Treatment of Advanced Carcinoma of the Larynx and Hypopharynx with Laser Followed by External Radiotherapy.

INTRODUCTION: Radical laryngeal surgeries for extensive laryngeal and hypopharyngeal tumors often require a permanent tracheostomy, which has an immense impact on the quality of life of patients. A minimally invasive technique such as transoral laser microresection (TLM) followed by radiotherapy can preserve the functions of the voice and swallowing. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of laser debulking in the treatment of carcinoma of the larynx and hypopharynx, to evaluate the response of the tumor to subsequent radiotherapy, and also to assess the usefulness of laser in avoiding tracheostomy and functional preservation of the voice and swallowing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective cohort study included patients with carcinoma of the larynx and hypopharynx unwilling to have definitive surgery and those medically unfit for radical surgery. The clinical profile of patients at presentation, tumor status following laser debulking, immediately after radiotherapy (RT), 6 weeks post RT, 3 months post RT, and at the end of study; short term complications associated with laser surgery; and usefulness of laser in avoiding tracheostomy and in functional preservation of the voice were evaluated. RESULTS: There were 18 (90%) male patients and 2 (10%) female patients. Age ranged from 24 to 78 years with a mean age of 55. Hoarseness of voice was the most frequent presenting complaint (90%) followed by progressive dysphagia (45%), odynophagia (40%), otalgia (40%), and dyspnoea (25%). 11 (55%) patients had T3 tumors, while 6 (30%) were T2, and 3 (15%) were T4 lesions. 65% of patients were free of lymph node metastasis at presentation. 2 (10%) had N1 and 5 (25%) had N2 nodes. At presentation 10 (50%) patients had Stage III disease and 6 (30%) had stage IV disease. 13 patients (65%) had moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. None of the risk factors and co-morbid illnesses showed any statistically significant difference among the tumor sites. Apart from the 2 (10%) patients who had residual disease, 2 (10%) patients developed a recurrent tumor in the course of their follow up. None had neck recurrence. Two patients underwent tracheostomy, before laser surgery, for compromised airway and both had recurrence of their tumor and continued to be on tracheostomy. CONCLUSION: Laser debulking followed by radiotherapy is a viable alternative in the management of malignancies of the larynx and hypopharynx for those who refuse radical surgery and for those patients in whom radical open surgery is impractical due to physiological reasons such as advanced age and poor pulmonary reserve.

Septic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint caused by Aspergillus flavus infection as a complication of otitis externa.

Septic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a very rare complication of otitis externa that can lead to ankylosis and destruction of the joint. We report the case of a 74-year-old man who developed aspergillosis of the TMJ following otitis externa. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of TMJ septic arthritis secondary to otitis externa caused by Aspergillus flavus. The patient was successfully managed with condylectomy, debridement, and drug treatment with voriconazole.

A reclusive foreign body in the airway: a case report and a literature review.

A foreign body in the larynx is an airway emergency that requires urgent evaluation and treatment. Irregular foreign bodies tend to orient in a sagittal plane and may produce only partial obstruction, allowing adequate air movement, hence making them undetectable for a long period of time. We report a case of a laryngotracheal foreign body that remained reclusive for 9 years.

A model for provision of ENT health care service at primary and secondary hospital level in a developing country.

UNLABELLED: ENT problems are the most common reason for a visit to a doctor in both rural and urban communities. In many developing countries, there is a lack of ENT specialists and overburdened hospital facilities. To date, there is no comprehensive study that has evaluated the spectrum of ENT disorders in a rural community. METHODS: A prospective study was done for a period of three years to profile the cases presenting to the outpatient clinic in a secondary care hospital and in the camps conducted in tribal areas in Vellore District of Tamil Nadu, India. Trained community volunteers were used to identify ENT conditions and refer patients. RESULTS: A total of 2600 patients were evaluated and treated. Otological symptoms were the most commonly reported with allergic rhinitis being the second most commonly reported. Presbycusis was the most common disability reported in the rural community. The other symptoms presented are largely related to hygiene and nutrition. CONCLUSION: Using trained community workers to spread the message of safe ENT practices, rehabilitation of hearing loss through provision of hearing aids, and the evaluation and surgical management by ENT specialist helped the rural community to access the service.

Effectiveness of 7.5 percent povidone iodine in comparison to 1 percent clotrimazole with lignocaine in the treatment of otomycosis.

