thyroid lump is likely due to malignant infiltration of the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Additional features of thyroid malignancy include those of local mass effect (difficulty swallowing i.e. dysphagia, painful swallow i.e. odynophagia, airway compromise or stridor), constitutional (unexplained significant weight loss, low-grade fever), or metastasis (enlarged rubbery painless cervical lymphadenopathy, and rarely bone or lung metastasis)
Midline neck lump, ascends both on swallowing and tongue protrusion is what:
A) Thyroid lump
B) Thyroglossal lump
B) Thyroglossal lump
How can you differentiate between voice hoarseness secondary to hypothyroidism and malignant infiltration of the recurrent laryngeal nerve
(the patient also has a thyroid lump (a feature of both conditions))
In hypothyroidism - it is due to laryngeal oedema and hence the hoarseness is intermittent
In malignant infiltration of the recurrent laryngeal nerve the hoarseness is permanent