A Clear Voice BLA Connections

In this episode, host Natalie Watson speaks with ENT surgeon Dr Andile Sibiya about laryngology care in South Africa, and the unique challenges facing the population in terms of the size of the area and population, and the huge reliance on limited public health services.

When Dr Sibiya first started in the province, she was tasked with re-strategising the entire ENT service. She spent a lot of time visiting different facilities to determine areas that were being underserved, laryngology being one of them.

In the latter half of the episode, there is a discussion about innovations like the Trachealator that have been transformational to the community as a whole, emphasising the significant role of collaboration and training in improving patient outcomes. As well as discussions around access to training and other development opportunities.

We hope you enjoy this insightful episode.
Contact Information
Visit www.britishlaryngological.org or download BLA Connect from your app store for further information and details on becoming a BLA member.
Email: enquiries@britishlaryngological.org for any questions or topic suggestions you may have for future episodes.
This show is brought to you by the BLA, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram hosted by Natalie Watson @surgeonsinger produced and directed by Heather Pownall of Heather's Media Hub Ltd.

The opinions of our host and guests are their own; The BLA does not endorse any individual viewpoints, given products or companies.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate, review and subscribe with the podcast provider of your choice.

In this episode, our host, Natalie Watson, invites  Fiona Gillies, Emma Webber, and Sarah Wallace OBE, to discuss post-COVID effects on the larynx and the long COVID project run by the Royal College of Speech and Language therapists. 

The RC SLT project is led by a dedicated group of professionals working to create patient handbooks, fact sheets, and data collection tools. These resources aim to provide clinicians and patients with a deeper understanding of long COVID and its implications on speech and swallowing, aiding in effectively managing these complications.

The conversation continues, covering a critical care perspective and the trends emerging from patients admitted with COVID to ITU to post-critical care follow-up clinics to outpatient care and the presenting symptoms of long COVID who have not received critical care. What are the treatments available to offer? 
 COVID-19's impact on the larynx and the role of speech therapy in recovery is a complex and rapidly evolving area. More research and data to further understand the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the larynx is required and will be instrumental in guiding future treatment approaches and enhancing patient outcomes.

Input into new long COVID guidance | RCSLT

We hope you enjoy listening. 


Contact Information
Visit www.britishlaryngological.org or download BLA Connect from your app store for further information and details on becoming a BLA member.
Email: enquiries@britishlaryngological.org for any questions or topic suggestions you may have for future episodes.
This show is brought to you by the BLA, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram hosted by Natalie Watson @surgeonsinger produced and directed by Heather Pownall of Heather's Media Hub Ltd.

The opinions of our host and guests are their own; The BLA does not endorse any individual viewpoints, given products or companies.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate, review and subscribe with the podcast provider of your choice.

In this episode, host Natalie Watson is joined by Professor Ahmed Geneid,  head of the Phoniatrics Department, Helsinki University Hospital of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, to discuss chronic cough, a common issue in laryngology exploring the leading causes of chronic cough, including factors like asthma, smoking, pollutants, reflux, and ACE inhibitors. 

Professor Geneid shares his treatment approach, emphasising video endoscopy's importance in examining the larynx and trachea. He discusses his encounters with previously undiagnosed trachea cancer, adding complexity to the condition.
The second part of this episode looks into the technical aspects of managing chronic cough. Professor Geneid explains his method for administering local anaesthetic for tracheoscopy. He outlines his strategy for addressing laryngeal hypersensitivity and explores treatment options for chronic neuropathic cough. These include techniques like sipping water and deep swallowing and interventions like amitriptyline, speech and language therapy, and cortisone/lidocaine injections. 

In conclusion, this episode is a comprehensive guide on chronic cough, taking listeners from diagnosis to treatment. The insights provided by Professor Genied are invaluable for those dealing with this common ailment. While the complexities of chronic cough are vast, with the proper knowledge and treatment techniques, it can be effectively managed.

We hope you enjoy listening. 
Contact Information
Visit www.britishlaryngological.org or download BLA Connect from your app store for further information and details on becoming a BLA member.
Email: enquiries@britishlaryngological.org for any questions or topic suggestions you may have for future episodes.
This show is brought to you by the BLA, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram hosted by Natalie Watson @surgeonsinger produced and directed by Heather Pownall of Heather's Media Hub Ltd.

The opinions of our host and guests are their own; The BLA does not endorse any individual viewpoints, given products or companies.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate, review and subscribe with the podcast provider of your choice.

Have you ever considered the connection between singing and laryngology? 
 
In this episode, Declan Costello, a celebrated consultant ear, nose, and throat surgeon, ENT and Audiology News editor and current President of the British Laryngological Association, explores this topic with host Natalie Watson. 
 
With a background as a Choral Scholar at St John's College, Cambridge, Declan's passion for singing led him to become a specialist in voice disorders. 
 
We also delve into the intricate world of voice disorders, particularly as they relate to singers—voice disorders in singers versus non-singers, and the evolving views on reflux and persistent throat symptoms. 
 
 We hope you enjoy listening to this episode. 