Objectives. Otomycosis is a common ENT disease frequenting the tropics. Its recurrent nature poses a great challenge to the treating physician. In spite of a number of antifungals in the market, the frequent nature of this disease warrants repeated use of these drugs, contributing to drug resistance and financial burden on the rural population. Our primary aims were to evaluate the effectiveness of povidone iodine in the treatment of otomycosis and to identify the most common fungal isolate in our population. Study Design and Setting. A single blinded prospective longitudinal study was done over a period of 12 months in a tertiary referral center. 34 patients in the age group 15-70 years clinically diagnosed with otomycosis were included in this study. These individuals were divided into two groups selected randomly. One arm received 7.5% povidone iodine otic drops and the other 1% Clotrimazole and lignocaine drops. Evaluation was based on resolution of symptoms and signs after treatment. Result. Both arms showed improvements which were comparable thus suggesting the role of povidone iodine in the management of otomycosis. Conclusion. Povidone iodine is an effective antifungal in the treatment of otomycosis.

Pilot study to evaluate hearing aid service delivery model and measure benefit using self-report outcome measures using community hearing workers in a developing country.

Hearing loss is a major handicap in developing countries with paucity of trained audiologists and limited resources. In this pilot study trained community health workers were used to provide comprehensive hearing aid services in the community. One hundred and eleven patients were fitted with semi-digital hearing aid and were evaluated over a period of six months. They were assessed using self-report outcome measure APHAB. Results show that trained CHWs are effective in detecting disabling hearing loss and in providing HAs. APHAB can identify and pick up significant improvements in communication in daily activities and provides a realistic expectation of the benefits of a hearing aid. The model of using trained CHWs to provide rehabilitative services in audiology along with self-report outcome measures can be replicated in other developing countries.

Audio-vestibular function in human immunodeficiency virus infected patients in India.

OBJECTIVE: As the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic shows no signs of abating, the impact of AIDS is felt more in the developing countries due to socioeconomic reasons. The possibility of drug-induced ototoxicity also adds to the risk of audio vestibular dysfunction. We sought to determine if there was a difference between the audio-vestibular function in the asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients and patients with AIDS. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective, cross-sectional study SETTING: A tertiary care center in South India MATERIALS AND METHODS: The audio-vestibular system of 30 asymptomatic HIV positive subjects (group 1) and 30 subjects with AIDS (group 2), and age-matched 30 healthy controls (group 3) were assessed using pure tone audiometry and cold caloric test. RESULTS: Sixteen patients each, in group 1 and group 2 and four subjects in the control group were detected to have a hearing loss indicating significantly more HIV infected individuals (group 1 and 2) were having hearing loss (P=0.001). Kobrak's (modified) test showed 27% of patients in group 1 and 33% of patients in group 2 and none in the group 3 had a hypofunctioning labyrinth (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: It seems that the human immunodeficiency virus does affect the audio-vestibular pathway. There was a significant incidence of audio-vestibular dysfunction among the HIV infected patients, as compared to the control population (P=0.001) and no significant difference between the asymptomatic HIV seropositive patients and AIDS patients. Majority of the patients had no otological symptoms.

Chronic pharyngitis: role of atypical organisms: a case control study from South India.

BACKGROUND: Bacteria including Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and anaerobic bacteria such as Fusobacterium necrophorum have been implicated as etiological agents of chronic pharyngitis in Western literature. Because there are no data regarding this from India, the authors undertook this study. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective case-control study. SETTING: Tertiary-level medical college and hospital. METHOD: In total, 343 consecutive adults with persistent throat pain and/or irritation (duration ≥3 months) were screened for known causes of pharyngitis by a thorough clinical and endoscopic examination. In 71 patients, the evaluation performed was unable to determine any cause, and these were considered cases. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test to detect IgA and IgG antibodies to C pneumoniae and M pneumoniae was performed on 66 of these cases and 62 controls. The posterior pharyngeal swabs taken from both the cases and controls were subjected to aerobic and anaerobic culture. RESULTS: Individuals with chronic pharyngitis had a 3.43 times odds of being seropositive for C pneumoniae as compared with controls (P = .001; odds ratio = 3.43). Aerobic organisms and M pneumoniae did not seem to be significant etiological agents for chronic pharyngitis. On the contrary, isolation of Fusobacterium spp was found to be significantly more in controls as compared with cases. CONCLUSION: This study suggests an association between IgA antibodies to C pneumoniae and chronic pharyngitis. Further studies using more specific tests combined with long-term follow-up are needed to confirm these findings.

Peripheral auditory assessment in minor head injury: a prospective study in tertiary hospital.

