[Correction of the external ear using cartilage-sparing techniques]. / Oorschelpcorrectie met kraakbeensparende technieken.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the value of cartilage sparing suture techniques for correction of prominent ears. DESIGN: Retrospective study. LOCATION: Gooi-Noord Hospital, Blaricum, the Netherlands. METHOD: Between 1989 and 1992, 117 ears in 62 patients were corrected for prominence. Results were evaluated using the McDowell criteria for anatomy and localisation of the ear. RESULTS: Of 117 ears 108 were corrected successfully. A recurrence was seen in 6 ears and 3 ears showed overcorrection. Reoperation was needed in 2 ears. A suture was extruded in 15 ears, which could be treated relatively easily in 14. CONCLUSION: Cartilage sparing suture techniques for correction of the specific anatomic deformities of prominent ears prove to be successful. Suture extrusion was the most frequent, but minor, complication. Suture extrusion appears to be dependent upon suture material and localisation.

Premalignant laryngeal lesions.

Premalignant laryngeal lesions are classified into three classes according to the degree of atypia present: class I mild dysplasia, class II moderate dysplasia and class III severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ. The risk that a carcinoma may develop later increases in the successive classes. The lesions are almost exclusively localized on the vocal cords. It is mandatory to remove the whole lesion for histopathological examination. A close cooperation between pathologist and laryngologist is necessary. progress in the development of more subjective and reproducible methods of grading is being made. Patients with class I and class II lesions are merely followed after an excisional biopsy. There is not a single best treatment modality for class III lesions. Radiotherapy has proven to be effective. However, the concept of microsurgical removal of the complete lesion seems to enable a more conservative approach for this class as well.