Foreign body in ENT--general practitioner's duty.

Foreign body in ENT region is an age-old problem. Introduction of foreign body in ear, nose and throat is specially seen in children. There are many types of foreign body seen in the ear, nose and throat. They can aspirate into larynx, trachea and bronchus. How to manage the removal of foreign body in ear, nose and throat had been discussed in a nutshell. General practitioners should be skilled enough to remove foreign body with their limited resources and they should know when to send the cases to an ENT specialist or to a hospital.

Rhabdomyosarcoma of nose and paranasal sinuses--a therapeutic challenge.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a highly malignant tumour of striated muscle and it is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in the paediatric age group. It is very uncommon in the nose and paranasal sinuses. Pinkish nasal mass and recurrent epistaxis are the most common presenting symptoms. Histologically embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common variant. The present series deals with seven such cases of different histopathological types including the embryonal, botryoid, and alveolar varieties in the paediatric age group. Multimodal treatment including limited surgery followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy resulted in survival ranging from 3 days to more than 3 years, which was also influenced by the severity of the disease at presentation and its aggressiveness.

Deaf child--a general practitioner's responsibility.

The power of a child's speaking language never develops if he is deaf. Deafness persists if it is not detected early. Childhood deafness is either congenital or acquired. At birth, doctors or attendants can detect deafness by arousing the baby with sudden loud noise. At 4 months onwards mothers and doctors can detect deafness. The baby at this age can turn its head or eyes towards the source of the sound. By 12 months to 2 years of age it is very difficult to detect deafness. By the age of 3 years children again become co-operative and it becomes easier to detect deafness. Children should always be screened for deafness while being admitted to nursery classes. In school going age ie, 5 years onwards loss of tests can be employed to detect deafness. If a child is suspected be deaf, a general practitioner's responsibility is to refer him to an ENT specialist earlier. Any child whose mother believes her child is deaf should be given due attention. Otitis media with effusion, enlarged adenoid, chronic suppurative otitis media, recurrent otitis media are some diseases to be carefully looked into by the general practitioners. Now-a-days cochlear implantation surgery is gaining popularity to give hearing to deaf child. Moreover regular screening for deafness should be included school heath programme.

Large capillary haemangioma arising from the nasal columella--a case report.

A 39-year-old male presented with a mass arising from the nasal columella for last 8 months. The mass was lobulated, dark red in colour, firm in consistency and approximately 3 cm in diameter. It was attached to the columella of the nose by a narrow stalk. The mass was excised completely under general anaesthesia and histopathological examination suggested it to be a case of capillary haemangioma.