Reliability of the vestibular evoked myogenic potential test in assessing intratympanic gentamicin therapy in Meniere's disease.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this preliminary study demonstrate that with regard to determining the efficacy of intratympanic (IT) gentamicin treatment in patients with Meniere's disease, the reliability of testing for vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) is comparable to that of caloric tests. Compared with caloric tests, VEMP measurements are more comfortable and take less time. The results of VEMP and caloric testing do not correlate with the results of hearing tests. OBJECTIVE: To test the reliability of VEMP testing to monitor the results of IT gentamicin therapy in patients with Meniere's disease. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twelve patients with unilateral Meniere's disease were evaluated with pure tone audiometry (PTA), bithermal caloric tests, and VEMP tests. Patients with measurable caloric and VEMP results before IT gentamicin treatment were included in the study. IT gentamicin (0.5 ml) at a concentration of 40 mg/ml was administered to the patients. Reinjection was performed 10 days later depending on patients' complaints. Patients were re-evaluated with short- and long-term VEMP, hearing, and caloric test results. RESULTS: Caloric responses and VEMPs changed following gentamicin therapy in 9 patients and 12 patients, respectively. Long-term results of caloric and VEMP tests in patients receiving IT gentamicin treatment changed in 7 patients and 10 patients, respectively.

Endoscopic endonasal-transantral surgery for an isolated orbital floor blow-out fracture in a pediatric patient.

Orbital floor blow-out fractures occur due to blunt trauma causing displacement of orbital contents to the maxillary sinus while the orbital rim is intact. Surgical repair of these fractures includes transantral, transorbital, or endoscopic endonasal approaches with or without implant use. We report a 12-year-old boy who presented with diplopia after blunt trauma to the head while playing football. Computed tomography revealed a left isolated orbital blow-out fracture. The patient was treated by a combined endoscopic endonasal-transantral approach and stability was restored with a urethral balloon catheter following endoscopic reduction of the fracture. Healing of the orbital floor was confirmed by an early computed tomography scan. This technique restores eye volume and function without the use of external incisions or implants.

Congenital partial arhinia: a case report.

Congenital arhinia is an extremely rare anomaly consisting of an absence of external nasal structures and nasal passages. Fewer than 30 cases have been reported. Patients with a familial absence of the nose have been reported, but the effects of genetic and maternal factors are unknown. Midface hypoplasia may accompany arhinia. Accompanying malformations are thought to be caused by an absent or rudimentary nose. A patient with partial congenital arhinia is presented and the embryology and literature review are discussed.

Malignant eccrine poroma invading the parotid gland.

Malignant eccrine poroma was first described by Pinkus and Mehregon in 1963. Because of the histologic characteristics of the tumor, these authors concluded that the tumor was likely of eccrine origin. Malignant eccrine poroma originates from the intraepidermal ductal portion of the eccrine gland. Like other tumors of skin adnexa, malignant eccrine poroma is a rare tumor. It mostly affects older persons. Clinical diagnosis is difficult, and lesions are often mistakenly identified as squamous cell carcinoma or pyogenic granuloma. We report a case of malignant eccrine poroma invading the parotid gland. A 65-year-old man presented with an ulcerated mass (2x3 cm) below the ear lobule of 3 months' duration. The mass was fixed to the skin and underlying parotid gland. The lesion was treated using a superficial parotidectomy approach including the overlying skin. Simultaneous neck dissection was performed. The diagnosis was malignant eccrine poroma invading the parotid gland.

Frontal mucocele with an accompanying orbital abscess mimicking a fronto-orbital mucocele: case report.

BACKGROUND: Mucoceles are slowly expanding cystic lesions with respiratory epithelium containing mucus most commonly affecting the frontal and ethmoidal sinuses. They are caused by obstruction of sinus ostium. Mucoceles exert pressure on the bony boundaries and due to the proximity to the brain and orbit extension to these areas are common. CASE PRESENTATION: A case of a frontal mucocele with an accompanying orbital abscess mimicking a fronto-orbital mucocele is reported. A 77 year old female patient suffering from left sided proptosis and pain around the left eye was admitted to our department. She had a history of left frontal sinus mucocele one year ago that was offered an osteoplastic frontal sinus surgery that the patient refused. Patient had limitation of eye movements. Fundoscopic examination revealed a minimal papilledema. Coronal computerized tomography and orbital magnetic resonance imaging showed a frontal mucocele with suspicious erosion of the orbital roof and a superiorly localized extraconal mass displacing the orbit lateroinferiorly. Frontal and orbital masses had similar intensities. Thus surgery was planned for a fronto-orbital mucocele. During surgery no defect was found on the orbital roof. Frontal mucocele and orbital cystic mass was removed separately. Pathological examination showed a frontal mucocele and an orbital abscess wall. Postoperatively eye movements returned to normal and papilledema resolved. CONCLUSION: Fronto-orbital mucoceles are commonly encountered pathologies, but frontal mucocele with an orbital abscess is a rarely seen and should be kept in mind because their treatments differ.

Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and Meniere's disease.

The objective was to investigate vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and Meniere's disease, and to determine if this type of testing is valuable for assessing the vestibular system. A prospective controlled clinical study was designed in a tertiary referral center setting. The 62 participants included 17 healthy controls and 45 other subjects selected from patients who presented with the complaint of vertigo (25 diagnosed with BPPV and 20 diagnosed with Meniere's disease). The main outcome measures of VEMP were recorded in all subjects and findings in each patient group were compared with control findings. The VEMP for the 30 affected ears in the 25 BPPV patients revealed prolonged latencies in eight ears and decreased amplitude in one ear (nine abnormal ears; 30% of total). The recordings for the 20 affected ears in the Meniere's disease patients revealed four ears with no response, six ears with prolonged latencies (ten abnormal ears; 50% of total). Only two (5.9%) of the 34 control ears had abnormal VEMP. The rate of VEMP abnormalities in the control ears was significantly lower than the corresponding rates in the affected BPPV ears and the affected Meniere's ears that were studied (P=0.012 and P<0.001, respectively). The results suggest that testing of VEMP is a promising method for diagnosing and following patients with BPPV paroxysmal positional vertigo and Meniere's disease. Further investigations with this method in other neurotologic pathologies might also be informative.

Tortuous internal carotid artery indenting the piriform sinus: a case report.

A case of tortuous internal carotid artery bulging and partially obliterating the piriform sinus, causing a sensation of fullness and abnormal throat, accompanied by choking spells in a 57-year-old patient is presented. Endoscopic examination and computerized tomographic angiography were useful in establishing the diagnosis. This rare anomaly should be recognized in order to prevent possible fatal hemorrhages during further surgical interventions of the piriform sinus.

Choanal polyp originating from the nasal septum: a case report.

Almost all nasal polyps originate from the mucosa of the lateral walls of the nasal cavity or from the paranasal sinuses. A choanal polyp is the intranasal portion of a cyst that has arisen from the wall of the maxillary sinus near the ostium. Medially based polyps, such as those that arise from the nasal septum, are rare. The literature cites a wide range of incidence rates for polyps originating from this structure, but choanal extension of this type of polyp is extremely unusual. This report describes a polyp that arose from the superior aspect of the posterior nasal septum and extended through the choana into the nasopharynx. The histology of this choanal lesion was typical of nasal polyps, but the site of origin is rare. The ethiopathogenesis of nasal polyps with its common location remains controversial so it is difficult to speculate what mechanism triggered the development of this lesion on the nasal septum. Some form of local inflammation may have induced choanal polyp formation at this atypical site.