Predictors of health-related quality of life in Serbian patients with head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify predictors of the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in patients with head and neck cancers (HNCs). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In total, 345 patients with HNCs were interviewed. A self-report questionnaire was administered to collect data about demographic characteristics, health status, smoking, alcohol consumption habits, and HRQoL. It were used the EORTC Instruments - Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30-questions (QLQ-C30), Quality of Life Questionnaire - Head and Neck Module 35-questions (QLQ-H&N 35) and OHIP-14 instrument for HRQoL assessments. Clinical information and treatment data were collected from medical records. RESULTS: Five groups of HRQoL predictors were identified: demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, psychophysical, and clinical/treatment. These HRQoL predictors had a strong (i.e., age, level of social support and social contact, level of education, depression, fatigue, presence of gastrostomy, comorbidities, and use of pain medications and supplements), a moderate (i.e., marital status, smoking, sexuality problems, time since diagnosis, presence of tracheostomy, and side effects outcomes of radio and chemotherapy) and a small impact (i.e., employment/financial difficulties, tumor site and stage, and surgical procedure). CONCLUSIONS: Study identified nineteen predictors that had significant, moderate and small impact on the HRQoL of patients with HNCs. Some of the predictors, like levels of social support and social contact, depression, and comorbidities could be targets for innervations to improve HRQoL.

Posterior pharyngeal wall schwannoma - an unusual case.

Schwannomas of the pharynx are very rare lesions. In this article we report the features of a schwannoma arising from the posterior pharyngeal wall in an 59-year-old man with a 6-month history of oropharyngeal dysphagia. Computerized tomography (CT) showed a well-defined tumor mass originating from the posterior pharyngeal wall. The lesion was removed via external approach by using lateral pharyngotomy. To our knowledge, only 6 cases of schwannomas of the posterior pharyngeal wall have been reported.

[A double abscess of the cerebellum of otogenic origin]. / Dvostruki apsces malog mozga otogenog porekla.

Brain abscess is a rare, extremely aggressive lethal infection. It is especially important in case of otogenic abscesses. It is known that the problem of otitis existed already thousands of years before Christ, and it is still a current problem. Otogenic brain abscess is the most common otogenic complication encompassing 40-80% of all brain abscesses in adults. In 50-80% of these cases COM (chronic otitis media) with cholesteatoma is found. In the last 20 years CT is of the first rank in diagnosis. Brain abscess can be treated conservatively and surgically; but the ear has to be treated operatively. In this article we present an interesting case from our practice, a double abscess of the cerebellum of otogenic origin, which was successfully treated by simultaneous approach of neurosurgeon and otosurgeon.