Modified surgical treatment of atrophic rhinitis

The aim of the study was to evaluate the role of alternate periods of surgical closure of the nostrils in treating patients with atrophic rhinitis. A descriptive study was conducted involving 11 patients clinically diagnosed as atrophic rhinitis who underwent surgical closure of the nostrils alternately. These patients were treated in the Department of ENT, Al-Jamhori Teaching Hospital, Mosul, Iraq during the period from April 1990 to December 2004. The parameters analyzed included age, sex, clinical presentation and residence. Moreover, evaluation of the result of alternative periodic surgical closure of the nostrils was evaluated. The study was conducted on 11 patients with atrophic rhinitis [10 females and 1 male]. The average age was 16.2 years with a range of 13.20 years. The peak age incidence was 18th year of life. The most frequent clinical presentation was nasal obstruction in spite of wide nasal cavities. There was improvement of symptoms with regeneration of the nasal mucosa in 10 [90.9%] patients. All of the patients accepted this operation as the other nostril was left open to allow for a relatively functional nasal airway. The results of this series suggest that this technique is useful in the treatment of atrophic rhinitis

Post tonsillectomy bleeding a review of 500 cases

To study the incidence of bleeding following tonsillectomy, its relation to age and sex, and the effect of different hemostatic techniques on the occurrence of bleeding. Five hundred tonsillectomies were performed in the ENT department at Al Zahrawi Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, over seven years. The incidence of post tonsillectomy bleeding and the effect of age, sex, method of hemostasis and time of bleeding were studied. The incidence of major post-tonsillectomy bleeding was 1.4%, and there was an increased incidence in patients over the age of twenty. Secondary bleeding was more common in females. Eighty percent of reactionary bleeding happened in the first six hours after surgery, and most of secondary bleeding occurred toward the end of the first week. We noticed increased severity of pain prior to secondary bleeding in a number of cases. Tonsillectomy is the most commonly performed surgical procedure. Careful assessment of patients must be performed, especially in females older than twenty in whom the frequency of bleeding is higher, possibly due to a hormonal effect. The increase in the intensity of pain a few hours prior to the onset of bleeding may give a warning to start therapy that may abort the bleeding

Malignant tumours of nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses in north of Iraq a fifteen years retrospective study

To identify the different pathological types of malignant tumors of nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, their different clinical aspects, treatment received and prognosis in north of Iraq. Retrospective study. Files of patients treated in the hospital of oncology and nuclear medicine in Mosul over 15 years period [1980-1994]. Types, incidence, age and sex distribution, anatomical sites, clinical presentation, staging, method of treatment and prognosis. They consitiuted 0.51 percent of all malignancies and 2.13 percent of head and neck cancers. Sinus tumours affected both sexes equally as well as both sides. Nasal cavity tumours were more common in male [male/female=1.4/1] and in the right side [right/left=1.33/1]. The commonest age at presentation was the fifth decade. The most common presenting symptom was facial and nasal pain with average delay in diagnosis of about 8.5 months. Tumours of epithelial origin formed the majority of cases [85.68 percent]. All maxillary and ethmoidal cases were advanced at time of diagnosis [T3 or T4], while 60 percent of nasal cavity tumours were T1 and T2. 21.87 percent of patients had palpable cervical lymph nodes at presentation. The majority of patients received radiotherapy alone, few cases had surgery alone or both, but prognosis was generally unsatisfactory. Malignant tumours of nose and sinuses are rare in north of Iraq, are usually advanced at presentation, and carry poor prognosis