Clinical Features of Ectopic Tooth Occurring in Sinonasal Cavity / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The presence of ectopic tooth in the sinonasal cavity is an unusual phenomenon and the underlying etiology remains unclear. Because of its rarity, clinical observation studies about sinonasal ectopic tooth are very rare. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical characteristics of ectopic tooth occurring in the sinonasal cavity. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Medical records and radiologic studies of 11 patients, who were treated between January 2006 and June 2012 for ectopic nasal teeth were reviewed retrospectively, with regard to sex, age, location, symptoms and treatment methods. RESULTS: Among 11 patients, 8 patients were male and 3 patients were female. The average age was 24.2 years. Among 7 patients who had symptoms, nasal obstruction was the most common followed by rhinorrhea, postnasal drip, facial swelling or pain, headache. The nasal cavity was the most frequently affected site. Among 14 ectopic teeth from eleven patients, 7 were removed by intrasnasal endoscopy and 2 by external premaxillary approach. Five teeth which were unerupted within the hard palate or maxillary sinus were offered conservative treatment with periodic follow-up. CONCLUSION: Removal of ectopic nasal tooth is generally advocated to alleviate the symptoms and prevent complications; if conservative treatment is decided, periodic monitoring of the patient is recommended. We suggest that treatment be carefully planned based on the symptoms of patients, location of the ectopic tooth, and whether the tooth is erupted or not.

The Possibility of Morning Sickness from Olfactory Hypersensitivity during Pregnancy / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy are well-known phenomena. It has been suggested that the mechanism that triggers nausea and vomiting in pregnancy may be related to olfactory changes. We planned to investigate olfactory function changes and the relationship between olfaction changes and nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Two groups of participants with the total of 75 women (35 pregnant women; 40 non-pregnant women) were analyzed prospectively. Objective olfactory function was tested using Korean Version of Sniffin' Sticks-II test (KVSS-II test). In addition, pregnant subjects were investigated using the questionnaire to evaluate the severity of nausea and vomiting, and whether the changes were due to olfactory sensitivity. RESULTS: Subjective olfactory sensitivity was increased in pregnant subjects. However, there was no significant difference in the objective olfactory function between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Based on this study, we concluded that pregnancy is accompanied by changes in subjective olfactory sensitivity and higher subjective olfactory discomfort. But these findings do not support the hypothesis that nausea and vomiting is dependent of the changes in the objective olfactory function during early pregnancy.