Misc.
In Stranger Things, what is Eleven's favorite food
Eggo waffles
Which US Preseident likely died from an upper airway infection (suspected Peritonsillar abscess)?
George Washington
True or false: oral and topical antifungals are appropriate treatment for allergic fungal sinusitis.
False
Is aspiration pneumonia more or less less common after laryngectomy?
Less common.
A patient presents with an air–bone gap on audiogram. What key clinical or audiologic finding helps distinguish superior semicircular canal dehiscence from otosclerosis?
Presence of autophony or sound/pressure‑induced vertigo (SSCD) vs progressive hearing loss with absent acoustic reflexes (otosclerosis)
Both can show a conductive pattern with a normal tympanic membrane, but:
What singer holds the record for most Grammy wins of all time?
Beyonce
What ancient civilization performed forehead flaps for nasal reconstructions around 600 B.C.?
India (Sushruta early physician)
What diagnosis should you consider for something who is reporting particularly foul drainage and has unilateral OMC-pattern disease on CT?
Odontogenic sinusitis
True or False. Thyroglobulin levels are expected to return to normal once the entire thyroid and any involve lymph nodes are removed for malignancy.
True.
A patient presents with sudden hearing loss but says their ear feels “full” and plugged. Should this be treated as eustachian tube dysfunction first?
No.
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is often mistaken for ETD due to fullness. Any sudden hearing change = audiogram and treat urgently with steroids.
What did the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center originally start as before evolving into a major ENT center?
A hearing and speech clinic in the early 1950s.
This 19th century voice teacher pioneered indirect laryngoscopy in 1854 by using mirrors to visualize the vocal cords?
Manuel Garcia of Spain
After FESS, which has stronger evidence for preventing recurrence: systemic steroids or topical steroid irrigations?
high-volume steroid irrigations are first-line post-op maintenance; systemic steroids are short-term only for flares.
True or False. Squamous cell carcinomas in the temporal region are most likely to spread to the parotid gland.
True. Skin cancer in the temporal area seem to have a higher metastatic rate than if it were on the scalp nose, cheek, etc.
A patient has unilateral non-pulsatile tinnitus with a normal audiogram. Is reassurance alone appropriate?
No.
Even with a normal audiogram, unilateral tinnitus can signal retrocochlear pathology (e.g., vestibular schwannoma). Consider MRI.
True or False. Was Bill Wilkerson of the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center a practicing physcian?
It was named after Bill Wilkerson, the son of founder Dr. Wesley Wilkerson, who was killed in World War II (Battle of the Bulge). The board chose to name the center after him as a memorial.
What renowned Renaissance Italian surgeon and anatomist is widely considered the "father of modern rhinology" and famously reconstructed noses using skin flaps from the patient’s arm in the 16th century?
The answer is Gaspare Tagliacozzi (1545–1599) He pioneered the "Italian method" of nasal reconstruction. He attached a skin flap from the inner arm to the nose, keeping the arm strapped to the patient's head for weeks until the skin took hold.
First-line treatment for post-viral olfactory dysfunction?
Olfactory training.
Repeated scent exposure over months has the best evidence; steroids and supplements have weak or inconsistent benefit.
True or False: Removing nearby lymph nodes during oral cancer surgery is always done to prevent recurrence.
False. Lymph node removal (neck dissection) is done selectively based on tumor stage, location, and risk of occult metastasis. It improves staging and can reduce recurrence risk in appropriate patients, but it’s not universally indicated for every case.
Does tonsil size correlate well with severity of symptoms or need for tonsillectomy in adults?
No.
Decision is symptom-driven (recurrent infections, sleep-disordered breathing), not just tonsil size. Large tonsils alone ≠surgical indication.
How many bow ties does Dr. Siebert have?
No clue
In the late 1800s, doctors were desperate for a way to treat tinnitus and sensorineural hearing loss. Capitalizing on the public obsession with new technology, some ENT practitioners began strapping metal electrodes to patients' heads or inserting fluid-filled tubes into the ear canal to shock the auditory nerve with electrical currents.
What is the specific medical name for this historical procedure—the use of direct electrical currents to stimulate body tissue—which doctors claimed could "wake up" a dying auditory nerve but usually just caused pain and dizziness?
The answer is Galvanism (specifically, auditory galvanism or galvanic stimulation).
Named after Luigi Galvani, this procedure passed direct electrical currents through the ear. When the famous inventor Alessandro Volta tried it on himself in 1800, he inserted metal probes into both ears and hooked them up to a battery pile. He reported hearing a strange boiling sound, followed by a sensation of a heavy blow to the head, and never attempted it again.
In patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), what biologic therapies are currently FDA-approved, and what specific disease characteristics should be present before initiating them instead of proceeding directly to surgery?
Dupilumab, omalizumab, and mepolizumab.
Indicated for severe CRSwNP with type 2 inflammation (eosinophilia, elevated IgE, comorbid asthma, recurrence after surgery, or need for repeated systemic steroids).
During a total thyroidectomy, which nerve is actually at higher risk of injury in routine cases: the recurrent laryngeal nerve or the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve?
The external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve
Everyone worries about the RLN, but the EBSLN is more subtle, harder to identify, and often injured leading to loss of high pitch and vocal projection rather than obvious vocal cord paralysis