ABSTRACT
The authors present a review of surgical complications following cochlear implantation at Great Ormond Street Hospital, since inception of the programme in 1992 until June 2004. Complications are defined as major (resulting in re-operation, explantation, re-implantation or which resulted in permanent serious morbidity or mortality) or minor (where the implant was not threatened). A comparison of surgical complication rates is made both with an earlier study in the same institution and also with other cochlear implantation centres worldwide. The decrease in surgical complication rates is discussed along with the difficulties inherent in cochlear implantation in the paediatric population with coexisting medical complaints.
Subject(s)
Cochlear Implantation/adverse effects , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Cochlear Implantation/statistics & numerical data , Hospitals, Urban , Humans , Infant , London , Retrospective Studies , Surgical Wound Infection/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The case is described of a boy who presented at age six months with symptoms and signs of a thyroglossal cyst, which seemed to be confirmed by ultrasound findings. The cyst slowly increased in size, and eventually the patient underwent Sistrunk's procedure at age four years. Histology showed that the cyst was in fact a mixed thyroglossal and dermoid cyst. This casts doubt on the doctrine that thyroglossal cysts and dermoid cysts are anatomically and histologically separate entities, and strengthens the view that these cysts should be more appropriately named 'thyroglossal abnormalities'.