Hearing loss is a common problem encountered in ENT practice. Hearing loss following head injury is a major medical problem in both adults and children, which may go unnoticed when it does not affect speech frequencies. Sensorineural hearing loss at high frequencies is a common finding in minor head injury. Patients with history suggestive of mild head injury (MHI) according to Glasgow coma scale score were evaluated. The most common cause of MHI was road traffic accidents involving two wheeler riders without helmets. Higher the frequencies affected, and severe the hearing loss, poorer was the prognosis. Distortion product oto-acoustic emissions assessment at 3000 and 4000 Hz were found to be significant and has a higher predictive value in assessing outer hair cell damage.

Costs and health effects of screening and delivery of hearing aids in Tamil Nadu, India: an observational study.

BACKGROUND: The burden of disease of hearing disorders among adults is high, but a significant part goes undetected. Screening programs in combination with the delivery of hearing aids can alleviate this situation, but the economic attractiveness of such programs is unknown. This study aims to evaluate the population-level costs, effects and cost-effectiveness of alternative delivering hearing aids models in Tamil Nadu, India METHODS: In an observational study design, we estimated total costs and effects of two active screening programs in the community in combination with the provision of hearing aids at secondary care level, and the costs and effects of the provision of hearing aids at tertiary care level. Screening and hearing aid delivery costs were estimated on the basis of program records and an empirical assessment of health personnel time input. Household costs for seeking and undergoing hearing health care were collected with a questionnaire (see Additional file 2). Health effects were estimated on the basis of compliance with the hearing aid, and associated changes in disability, and were expressed in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted. RESULTS: Active screening and provision of hearing aids at the secondary care level costs around Rs.7,000 (US$152) per patient, whereas provision of hearing aids at the tertiary care level costs Rs 5,693 (US$122) per patient. The cost per DALY averted was around RS 42,200 (US$900) at secondary care level and Rs 33,900 (US$720) at tertiary care level. The majority of people did consult other providers before being screened in the community. Costs of food and transport ranged between Rs. 2 (US$0,04) and Rs. 39 (US$0,83). CONCLUSION: Active screening and provision of hearing aids at the secondary care level is slightly more costly than passive screening and fitting of hearing aids at the tertiary care level, but seems also able to reach a higher coverage of hearing aids services. Although crude estimates indicate that both passive and active screening programs can be cautiously considered as cost-effective according to international thresholds, important questions remain regarding the implementation of the latter.

Hearing loss among prison inmates in India - a pilot study.

AIMS: This study was done to assess the pattern of hearing loss and the types of ear diseases causing hearing loss among prisoners in an Indian prison. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 102 inmates were studied by subjecting them to a complete ENT evaluation and pure tone audiometry. RESULTS: Seventy inmates had normal bilateral peripheral hearing sensitivity while 32 had some degree of hearing impairment. Almost 50% of the hearing loss among the inmates was found to be sensorineural. CONCLUSION: This study supports earlier reports of high incidence of hearing loss among prison inmates. The majority with sensorineural hearing loss were in the younger age group but since this study was not designed to determine the cause or risk factors, this cannot be commented upon. Infective ear diseases were found to be a significant etiological factor for conductive hearing loss.

Dynamic slow motion video endoscopy in eustachian tube assessment.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to find out if there is a correlation between dynamic video endoscopic study of eustachian tube (ET) with middle ear disease and to grade ET movements based on dynamic slow motion video endoscopy (DSVE) findings and to determine if DSVE can be used as a useful tool to evaluate tubal function. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, case control study was performed on 124 ears in 69 subjects who came to the ears, nose, and throat outpatient department. Transnasal endoscopic examination of the nasopharyngeal opening of the ET during rest, swallowing, and yawning was carried out to study its dilatory movements. RESULTS: In the control group, among the 61 ears studied, 37 ETs were found normal and 24 tubes, dysfunctional. In ears with middle ear disease (case group), 63 ETs were studied. Ten were found normal, and the remaining, dysfunctional. Ten patulous tubes were observed in this study: 3 in the control group and 7 in the case group. Tubal movements were classified into 4 grades depending on (1) appearance of tubal mucosa, (2) movements of the medial and lateral cartilaginous lamina, (3) lateral excursion and dilatory wave of the lateral pharyngeal wall, and (4) whether tubal lumen opened well or not. Upon correlation of results obtained on DSVE with middle ear disease, the P value was less than .0001, suggesting a significant relationship between the 2. Dynamic ET endoscopy findings of 121 ears (of the total 124 ears studied) were correlated with middle ear manometric studies using Mc Nemar chi(2) test. Seventy-five ears showed complete agreement, and 46 ears showed disagreement. The P value was found to be .000, showing a strong association between the 2 tests. On correlating dynamic ET endoscopy findings in 60 of 63 ears in the case group with middle ear manometry, we noticed that 38 ears showed complete agreement and 22 ears showed disagreement. The P value was found to be .007, which again showed significant agreement between the 2 tests. CONCLUSION: Dynamic slow motion video endoscopic analysis of ET is a potentially useful tool in the quest for further understanding the pathophysiology of tubal dysfunction. We have attempted to grade ET movements based on severity of tubal pathology. We conclude that DSVE is a vital tool in diagnosing ET dysfunction in patients with middle ear disease. Additional study is required to assess the role of DSVE in predicting outcome after middle ear surgery.

