The "fascia taco" for nasal septum perforation closure-A retrospective Cohort study on success rates and patient reported outcomes.

Objective: Nasal septum perforation (NSP) is a common condition affecting ~1.2% of the general population and is still considered challenging to treat. Therapeutic strategies range from conservative local treatments and septal button closures to over 40 different surgical approaches. This study aimed to present a novel secure approach. Methods: We describe our novel and unique NSP closure approach using a "fascia taco," in which conchal cartilage is enveloped by temporalis fascia like a taco and splints are left in place for 6-8 weeks. A review of patient charts was conducted and questionnaires including the German-SNOT-22 and D-NOSE were sent by mail to all eligible patients who received a fascia taco between 2016 and 2021. Results: Thirty-three patients were identified. The questionnaire response rate was 54.5%. The mean operative time (cut to sew) for all patients who only underwent NSP closure was 90.4 min. The overall success rate in terms of postoperative NSP closure was 81.8%. We found an apparent but nonsignificant association between closure failure and smoking (failure rate 66.6% in smokers vs. 15.4% in nonsmokers; X 2 = 3.4188, p = .064). Questionnaire analysis showed a significant postoperative reduction of mean values in D-NOSE from 60.8 to 33.1 (p = .009) and in German-SNOT-22 from 38.6 to 21.2 (p = .005). Conclusion: The fascia taco technique is an easy-to-apply, safe procedure for NSP closure that is short in duration and associated with a low morbidity, resulting in excellent patient satisfaction. Level of Evidence: 4.

Nasendoscopy to Predict Difficult Videolaryngoscopy: A Multivariable Model Development Study.

BACKGROUND: Transnasal videoendoscopy (TVE) is the standard of care when staging pharyngolaryngeal lesions. This prospective study determined if preoperative TVE improves the prediction of difficult videolaryngoscopic intubation in adults with expected difficult airway management in addition to the Simplified Airway Risk Index (SARI). METHODS: 374 anesthetics were included (252 with preoperative TVE). The primary outcome was a difficult airway alert issued by the anesthetist after Macintosh videolaryngoscopy. SARI, clinical factors (dysphagia, dysphonia, cough, stridor, sex, age and height) and TVE findings were used to fit three multivariable mixed logistic regression models; least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used to select co-variables. RESULTS: SARI predicted the primary outcome (odds ratio [OR] 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13-1.58). The Akaike information criterion for SARI (327.1) improved when TVE parameters were added (311.0). The Likelihood ratio test for SARI plus TVE parameters was better than for SARI plus clinical factors (p < 0.001). Vestibular fold lesions (OR 1.82; 95% CI 0.40-8.29), epiglottic lesions (OR 3.37; 0.73-15.54), pharyngeal secretion retention (OR 3.01; 1.05-8.63), restricted view on rima glottidis <50% (OR 2.13; 0.51-8.89) and ≥50% (OR 2.52; 0.44-14.56) were concerning. CONCLUSION: TVE improved prediction of difficult videolaryngoscopy in addition to traditional bedside airway examinations.

Lipidome Analysis of Oropharyngeal Tumor Tissues Using Nanosecond Infrared Laser (NIRL) Tissue Sampling and Subsequent Mass Spectrometry.

Ultrashort pulse infrared lasers can simultaneously sample and homogenize biological tissue using desorption by impulsive vibrational excitation (DIVE). With growing attention on alterations in lipid metabolism in malignant disease, mass spectrometry (MS)-based lipidomic analysis has become an emerging topic in cancer research. In this pilot study, we investigated the feasibility of tissue sampling with a nanosecond infrared laser (NIRL) for the subsequent lipidomic analysis of oropharyngeal tissues, and its potential to discriminate oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) from non-tumorous oropharyngeal tissue. Eleven fresh frozen oropharyngeal tissue samples were ablated. The produced aerosols were collected by a glass fiber filter, and the lipidomes were analyzed with mass spectrometry. Data was evaluated by principal component analysis and Welch's t-tests. Lipid profiles comprised 13 lipid classes and up to 755 lipid species. We found significant inter- and intrapatient alterations in lipid profiles for tumor and non-tumor samples (p-value < 0.05, two-fold difference). Thus, NIRL tissue sampling with consecutive MS lipidomic analysis is a feasible and promising approach for the differentiation of OPSCC and non-tumorous oropharyngeal tissue and may provide new insights into lipid composition alterations in OPSCC.

