Nasal foreign body as the cause of a subperiosteal orbital abscess in a child.

We present what to the best of our knowledge is the first reported case of an orbital abscess as a result of acute rhinosinusitis caused by obstruction of the middle meatus secondary to the impaction of a nasal foreign body in a child. The patient, a 5-year-old Hispanic boy, had presented with left periorbital edema, eye pain, rhinorrhea, headache, and a fever. The presence of a nasal foreign body had been suggested by a finding of a low-density signal in the left anterior nasal cavity and middle meatus on computed tomography. Endoscopic drainage of the abscess through the involved sinuses revealed that the foreign body was a wad of cotton. The cotton was removed, and the patient recovered uneventfully.

Efficacy of tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy for chronic suppurative otitis media.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy in patients with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) vs efficacy in those with dry tympanic membrane (TM) perforations. DESIGN: Retrospective controlled study based on a prospective database. SETTING: Academic tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: A total of 150 consecutive patients without cholesteatoma with CSOM or dry perforations alone who underwent tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy from January 2000 through December 2005. INTERVENTION: Tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Perforation recurrence. Independent variables were age, surgical approach, perforation size, and revision surgery. RESULTS: The TM graft failure rate was not significantly worse in the CSOM group compared with the dry perforation group (P = .48). The independent variables studied were not statistically related to the success of tympanoplasty except that revision surgery was associated with a slightly reduced success rate (P = .03). CONCLUSIONS: The success rate of tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy is at least as good for patients with CSOM as it is for patients with perforation without prior otorrhea. Age (P = .28), perforation size (P = .11), and surgical approach (P = .82) were not significantly related to success rate. Revision surgery was associated with a slightly lower success rate.

Sequelae of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury after patent ductus arteriosus ligation.

OBJECTIVES: To prospectively study the clinical course of neonates with vocal cord paralysis (VCP) after patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) ligation. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of all premature infants undergoing PDA ligation from March 2001 to February 2004. Flexible laryngoscopy was performed after extubation to assess vocal cord function. Data regarding patient characteristics, operative findings, post-operative endoscopic findings, and the subsequent clinical course were collected. RESULTS: One hundred patients were enrolled. Flexible laryngoscopy was performed on 61 patients. Median birth weight was 740 g, gestational age 25 weeks, and age at operation 23 days. Flexible laryngoscopy was performed at an average of 8 days after extubation. Seven cases of vocal cord paralysis were identified. Two had stridor and feeding difficulty requiring nasogastric feeding. Five of the seven had an average follow-up of 9 months after surgery. At last follow-up, endoscopically satisfactory compensation by the normal vocal cord was observed in all five patients. No patient had feeding problems. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of infants who can be successfully extubated after PDA ligation tend to be asymptomatic despite vocal cord paralysis. Compensation appears to occur rapidly, and patients generally have no *long-term problems with the airway or feeding.

Primary tracheal malignant neoplasms: the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center experience.

BACKGROUND: Primary malignant neoplasms of the trachea are very rare and data relating to them are limited. This study was conducted to review the presentation, management, and outcomes of primary tracheal cancers at our institution, a large multidisciplinary cancer center. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart review was conducted for all patients found to have a pathologic diagnosis of primary tracheal malignancy. RESULTS: Since 1945, 74 patients were diagnosed with primary tracheal cancers. Among these, 34 (45.9%) were squamous cell carcinomas, 19 (25.7%) were adenoid cystic carcinomas, and 21 (28.4%) were of other histologic types. Presenting symptoms were most frequently dyspnea (55.4%), hemoptysis (48.6%), cough (41.9%), and hoarseness (35.1%). Most patients (77.3%) were former or current smokers, particularly those with squamous cell carcinoma (93.3%). For the entire group of 74 patients, the 5-year disease-specific mortality rate was 72.9% and the 5-year all-cause mortality rate was 79.3%. Patients who had adenoid cystic carcinoma and those with cervical primaries had better rates of disease-specific and overall survival than others (p = 0.036 and 0.006 for the former patient group and p = 0.006 and 0.030 for the latter patient group). Among patients with incident disease treated at our institution (n = 45), those undergoing primary operation with adjuvant radiotherapy appeared to have better disease-specific and overall survival rates compared with those undergoing primary radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy (p = 0.0002 and 0.0003, respectively). Although those undergoing operation and receiving radiotherapy did better than those undergoing operation alone, the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Primary tracheal cancers are very rare, and our results should be viewed with caution, given that our population comprised a small heterogeneous group treated over a 60-year period. Although squamous cell carcinoma was the most common pathology in smokers, adenoid cystic carcinoma was more prevalent among nonsmokers. Operation with adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy is recommended for most patients.