Pneumocephalus: a rare complication of nasal myiasis.

Infestation of ear, nose, and throat by maggots, the larvae of the fly (genus Chrysomyia) [J Laryngol Otol 1976:393-399], is termed "myiasis." Prevalent in tropical countries, atrophic rhinitis is the most common predisposing factor for this condition. The maggots burrow into delicate membranes and feed on underlying structures, causing considerable destruction of tissues, resulting in complications such as extensive erosion of the nose, face, and orbit, with rarely meningitis and death as a result of intracranial involvement [J Laryngol Otol 1989;103:489-491]. We report a rare complication of pneumocephalus after atrophic rhinitis with nasal myiasis.

Outcome of bacterial culture from mastoid granulations: is it relevant in chronic ear disease?

OBJECTIVE: To detect the presence of bacteria in mastoid granulations and compare its prevalence in both types of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). To find out if stage of disease activity, age, duration of disease, and aditus patency relate to obtaining positive cultures. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: A prospective, parallel group study done at a tertiary care referral centre. Mastoid granulations from 79 patients with CSOM undergoing mastoidectomy were processed for anaerobic and aerobic bacteria. RESULTS: Aerobes were isolated from 57.55 per cent of the tubotympanic and 74.4 per cent of atticoantral disease (p=0.18). Anaerobic cultures were positive in one case from each group. Monomicrobial growth was detected in 37.5 per cent of tubotympanic and 48.5 per cent of atticoantral disease. Polymicrobial growth occurred in 20 per cent and 25.6 per cent in the tubotympanic and atticoantral groups, respectively. The predominant aerobic isolate was coagulase negative Staphylococcus, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, non-fermenting Gram-negative bacteria, Enterobacter and Enterococcus, Proteus species, Citrobacter, non-pathogenic Neisseria, aerobic spore formers were grown only in atticoantral disease. A single isolate of Aspergillus was grown. Correlating the state of disease activity of the ears with positive mastoid granulation cultures, six out of the eight inactive ears were culture positive along with seven out of the nine active and 10 out of the 23 quiescent ears. Positive mastoid granulation cultures were obtained in 60 per cent of those with blocked aditus and 42.9 per cent with patent aditus. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: In this study, we found that mastoid granulations are not sterile but harbour polymicrobial pathogens. Positive cultures were obtained irrespective of stage of disease activity, age, duration of disease and aditus patency. The pattern of organisms cultured from safe and unsafe CSOM and also from ears in active, quiescent and inactive stages, were similar. These findings suggest that these organisms may be responsible for mastoid granulations. We also noted that positive cultures had no statistical correlation with aditus patency and duration of disease. We suggest further studies to evaluate the significance of asymptomatic mastoid granulations harbouring organisms and whether opening the mastoid antrum and achieving aditus patency, irrespective of the stage of disease activity, will help improve the long-term surgical outcome and also prevent recurrence of ear discharge.

Concurrent surgeries in ENT: a cost-effective and safe approach in patients requiring multiple definitive procedures.

Treatment of the predisposing factors that are identified in the nose and throat in several ENT diseases is mandatory prior to the definitive management of the latter. When surgical management is indicated it has been traditional to use staged procedures. This study was undertaken to assess the role of concurrent surgical procedures in ENT and evaluate their cost-effectiveness compared to similar staged procedures. This was a retrospective case series of 100 consecutive patients undergoing concurrent and similar staged ENT surgical procedures. On analysis, it was noted that the average duration of surgery, anaesthesia and hospital stay was significantly less in the concurrent procedures group than in the staged procedures (2.35/3.1.hours; 3.05/3.30.hours and 2.5/6.5 days, respectively). The average hospital bill for the concurrent procedures was also lower than for the staged procedures. Hence, in patients requiring multiple ENT surgical procedures for definitive treatment, concurrent procedures are more cost-effective than staged procedures and should be considered the treatment of choice in a tertiary care centre.