Contact Information
Visit www.britishlaryngological.org or download BLA Connect from your app store for further information and details on becoming a BLA member.
Email: enquiries@britishlaryngological.org for any questions or topic suggestions you may have for future episodes.
This show is brought to you by the BLA, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram hosted by Natalie Watson @surgeonsinger produced and directed by Heather Pownall of Heather's Media Hub Ltd.

The opinions of our host and guests are their own; The BLA does not endorse any individual viewpoints, given products or companies.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate, review and subscribe with the podcast provider of your choice.

Welcome to the first episode of series 5 of BLA Connections; A Clear Voice. In this episode, Natalie chats with the current President and Immediate President of the BLA, Mr Declan Costello and Prof Guri Sandhu.

Prof Sandhu  is  a founding member of the BLA and immediate past President of the Laryngology & Rhinology section at the RSM. He is a Consultant Otolaryngologist and Head & Neck Surgeon at Imperial College and The Royal Brompton Hospitals in London and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College and University College London. He is a pioneering laryngologist with a special interest in laryngotracheal stenosis. In 2016 he received the Isshiki Award for his outstanding contribution to laryngology. Under his leadership, Prof  Sandhu has increased educational events both in-person and remotely, bringing the BLA community together again in person whilst keeping the accessibility online learning offers. Most notably, with a new venture as the BLA and the UEP will join forces to present a one-day meeting on voice-related topics. This inaugural meeting will occur on the 14th of September at the RSM London.

Mr Costello is also a founding member of the BLA. He is a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon specialising in voice disorders. He studied music at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was a choral scholar and went on to study medicine at Imperial College. As a singer himself, he has a particular interest in treating voice disorders in performers. He has published a number of books and has written many chapters, including the chapter on Larynx for the 42nd edition of Grey's Anatomy. Declan is on the Presidential Council of the European Laryngological Society and the editor of ENT and Audiology News.

The panellists also look to the future of the BLA, including the upcoming joint meeting with the UEP fostering further international links for the association and further accessibility for all with an interest in laryngology with plans of further study days, workshops, podcasts and webinars.


 
Contact Information
Visit www.britishlaryngological.org or download BLA Connect from your app store for further information and details on becoming a BLA member.
Email: enquiries@britishlaryngological.org for any questions or topic suggestions you may have for future episodes.
This show is brought to you by the BLA, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram hosted by Natalie Watson @surgeonsinger produced and directed by Heather Pownall of Heather's Media Hub Ltd.

The opinions of our host and guests are their own; The BLA does not endorse any individual viewpoints, given products or companies.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate, review and subscribe with the podcast provider of your choice.

In the final episode of series 4 of BLA Connections: A Clear Voice, host Natalie Watson is joined by Professor Reza Nouraei, Consultant Laryngologist and Tracheal Surgeon at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, to discuss how to oxygenate our patients whilst operating on the larynx under general anaesthetic. Prof Nouraei walks us step-by-step through THRIVE and other tubeless ventilation methods. 


“You have all the time in the world to put a scope in, as long as it's less than three minutes.”


This quote from Prof David Howard, a global Laryngology pioneer and a friend and mentor to many UK Laryngologists including Prof Nouraei, was an inspiration to search for methods of increasing apnoea time.


THRIVE is essentially a method of ventilating patients who are under general anaesthesia and under conditions of muscle paralysis (i.e. apnoea), by filling the upper airways with oxygen and by activating a ventilatory exchange process which increases the time to desaturation. 


As well as explaining the functions and indications for THRIVE, Prof Nouraei shares his tips and insights for using the procedure successfully, including which patients and conditions might not be suitable for it. We also discuss other ventilation strategies and new airway management tools for further improving them.


To ensure that patients with acutely compromised airways are managed safely, it is vital to understand the anatomy of laryngoscopy and to appreciate how the sharp angle between the lips and the larynx is converted into a straight line. This enables the laryngologist to create safe access corridors for oxygenation and for shared-airway surgery after the patient has been anaesthetised and has been rendered apnoeic. 


Apnoeic ventilation has been a major game changer for our specialty, as well, more broadly, for the care of patients with complex and compromised airways whom, as laryngologists, we are regularly called upon to support. 


For more expert insight into all things laryngology, please do look back at other episodes in this series, including the management and patient journey of airway stenosis, persistent throat symptoms, and the ageing voice. And if you have a topic you think we should cover next series, do let us know!


*Please note a declaration of interest: Prof. Reza Nouraei declares that he has received research and consultancy support from Fisher and Paykel.

Contact Information
Visit www.britishlaryngological.org or download BLA Connect from your app store for further information and details on becoming a
Contact Information
Visit www.britishlaryngological.org or download BLA Connect from your app store for further information and details on becoming a BLA member.
Email: enquiries@britishlaryngological.org for any questions or topic suggestions you may have for future episodes.
This show is brought to you by the BLA, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram hosted by Natalie Watson @surgeonsinger produced and directed by Heather Pownall of Heather's Media Hub Ltd.

The opinions of our host and guests are their own; The BLA does not endorse any individual viewpoints, given products or companies.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate, review and subscribe with the podcast provider of your choice.