A Case of Rhabdomyosarcoma in Pharynx / 대한이비인후과학회지

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a highly aggressive malignant tumor with an incidence of 1/500,000 children per year. It originates from mesenchymal cell to invade soft tissue, developing into a highly aggressive malignant tumor. Rhabdomyosarcoma consists of the following four pathologic groups-embryonal, botryoid, alveolar, and pleomorphic type. While head and neck is the most common site of the embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, the pharynx is rarely reported as a primary site of rhabdomyosarcoma. Recently, the 5-year survival rate of rhabdomyosarcoma has been greatly increased by combining therapy with radical surgery, although it still has poor prognosis. We present a case of rhabdomyosarcoma in the pharynx.

A Case of Maxillary Sinusitis after Sinus Floor Augmentation / 대한이비인후과학회지

Sinus floor augmentation is essential for successful dental implantation in patients with alveolar bone height less than 10 mm. However, maxillary sinusitis has been reported to occur in 8-20% of patients after sinus floor augmentation. We present a case of maxillary sinusitis due to sequestrum of bone cement fragment into the maxillary sinus ostium after sinus floor augmentation.

The Effect of Smoking on Outcome in Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study is designed to assess the effect of smoking on the outcome of endoscopic sinus surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 66 patients who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery with the diagnosis of chronic sinusitis were evaluated. They were divided into 3 groups; non-smoking, quit-smoking and still-smoking groups. Preoperative and postoperative visual analogue scale (VAS), Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT), and endoscopic score for each group were obtained and compared. RESULTS: There were statistically significant correlations between VAS, SNOT score and smoking. However, all patients showed a similar degree of improvement on the subjective symptoms regardless of smoking or nonsmoking. And, postoperative relief of subjective symptoms was not apparent after smoking cessation. In objective findings, postoperative endoscopic scores were 1.6 in non-smoking group, 1.8 in quit-smoking group and 2.7 in still-smoking group. Stillsmoking group had the worst endoscopic result, However, these differences did not reach a statistical significance. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that smoking had a negative effect on subjective symptoms but not in objective endoscopic findings. In addition, the cessation of smoking after sinus surgery may have no meaningful benefit on the outcome of surgery.

Ocular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential in Healthy Subjects: A Comparative Study with Cervical Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: While vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) can be measured from extra-ocular muscle as well as cervical muscle, there are uncertainties about the patterns and discomfort level of ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMPs). This study is to identify the properties of oVEMPs parameters and degree of subjective discomfort when compared to cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMPs) in healthy subjects. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Twenty volunteers with normal hearing were enrolled in this study. The oVEMPs were recorded from electrodes placed beneath the eyes using ipsilateral and contralateral acoustic stimulation with 500 Hz short tone bursts with subjects in sitting position and maximal upward gaze. The cVEMPs were measured using 500 Hz short tone bursts with subject in supine position and their head elevated and turned away from the test side. The latency, interlatency and interamplitude of oVEMPs responses were compared to those of cVEMPs. The subjective discomfort levels of oVEMPs and cVEMPs were compared using a questionnaire survey. RESULTS: The cVEMPs appeared as positive-negative biphasic responses in all 40 ears whereas oVEMPs were measured in 27 ears (67.5%) with ipsilateral stimulation and 20 ears (85%) with contralateral stimulation which appeared as negative-positive biphasic responses. The oVEMPs had smaller amplitude than the cVEMPs. The oVEMPs thresholds tended to have higher level than the cVEMPs thresholds. The 18 subjects (90%) reported that the discomfort level of oVEMPs measurement was lower or equal to that of cVEMPs measurement. CONCLUSION: oVEMPs test may be used as a complementary and comfortable diagnostic tool for evaluating the integrity of vestibular-ocular system.