Endoscopy-assisted Coblation for nasopharyngeal stenosis: A report of 2 cases.

Acquired nasopharyngeal stenosis, the standard treatments for which carry a high risk of restenosis, is an uncommon complication of both velopharyngeal surgery and radiotherapy to the nasopharynx. We present the cases of 2 men, aged 41 and 52 years, who underwent surgical treatment for nasopharyngeal stenosis with endoscopy-assisted Coblation. The two surgeries lasted 23 and 18 minutes, respectively. Neither patient experienced any surgical complication, and a nasopharyngeal stent was not needed in either case. At follow-up 12 months postoperatively, both patients exhibited a patent nasopharyngeal passage. Endoscopy-assisted Coblation appears to be a safe, effective, and less painful option for the treatment of nasopharyngeal stenosis.

Do Pharyngeal Surgeries for Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Have an Impact on Nasalance Scores?

OBJECTIVE: Most of the surgeries which are used in the treatment of habitual snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) mainly target velopharyngeal structures, which play an important role in voice characteristics such as nasalance. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of different types of such surgical procedures including expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty (ESP), lateral pharyngoplasty (LP), and anterior palatoplasty (AP) on nasalance scores. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty-nine consecutive patients with primary snoring or OSA who underwent AP, LP, and ESP procedures were included in this study. All patients underwent a fully attended overnight polysomnography and detailed otolaryngologic examination. Nasalance studies were performed with Nasometer II instrument (model 6400; Kay Elemetrics, Lincoln Park, NJ) by reading 3 passages that were categorized according to the amount of nasal consonants (oral, oro-nasal, and nasal passages), preoperatively, and 3 months after surgery. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in either group between preoperative and postoperative assessments of nasalance scores for all 3 passages. Seven patients experienced nasal regurgitation symptoms for fluids for a short time after LP, 2 patients after AP, and 7 patients after ESP. None of these symptoms showed persistence and diminished approximately at 1-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: Anterior palatoplasty, LP, and ESP seem not to have any impact on nasalance scores of males.

[The prognostic significance of DNA ploidy in laryngeal cancers]. / Larenks kanserlerinde DNA ploidinin prognostik önemi.

OBJECTIVES: We assessed the relationship between DNA ploidy and histopathologic parameters and its effect on prognosis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Surgical sections of 44 patients who were treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx were studied. Image cytometry measurements were performed on nuclear suspensions derived from paraffin-embedded sections to determine DNA ploidy patterns. We investigated the relationship between the DNA ploidy status and localization, stage, differentiation, keratinization, depth of tumoral invasion, lymphocytic infiltration, perineural invasion, infiltration pattern, necrosis, and 5-year and overall survival rates. RESULTS: Aneuploidy and diploidy were diagnosed in 65.9% and 34.1%, respectively. No significant relationships were found between DNA ploidy and stage, localization, differentiation, keratinization, depth of invasion, infiltration pattern, lymphocytic infiltration, necrosis, perineural invasion, and lymph node metastasis (p>0.05). The five-year (p=0.048) and overall (log rank=4.40; p=0.036) survival rates were significantly higher in diploid tumors. The presence of perineural invasion (p=0.004) and depth of the invasion exceeding 9 millimeters (p=0.045) were significant factors adversely influencing the five-year survival rate. The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the DNA ploidy status (p=0.042) and the presence of perineural invasion (p=0.009) were independent prognostic variables related to decreased survival. CONCLUSION: Aneuploidy has an adverse effect on the prognosis in squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx.