ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Acute tonsillitis is a clinical condition of gross tonsillar infection. Since previous studies focused on immunology of tonsils and group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus, we have not had sufficient clinical analyses of acute tonsillitis, such as predisposing factors and change of organism strains causing tonsillitis. This study aims to explain many factors that seem to be related to severe acute tonsillitis, such as age, sex, seasonal distribution, days from initial symptoms to visit, body temperature, symptoms, past history, duration of hospitalization, number of patients of culture positive group, culture organisms and antibiotic sensitivity of common organism strains. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: In this study, researchers clinically reviewed 283 patients who were hospitalized at the Chung-Ang University Hospital at any time from January 1993 to December 2002. Throat smear was done at the surface of inflammed tonsils. RESULTS: Among 283 cases, 125 cases yielded pus plug. Seven strains of bacteria were isolated in 115 culture-positive cases. There were significant differences between Group A (from January 1993 to December 1997) and Group B (from January 1998 to December 2002) regarding organism strains isolated. In both Group A and B, group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus was the most common organism that caused severe acute tonsillitis. However, in Group B, other organism strains, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus, increased in number and in their resistance to penicillin and cephalothin. The researchers found no predisposing factors that were related to severe acute tonsillitis. CONCLUSION: To sum up, this study demonstrates that we may reconsider the use of antibiotics such as penicillin and cephalothin for severe acute tonsillitis. This study calls for further studies about the change of organism strains that cause severe acute tonsillitis and about the predisposing factors that affect severe acute tonsillitis.
Subject(s)
Humans , Allergy and Immunology , Anti-Bacterial Agents , Bacteria , Bacteriology , Body Temperature , Causality , Cephalothin , Enterococcus , Hospitalization , Palatine Tonsil , Penicillins , Pharynx , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Seasons , Streptococcus , Suppuration , TonsillitisABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recent studies have demonstrated overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in various cancers including head and neck cancers. COX-2, an inducible enzyme which catalyzes the formation of prostaglandins from arachidonic acid, is expressed in some cancers. We investigated the anti-tumor effect of selective COX-2 inhibitor, Meloxicam, on the human oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma xenografted in nude mice. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We inoculated the oral cavity cancer cell (KB cell) line subcutaneously into 30 athymic mice which were divided into 3 groups 1 week after inoculation. One group received no treatment whereas two other groups received selective COX-2 inhibitor, Meloxicam, 10mg/kg and 40mg/kg three times weekly for 3 weeks. We studied mean tumor volume, apoptotic index (TUNEL) and proliferative index (Ki 67) in the control and treated groups. RESULTS: Meloxicam induced apoptosis, suppressed cell proliferation with significant difference (p<0.01), and suppressed the xenografted tumor growth with significant difference (p<0.05) in the Meloxicam treated group. All tumor expressed COX-2. CONCLUSION: This result suggested that the selective COX-2 inhibitors suppressed the growth of human oral cavity squamous carcinoma and a further study will be needed for determination of the pharmacologic pathway and efficacy of selective COX-2 inhibitor for head and neck cancers.
Subject(s)
Humans , Mice , AnimalsABSTRACT
The thyroglossal duct cyst, mainly appearing as a midline neck swelling in adolescence and young adults, is the most common cervical mass among the congenital anomalies in the neck. The cysts are usually asymptomatic and movable when swallowing or protruding the tongue. Carcinoma arising in thyroglossal duct cyst is found in approximately 1% of these lesions, therefore the presentation of the patient with carcinoma is indistinguishable from the common cyst. A 50-year-old man was examined preoperatively by ultrasonography of the neck, assay of thyroid hormones and neck CT with enhancement, which yielded a diagnosis of a thyroglossal duct cyst. The patient underwent Sistrunk procedure for excision of a thyroglossal duct cyst. No thyroid abnormality and no palpable lymph node were noted. The histopathological examination revealed papillary carcinoma. So we performed bilateral neck dissection 17 days after the Sistrunk procedure. There were no problems in the postoperative course and no signs of local recurrence or metastases through one year after surgery. We present this case of papillary carcinoma arising in the thyroglossal duct cyst, with the review of literature.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Humans , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Carcinoma, Papillary , Deglutition , Diagnosis , Lymph Nodes , Neck , Neck Dissection , Neoplasm Metastasis , Recurrence , Thyroglossal Cyst , Thyroid Gland , Thyroid Hormones , Tongue , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A large body of evidence from a variety of experimental systems suggests that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is important in carcinogenesis. This study was to determine whether cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and COX-2 were overexpressed in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and discuss the possible causal role of COX-2 in the laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma formation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tissue samples from 21 pateints with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma were analyzed by immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: There was an elevation of COX-2 expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Normal buccal mucosa biopsies and normal laryngeal epitheliums adjacent to laryngeal cancer showed nondetectable or weak staining for COX-2 protein. There is no difference in the expression of COX -1 in the normal buccal mucosa, normal laryngeal mucosa and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. CONCLUSION: There is an overexpression of COX-2, but not COX-1 in laryngeal squamous cell cancer. This may represent a causal role of COX-2 in the formation and proliferation of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. There may also be another role of selective COX-2 inhibition for treatment of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.