Transnasal Videoendoscopy for Preoperative Airway Risk Stratification: Development and Validation of a Multivariable Risk Prediction Model.

BACKGROUND: Transnasal flexible videoendoscopy (TVE) of the larynx is a standard of care for the detection and staging of pharyngolaryngeal lesions in otorhinolaryngology. Patients frequently present with existing TVE examinations before anesthesia. Although these patients are considered high risk, the diagnostic value of TVE for airway risk stratification is currently unknown. How can captured images or videos be used for anesthesia planning, and which lesions are most concerning? This study aimed to develop and validate a multivariable risk prediction model for difficult airway management based on TVE findings and to determine whether the discrimination of the Mallampati score can be improved by adding this new TVE model. METHODS: This retrospective single-center development and validation study assessed 4021 patients who underwent 4524 otorhinolaryngologic surgeries at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf between January 1, 2011, and April 30, 2018, with electronically stored TVE videos and included 1099 patients who underwent 1231 surgeries. TVE videos and anesthesia charts were systematically reviewed in a blinded fashion. The Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression analysis was used for variable selection, model development, and cross validation. RESULTS: The prevalence of difficult airway management was 24.7% (304/1231). Lesions at the vocal cords, epiglottis, or hypopharynx were not selected by the LASSO regression, while lesions at the vestibular folds (ß-coefficient 0.123), supraglottic region (ß-coefficient 0.161), arytenoids (ß-coefficient 0.063), and viewing restrictions on the rima glottidis that cover ≥50% of the glottis area (ß-coefficient 0.485) and pharyngeal secretion retention (ß-coefficient 0.372) were relevant risk factors for difficult airway management. The model was adjusted for sex, age, and body mass index. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (95% confidence interval) of the Mallampati score was 0.61 (0.57-0.65) and 0.74 (0.71-0.78) of the TVE model combined with Mallampati ( P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Stored images and videos from TVE examinations can be reused for the purpose of predicting risk associated with airway management. Vestibular fold, supraglottic, and arytenoid lesions are most concerning, especially if they are accompanied by secretion retention or restrict the glottic view. Our data indicate that the TVE model improves discrimination of the Mallampati score and might, therefore, be a useful addition to traditional bedside airway risk examinations.

Laryngeal Manifestation of Nodular Fasciitis: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Nodular fasciitis (NF) are non-neoplastic, fibroblastic lesions, typically located on the trunk and the extremities. The incidence of NF in the head and neck region is 13%-20%. However, a manifestation in the larynx of adult patients is extremely rare. Therefore, the occurrence of NF in this region can lead to diagnostic challenges and a high risk of misdiagnosis as well as potential mishandling when not aware of its possible laryngeal manifestation. Following emergency admission of a 41-year-old woman to the emergency department (ED) due to progressive dyspnea and inspiratory stridor a transnasal flexible laryngeal endoscopic examination revealed a left-lateral, subglottic mass. A subsequently performed CT demonstrated a 2.2 cm x 1.5 cm sized lesion of the subglottic larynx with profound stenosis of the lumen (Myer-Cotton grade III), no extraluminal extension, and no distant metastases. Histopathological processing of a tissue sample obtained by microlaryngoscopy and translaryngeal tracheoscopy revealed a spindle-cell lesion with immunohistochemical and molecular-pathogenic profile of NF. After tumor debulking and steroid infiltration (triamcinolone), a regrowth tendency quickly became apparent, which is why a tracheostomy had to be performed. Laryngectomy was rejected by the patient. After multiple transoral tumor reduction attempts, radiotherapy was performed according to an interdisciplinary tumor board decision to limit regrowth tendency. Subsequently, a substantial reduction of the tumor volume could be seen, although a discreet stenosis of the subglottic tracheal lumen persists in the follow-up. Laryngeal NF poses several challenges due to its rare occurrence in this location. This case report emphasizes the knowledge of this differential diagnosis and also depicts an interdisciplinary therapeutic approach aiming for function-preserving treatment of this benign but potentially relapsing pathology.