Myositis in the head and neck: challenges in diagnosis and management.

Myositis in the head and neck may present with non-specific symptoms, and radiographically may mimic malignancy. Multidisciplinary management is often essential, and we describe the challenges in an effort to raise awareness of the condition.

An unusual presentation of erythema multiforme in a paediatric patient.

BACKGROUND: Erythema multiforme (EM) is an acute, vesiculobullous disease of skin and mucous membranes with symptoms ranging from mild to severe. A complex interaction of different factors has been implicated the condition; the majority with a preceding herpes simplex infection. This report describes an unusual presentation of erythema multiforme affecting the lips and oral mucosa of a healthy 7-year-old boy in the form of lip adherence. CASE REPORT: Two weeks following eruption of oral ulcerations, a 7-year-old healthy boy developed severe erosive ulceration of both lips, causing complete lip adherence. This was accompanied by marked bilateral submandibular and cervical lymphadenopathy, tremor and sweating. Clinical and laboratory investigations led to a diagnosis of erythema multiforme. The patient was treated initially with gentle application of Vaseline between the lips using cotton buds in an attempt to release lip adhesion, followed by surgical release of the lips under general anaesthesia. Analgesics and topical steroid mouthwash were provided. FOLLOW-UP: Seven months later, the patient presented with a recurrence of his EM which included lesions on the skin. The patient was treated with antivirals, topical and systematic steroids to suppress the recurrent attacks of EM. Eighteen months following the initial presentation the patient and parent reported considerable decrease in the frequency, severity and duration of the occurrence of intra-oral ulcers, with no major episode of target lesions on the skin. CONCLUSION: Erythema multiforme is rare in children, however it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent erosive oral ulcerative lesions especially when the oral lesions resemble those of primary herpetic gingivostomatitis.

A large teratoma of the hard palate: a case report.

Congenital teratoma is a rare malformation, and few papers have been published about it. We present a large teratoma that arose from the hard palate in a neonate. The obstructive mass caused maternal polyhydramnios and was identified prenatally by ultrasonography. The mother went into labour at 35 week's gestation at home. The child was in respiratory distress as a result of airway obstruction, and a tracheostomy was done when she was 4hours old. She also had major cardiac abnormalities. The palatal mass was removed successfully at 4 weeks of age. The typical components of a teratoma were identified including immature neural glial tissue.

A life-threatening complication of acute parotitis.

We present a case of necrotising fasciitis that complicated an episode of acute parotitis caused by Streptococcus milleri infection. Early diagnosis and aggressive therapy is necessary to reduce the incidence of mortality of this severe infection.

Buccal mucosal grafts for urethroplasty: surgical technique and morbidity.

We present an outline of the surgical technique for harvesting free buccal mucosal grafts for urethroplasty in 23 patients and an assessment of morbidity at the donor site. Any problems were recorded, particularly injury to the lingual and mental nerves, symptoms of obstruction of the parotid duct, and trismus. There were four early (less than 6 weeks) complaints of mild trismus and one late complaint. All the grafts were successful.

Transalveolar screws and the incidence of dental damage: a prospective study.

The incidence of screw/tooth contact in the placement of transalveolar screws was prospectively studied. The clinical significance of such contact when it occurred was assessed. Patients with fractures of the mandible requiring intra- or post-operative control of their occlusion with transalveolar screws were entered into the study. Following screw removal, contact was assessed radiographically and all teeth adjacent to screws were tested for vitality. Any contacts were judged to be minor if less than 50% of the diameter of the screw hole impinged on a tooth root or major if this was more than 50%. Fifty-four male and one female patients completed the study. There were 232 screws placed in these patients adjacent to 440 teeth. Twenty-six screws (11.2%) had major contacts and 37 (15.9%) had minor contacts. Seventeen teeth tested as non-vital with electronic pulp testing but of these only 6 showed any impingement by screws. Two screws were associated with complications in two patients. Screw/tooth contact does occur using transalveolar screws, however, the incidence of clinically significant damage appears to be very low.

Expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen in lung cancer: a systematic study and correlation with DNA ploidy.

Heterogeneity of expression of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was assessed immunohistochemically in 156 tissue samples from 33 surgically resected pulmonary carcinomas using the monoclonal antibody 19A2. The DNA content of each of these samples was measured by flow cytometry. Mean PCNA expression was higher in squamous carcinomas than in adenocarcinomas but there was marked intra-tumour variation in PCNA index in almost all cases. Intra-tumour heterogeneity of DNA content was noted in 11 cases. The PCNA index of these cases (34.1) was higher than that of DNA homogeneous cases (19.4). The wide variation in PCNA expression between different samples within a tumour would indicate that systematic sampling and counting will be necessary in future immunohistochemical studies of cell proliferation in tumour material.