Schwannoma of the Tongue Base with Imaging Features and Differential Diagnosis: a Rare Case Report and Literature Review

Schwannoma or neurilemmoma is a benign peripheral nerve sheath tumor that arises from Schwann cells. Approximately 25–45% of all schwannomas occur in the head and neck regions, and the intraoral presentation of these is only 1%. We report a rare case of a patient presenting tongue base schwannoma with characteristic imaging features on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Prevention of Lateral Synechia Formation with Silastic Sheet in the Endoscopic Sinus Surgery / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Lateral synechia formation between the middle turbinate and the lateral nasal wall is one of the most common complications in endoscopic sinus surgery. Unstable and floppy middle turbinate occurs not infrequently and it may make meticulous postoperative dressing difficult during healing period, and consequently increases the risk of synechia and recurrence of sinusitis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether insertion of the silastic sheet in the middle meatus can effectively prevent the synechia formation. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Twenty eight patients (31 sides including 3 bilateral cases) with unstable and floppy middle turbinate occurred during endoscopic sinus surgery were enrolled in this study. The silastic sheet was designed in fan-shape and inserted between the middle turbinate and the lateral nasal wall. The silastic sheet was secured to the caudal septum and removed 2 to 3 weeks after the operation. We performed a follow-up study for 5 months and investigated the occurrence rate of synechia. RESULTS: The success rate of our method was 90.3% and synechia in the middle meatus developed in 3 of 31 sides (9.7%). Although synechia between the middle turbinate and nasal septum occurred in 4 sides, the patients did not complain of olfactory disturbance. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that insertion of the silastic sheet in the middle meatus can be a useful method in the prevention of lateral synechia formation when unstable and floppy middle turbinate has developed during endoscopic sinus surgery.

The Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor(VEGF) and Survivin in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Larynx / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Angiogenesis and alteration of apoptosis are hypothesized to be the mechanisms of the growth of tumor. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is considered to be the most primary factor prompting the angiogenesis in tumor tissue, which also holds the central position in the course of formation and metastasis of tumor and regulates expression of survivin. The survivin protein is the member of inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family which inhibits apoptosis. Recently, several authors reported survivin and VEGF expression was found in various cancer tissue and they are suggest to play on the important role in cancer development. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the expression of VEGF and survivin and to investigate their correlation with the clinical stage, nodal involvement, and histologic grade in the squamous cell carcinoma of larynx. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Immunohistochemical staining for the paraffin sections by using a polyclonal antibody for VEGF and survivin by the standard avidin-biotin-peroxidase technique was performed in 19 cases with the squamouse cell carcinoma of larynx. The relationships between the expression of VEGF and survivin and clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. RESULTS: Immunohistochemical analysis showed the expression of VEGF in 15 of 19 cases (78.9%) and survivin in 19 of 19 cases (100%). There was no correlation between the expression of VEGF and survivin and the clinical stage, nodal involvement, and histologic grade in the squamous cell carcinoma of larynx (p>0.05). But VEGF results in an increased expression of survivin (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Further study will be needed to understand the relationships between the VEGF and survivin and squamous cell carcinoma of larynx.