Management of thyroid gland invasion in laryngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of thyroid gland invasion in laryngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma; and the association between clinicopathological parameters and thyroid gland invasion. Medical records of 75 patients with laryngeal and hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent total laryngectomy with thyroidectomy were reviewed, retrospectively. Preoperative computed tomography scans, clinical and operative findings, and histopathological data of the specimens were evaluated. There were 73 male and two female patients with an age range of 41-88 years (mean 60.4 years). Hemithyroidectomy was performed in 62 (82.7 %) and total thyroidectomy was performed in 13 patients (17.3 %). Four patients had histopathologically proven thyroid gland invasion (5.3 %). In three patients, thyroid gland involvement was by means of direct invasion. Thyroid gland invasion was significantly correlated with thyroid cartilage invasion. Therefore, prophylactic thyroidectomy should not be a part of the treatment policy for these tumors.

Rhino-orbital Mucormycosis: Clinical Findings and Treatment Outcomes of Four Cases.

In this case report, we present the clinical findings and therapeutic outcomes of four rhino-orbital mucormycosis patients. The four patients (1 female, 3 male; age range, 55-77 years) all had diabetes mellitus and two also had chronic renal failure. All patients exhibited proptosis, sinusitis, and dark-colored lesions on the nasopharynx and/or hard palate; three patients had ipsilateral peripheral facial paralysis. Visual acuity was no light perception in the two patients with severe orbital involvement and 0.8 in two patients with limited orbital involvement. Histopathological examination of the hard palate, nasopharynx or sinus biopsy revealed typical Mucor hyphae. Systemic liposomal amphotericin B was initiated in all patients. The patients with limited ocular involvement received amphotericin B both intravenously and by local irrigation; both patients had complete recovery. The other two patients underwent orbital exenteration; one patient died after declining systemic treatment postoperatively. Rapid diagnosis and treatment are important for the survival of rhino-orbital mucormycosis patients. With orbital involvement, surgical debridement and systemic and local treatment with antifungal agents may help avoid mutilating surgery like exenteration.

Correlation of computed tomography, echo-planar diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and surgical outcomes in middle ear cholesteatoma.

CONCLUSION: Echo-planar diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW MRI) is more reliable than high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in predicting the presence and localization of cholesteatoma before tympanomastoid surgery. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of HRCT and echo-planar DW MRI in the detection and localization of cholesteatoma. METHODS: Fifty-nine patients were prospectively included in this study. Patients with suspected primary cholesteatoma were evaluated by HRCT and echo-planar DW MRI before tympanomastoid surgery. Radiological findings were correlated with intraoperative findings. RESULTS: HRCT and echo-planar DW MRI accurately predicted the presence or absence of cholesteatoma in 40/59 (67.8%) and 52/59 (88.1%) patients, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of HRCT were 68.97%, 66.67%, 66.67%, and 68.97%, respectively. However, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of echo-planar DW MRI were 85.71%, 90.32%, 88.89%, and 87.50%, respectively.

Factors confusing the diagnosis of laryngopharyngeal reflux: the role of allergic rhinitis and inter-rater variability of laryngeal findings.

The objective of the study was to determine the inter-rater variability in assessment of laryngeal findings and whether diagnosing laryngopharyngeal reflux based on the laryngeal findings and history alone without considering allergic rhinitis leads to the overdiagnosis and overtreatment of laryngopharyngeal reflux. Patients with positive and negative skin prick tests were recruited from an allergy clinic in a tertiary teaching university hospital. All subjects completed the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) and underwent laryngeal examinations by three physicians blinded to the skin prick test results and the Reflux Finding Score (RFS) was determined. RFS >7 or RSI >13 was considered reflux positive. Fleiss' kappa (κ) was used to measure inter-rater agreement. The inter-rater agreement was low for pseudosulcus vocalis (κ = 0.078), ventricular obliteration (κ = 0.206), diffuse laryngeal edema (κ = 0.204), and posterior laryngeal hypertrophy (κ = 0.27), intermediate for laryngeal erythema/hyperemia (κ = 0.42) and vocal fold edema (κ = 0.42), and high for thick endolaryngeal mucus (κ = 0.61). Although the frequency of allergy was high, there was no significant difference between allergy-positive and laryngopharyngeal reflux-positive patients. On logistic regression analysis, thick endolaryngeal mucus was a significant predictor of allergy (p = 0.012, odds ratio 0.264, 95 % confidence interval 0.093-0.74). The laryngeal examination for reflux is subject to marked inter-rater variability and allergic laryngitis was not misdiagnosed as laryngopharyngeal reflux. The presence of thick endolaryngeal mucus should alert physicians to the possibility of allergic rhinitis/laryngitis.

Staphylococcus aureus cavernous sinus thrombosis mimicking complicated fungal sinusitis.

Septic cavernous sinus thrombosis is a rare and potentially life-threatening complication of infections involving the paranasal sinuses or the middle one-third of the face. We report a challenging case of cavernous sinus thrombosis to familiarize otolaryngologists with its clinical features, diagnosis, and management. The patient was a 45-year-old diabetic woman whose signs and symptoms mimicked those of complicated fungal sinusitis. She presented with fever, nausea without vomiting, frontal headache, bilateral ptosis and swelling, double vision, a partial loss of visual acuity in the left eye, and restricted lateral ocular movements. Her Snellen visual acuity had been reduced to 8/10 on the right and 6/10 on the left. Radiologic investigation revealed cavernous sinus extension of sphenoid sinusitis and a fungus-ball appearance in the sphenoid sinus. On the second day of her admission, the patient's vision was further reduced to 6/10 on the right and 2/10 on the left. She then underwent urgent bilateral anterior and posterior ethmoidectomy and sphenoidectomy. At postoperative follow-up, her vision had stabilized at 10/10 bilaterally. At 2 months after discharge, she exhibited no evidence of abducens nerve palsy, and her ocular function had returned to normal. The diagnosis of cavernous sinus thrombosis requires a high index of suspicion and confirmation by imaging. The favorable outcome in our case was attributable to early diagnosis, prompt initiation of appropriate intravenous antibiotic therapy, and surgical drainage by the skillful surgical team.

Perichondrium/Cartilage island flap and temporalis muscle fascia in type I tympanoplasty.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the functional results of primary type I tympanoplasty performed with temporalis muscle fascia and a perichondrium/cartilage island flap. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: Research and training hospital. METHODS: The records of patients who underwent type I tympanoplasty between 2006 and 2009 were reviewed. This study aimed to comprise a homogeneous group of patients to make the comparisons as accurate as possible. For this purpose, primary tympanoplasty cases with an intact ossicular chain, a dry ear for a period of at least 1 month, and normal middle ear mucosa were included in the study. Finally, 48 patients in the fascia group and 44 patients in the cartilage group were reviewed for graft take, pre- and postoperative air-bone gaps, and pure-tone averages. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The functional results of cartilage and fascia in a homogeneous group of patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The graft take rate was 89.6% for the fascia group and 93.2% for the cartilage group. Significant recovery was found in the postoperative pure-tone averages and air-bone gaps compared to preoperative thresholds in both the fascia and the cartilage group. Although there was no statistically significant difference between the two graft materials for graft take rates and mean pure-tone averages, cartilage allowed us to achieve slightly better functional results than fascia grafting. Furthermore, the difference between the two graft materials for air-bone gaps was significant postoperatively in favour of the cartilage. CONCLUSIONS: Although one might expect some conductive hearing loss with cartilage owing to its thickness and rigidity, the hearing results of both methods are acceptable, with a slight statistical favouring of cartilage over fascia for air-bone gap measures.