Assessment of quality of life among children with atopic dermatitis

Patients with skin diseases experience a wide range of symptoms, which affect their lives, ranging from trivial problems to major handicaps. Sometimes, these symptoms are caused by objective changes that impair daily life directly and measurably, while at other times the impairment is subtle and occurs mainly on psychological level. The aim of this work is to study the impact of atopic dermatitis on the quality of life [QOL] among affected children. The aim of this work is to study the impact of atopic dermatitis [AD] on the quality of life [QOL] among affected children. One hundred child aged 7-13 years were the cases of the study. They were selected from the patients attending the dermatology outpatient clinic at El-Hussin University Hospital. Also, one hundred child were selected as a control with age and sex matching. Quality of life was assessed for patients and controls through a specific questionnaire. The QOL was good among 24% of cases in comparison to 88% of controls. It was observed that 91.3% with severe AD had poor QOL, while, 37.5% with mild severity had good QOL with statistical significance difference. The QOL of patients with atopic dermatitis is clearly impaired with comparison to control group. QOL showed strong negative effect with increase the severity of the disease

infratemporal fossa approach for the management of difficult lateral skull base lesions

Management of infratemporal fossa lesions poses certain difficulties. The presentation of these cases is variable, their location is deep and they may be related to important neurovascular structures. The aim of the present report is to present our experience in the management of extensive lesions involving the lateral skull base using a variety of infratemporal fossa approaches. The clinical picture, indications, technique, complications and outcome are discussed. This is a retrospective study in which all patients managed surgically for infratemporal fossa lesions at the ENT Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University and Hai Al Jamea Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in a 2-year period were included. Nine patients were included, of whom four were recurrent juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas, two nasopharyngeal carcinomas, one recurrent chondrosarcoma, one trigeminal neurinoma and one meningioma. The approaches used were the infratemporal fossa type C in two cases, the preauricular infratemporal fossa approach in six patients with [3 cases] or without [3 cases] orbitozygomatic osteotomy and a combined modified transcochlear and infratemporal fossa type B approach in the remaining case. Total removal could be accomplished in eight cases. No mortality was recorded The infratemporal fossa approaches provide a viable alternative for the management of difficult to treat lateral skull base lesions

CT scanning in chronic rhinosinusitis. Indications, technique and merits

One hundred patients diagnosed to have chronic rhinosinusitis on clinical and endoscopic basis were examined radiologically by CT scanning of their paranasal sinuses prior to endoscopic sinus surgery. They patients included 51 males and 49 females, their ages ranged between 19 and 66 years. The anterior ethmoidal sinuses including the ethmoidal infundibulum and the ostiomeatal complex were involved in all cases. These findings supported the concept that the anterior ethmoids are the key area in the genesis, persistence and recurrence of disease in the other group of sinuses. CT revealed mucosal changes deep in the ostiomeatal complex that are not visible endoscopically, besides the extent and nature of pathology and the effects of previous sinus surgery can be properly assessed. The merits of CT scanning over other radiological modalities in chronic rhinosinusitis were discussed as well as the proper selection of patients and the modifications in scanning techniques aiming to reduce the cost effectiveness of the examination