Early Experiences of Head and Neck Reconstruction: Appropriacy and Surgical Outcome / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The reconstruction of surgical defects in head and neck cancer patients requires thorough anatomical knowledge and considerable clinical experiences, hence it is a demanding job for un-experienced reconstructive surgeons. We evaluated the appropriateness and the surgical outcome of a one-year experience of head and neck reconstruction carried out in a tertiary hospital setting. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We performed a retrospective review of the medical records of 73 patients who underwent reconstructive surgery at the Otolaryngology Department and Plastic Surgery from January, 2012 to September, 2016. RESULTS: Twenty-eight of 42 patients underwent free-flap reconstruction, including anterolateral thigh, radial forearm, or fibula free-flap by a head and neck surgeon. The rest of the patients underwent pedicled-flap surgery including pectoralis major or latissimus dorsi myocutanous flap. The mean operation time was 209.5 minutes and an average of 1.2 days intensive care unit- and 37.2 days of hospital stay were required in the free-flap cases. The flap failure happened in three patients, two in free-flap and one in pedicled flap. These surgical outcomes were comparable to those of the plastic surgery patient group. CONCLUSION: The technical appropriacy and acceptable outcome of head and neck reconstruction by head and neck surgeons was proven in this investigation. We propose that reconstructive surgery should be performed by head and neck surgeons as they could reduce operation time or complications because of their familiarity with complex surgical anatomy and early decision making competency.

A Case of Mucocele Occurred in Nasal Septum / 대한이비인후과학회지

Mucoceles are expansile, encapsulated, benign cystic lesions with the potential for adjacent bony remodeling and resorption. Paranasal mucoceles predominantly develop in the frontal sinuses (60%), followed in frequency by the ethmoidal (20-30%), maxillary (10%), and sphenoid (2-3%) sinuses. Nasal septal mucoceles develop in only very seldom cases. Septal mucoceles might develop from infected nasal septum or trauma. In the differential diagnosis of a midline septal mass, dermoid cyst, encephalocele, meningocele or intraseptal abscess should be considered. We present a case of nasal septal mucocele, which was managed by endoscopic excision and marsupialization.

Development of Simplified Ajou Version of MarkeTrak Survey to Evaluate Hearing Aid Use / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: MarkeTrak Survey is designed to evaluate the sociodemographic and HA factors of hearing aid (HA) users and their satisfaction of use. The questionnaire is inconvenient to use because it asked too many questions and requires long time to answer. The purpose of this study was to develop a simplified ("Ajou") version of MarkeTrak Survey and to evaluate its reliability. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Forty-five HA users who visited the Ajou Hearing Center from 2014 to 2015 were included in the present study. To examine the correlation of the Korean version and the Ajou version of MarkeTrak Survey, 42 patients completed each survey simultaneously. To examine the reliability of Ajou version, test-retest and internal consistency methods were used. For the test-retest method, 22 HA users repeated the survey 2-4 weeks later. RESULTS: The newly developed "Ajou" version of MarkeTrak Survey consisted of 12 questions and was more simplified. Most of the questions of the two surveys showed significant correlation coefficient values (Spearman correlation, p<0.05). For the test-retest method, most questions showed significant correlation coefficient values (Spearman correlation, p<0.05), but they showed lower values than 0.6 in many cases. It showed high internal consistency of overall HA satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The Ajou version may be used as a simplified and alternative questionnaire for the Korean version of MarkeTrak Survey.