Evaluation of topical povidone-iodine in chronic suppurative otitis media.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate if povidone-iodine (PVP-I) can be used topically in the treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media-tubotympanic disease and to compare it with ciprofloxacin hydrochloride ear drops. DESIGN: Prospective double-blind randomized study. SETTING: Academic tertiary medical center. PATIENTS: Forty patients with chronic suppurative otitis media were randomized into 2 groups. INTERVENTION: One group (19 patients) received 5% PVP-I ear drops, while the other group (21 patients) received 0.3% ciprofloxacin ear drops. Both were administered topically, 3 drops 3 times daily for 10 days. These patients were followed up at weekly intervals for up to 4 weeks after commencing therapy. RESULTS: Clinical improvement at the end of study was 88% in the PVP-I group and 90% in the ciprofloxacin group. The most commonly isolated organism was Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In vitro resistance to ciprofloxacin was seen in 17% of organisms, while no resistance was seen for PVP-I. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the efficacy of PVP-I as a topical agent in the treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media. The results show that clinically, topical PVP-I is as effective as topical ciprofloxacin, with a superior advantage of having no in vitro drug resistance. Also, there is an added benefit of reduced cost of therapy.

Cost-effective initial screening for vestibular schwannoma: auditory brainstem response or magnetic resonance imaging?

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to determine the cost-effectiveness of including auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing in a screening protocol for the diagnosis of vestibular schwannoma (VS) in patients with asymmetric auditory symptoms at the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, India, where, commonly, patients with VS have tumors greater than 2 cm at the time of diagnosis. METHODS: Ninety patients with asymmetric audiovestibular symptoms were investigated prospectively with both ABR and gadolinum-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (GdMRI). RESULTS: Of these 90 patients, 6 were diagnosed with VS on GdMRI. On ABR testing, 4 patients with VS had retrocochlear pathology and 2 with profound sensorineural hearing loss had no responses. ABR was found to have a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 61.9%. A protocol involving screening of all patients with asymmetric audiovestibular symptoms using ABR and only subjecting those patients with no responses or retrocochlear pathology to GdMRI would effect a savings of $1200 for every patient detected to have a VS. CONCLUSIONS: In our hospital setting, including ABR as the preliminary screen for patients with asymmetric audiovestibular symptoms is a cost-effective strategy.

Training teachers of day care centres for primary ear care.

The feasibility of training teachers of day care centres for children (balwadi teachers) to recognize and manage common ear problems was studied so that they could provide primary care for ear related morbidity in the community. A training module was designed, piloted on grass root level workers and used to train 19 balwadi teachers. Their knowledge, skills and technique of examination was assessed following training. Pathways for referral were established between the balwadis, secondary and tertiary hospitals. The knowledge score of the balwadi teachers increased from a mean of 28.4% to 86%; they scored an average of 75% in an assessment of their examination technique. Their sensitivity in identifying overall ear related morbidity was 75%, and 96% in identifying children with ear discharge, specifically. Age, education and experience did not affect the outcome of their training. While it may be premature to comment on the impact of the training, periodic supervision, close monitoring and review sessions would sharpen the skills of the balwadi teachers and improve their efficiency.

Chronic adenoid hypertrophy in children - is steroid nasal spray beneficial?

OBJECTIVE: [corrected] To the efficacy of naial btvlomethosone spry in the treatmrnl of chronic adenoid hypertrophy in children. METHOD: .-1 randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study SETTING: Tertiary academic referral center Patients: Aged 3-12 years diagnosed to have chronic nasal obstruction due to hypertrophied adenoids. INTERVENTION: Intranasal beclomethasone at the dose of 200 microgramslday to one group and placebo to the other group in matched dispensers for 8 weeks. OUTCOME MEASURES: Reduction of symptoms due to hypertrophied adenoids and the size of enlarged adenoids. Variables were noted at the beginning and end of the study for symptoms score severity. X-ray and flexible nasal endoscopie findings. RESULTS: Analysis was done to find any significant improvement between the two groups. The Chisquare test was used to investigate the relationship between discrete variables. 26 children completed the study with 13 each in the drug and placebo group. There were 17 male and 9 female patients from 3 to 12 years of age. There was no significant difference in nasal obstruction, snoring or nasal discharge between the two groups. Comparison of x-rays and endoscopy also showed no significant difference between the 2 groups significant (P value =1.000 and P=0.0666 respectively). CONCLUSION: This study indicates that intranasal beclomelhasone therapy is not useful in treatment of ehronic adenoid hypertrophy in the general pediatrie population.