Primary Nonselective Laryngeal Reinnervation in Iatrogenic Acute Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Injury: Case Series and Literature Review.

Treating an acutely injured recurrent laryngeal nerve by primary nonselective laryngeal reinnervation (LR) during thyroidectomy is encouraged to minimize postoperative morbidity. Performing a concurrent transoral temporary injection laryngoplasty (IL) may improve the patient's voice while waiting for the effect of successful reinnervation. Chronological multidimensional voice outcomes (qualitative and quantitative) and combination of the primary nonselective LR with concurrent transoral IL were not explicitly demonstrated in previous cases that published the literature. In this study, the authors presented the multidimensional voice parameters of 3 patients undergoing primary nonselective LR with concurrent IL during thyroidectomy. The parameters were measured at different time points (2 weeks and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months) following the surgery. Laryngeal electromyography was done at 1 to 2 months and 12 months postsurgery. The results showed that the voices, qualitatively and quantitatively, were within normal range at within 3 months postintervention. The parameters were slightly beyond the normal limit at 3 months and returned to normal at 6 months postintervention and beyond. The LEMG depicted evidence of successful reinnervation in which the motor unit was normal comparable to the opposite normal vocal fold.

Practising transoral robotic surgery in a middle-income country: surgical outcomes and early challenges.

Transoral robotic surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique that recently debuted in Malaysia. However, there are concerns over its cost, practicality, and feasibility in local settings. Our study aims to evaluate the surgical outcomes of transoral robotic surgery and discuss its learning curves. The clinical records of all patients who underwent transoral robotic surgery in a university hospital were reviewed. 25 patients were identified with a mean age of 43.9 years. The commonest indication was obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) (76%), followed by base of tongue carcinoma (16%), recurrent tonsilitis and Wharton's duct cyst (4% each). For excision of tongue base in obstructive sleep apnoea without epiglottectomy, the mean operating time was 2.3(±0.9) hours with an average of 2.8(±0.4) days of hospital stay. The success rate for OSA surgery was seen in 78.9% of cases. The mean operating time for transoral excision of tongue base carcinoma was 4.3(±2.5) hours, whereas the mean hospital stay was 9(±3.6) days. All surgical margins were cleared with no recurrence except for one patient. The recurrent tumour was successfully excised via transoral robotic surgery, and he remained disease free after one year. The most frequent post-operative complaints were dysphagia, post-nasal drip, and hypogeusia. Transoral robotic surgery in Malaysia is in the commencement phase, where some pitfalls are expected. Opportunities should be given for more surgeons to acquire this technique so that minimally invasive surgery for head and neck diseases is readily available for patients in middle-income countries.

Extracardiac Rhabdomyoma Mimicking Plunging Ranula.

Histopathologically adult extracardiac rhabdomyoma is a benign tumour of mature striated muscle. It is a slow- growing tumour with predilection to occur in head and neck region. They appear mainly as a solitary lesion, and about 15% of them can be multicentric. A 56-year-old man presented to us with the floor of mouth swelling persisted for one year and the right neck swelling for three years mimicking a plunging ranula. Radiological imaging revealed enhancing mass at the floor of mouth and submandibular region. The mass represented a nonvascular benign tumour. Subsequently, the patient underwent excision of the mass via transcervical and transoral method. Histopathological examination revealed adult type of extracardiac rhabdomyoma. Adult type of extracardiac rhabdomyoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis for the head and neck masses. A complete excision will reduce the risk of recurrence.

Management of a Rare Lymphoepithelial Carcinoma of the Submandibular Gland in Elderly.

Lymphoepithelial carcinoma (LEC) of salivary glands is a rare malignant salivary gland tumour and demonstrates genetic and regional distribution. It commonly occurs in major salivary gland especially parotid gland. We report a case of LEC of submandibular gland occurring in a 70 year-old lady.

Paraneoplastic Neurological Disorder in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

Paraneoplastic neurological disorder (PND) is a condition due to immune cross-reactivity between the tumour cells and the normal tissue, whereby the "onconeural" antibodies attack the normal host nervous system. It can present within weeks to months before or after the diagnosis of malignancies. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is associated with paraneoplastic syndrome, for example, dermatomyositis, and rarely with a neurological disorder. We report on a case of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with probable PND. Otolaryngologists, oncologists and neurologists need to be aware of this condition in order to make an accurate diagnosis and to provide prompt treatment.

Diagnosis and treatment of branchial cleft anomalies in UKMMC: a 10-year retrospective study.

Branchial cleft anomalies result from abnormal persistence of branchial apparatus, which is located at the lateral part of the neck. These occur due to failure of obliteration of the branchial apparatus during embryonic development. Differential diagnoses of lateral neck mass are salivary gland or neurogenic neoplasms, paragangliomas, adenopathies, cystic hygroma or cystic metastasis from squamous cell carcinoma or thyroid papillary carcinoma. Clinically, a branchial cyst is smooth, round, fluctuant and non-tender, and usually occurs over the upper part of the neck, anterior to the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Sometimes, it may present as infected cyst (or abscess), a sinus or fistula. Surgical excision is the definitive treatment for branchial anomalies. The objective of the work was to study the demographic data, clinical presentation, definite diagnostic workup and treatment of patients diagnosed with branchial anomalies. This is a retrospective study of 26 patients who were diagnosed with branchial anomalies (branchial cyst and fistula), of which only 12 patients had data available between July 1999 and June 2009 at the Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. Twelve cases of branchial anomalies were seen, in which 10 patients had second branchial cyst anomalies, 1 had third branchial fistula and 1 had bilateral branchial lesion. There were seven females and five males. The age of the patients varied over a wide range (4-44 years), but the majority of the patients were in their second and third decade of life. All branchial anomalies occurred at the classical site; eight patients had left-sided neck lesion. Correct clinical diagnosis was made only in five patients (41.6 %). All patients underwent surgical excision with no reported recurrence. Branchial anomalies are frequently forgotten in the differential diagnosis of lateral neck swelling. Diagnosis is usually delayed, leading to improper treatment. The diagnosis of patients who present with lateral neck cystic swelling with or without episodes of recurrent neck abscess should be considered with a high suspicion for branchial anomalies. FNA cytology is a good investigative tool in reaching toward a diagnosis of branchial lesion, with the concurrent assistance of radiological modalities. Surgical excision is the gold standard treatment of lesions of branchial anomalies.

Juvenile angiofibroma protruding from the nasal cavity

@#OBJECTIVE/strong: To describe a case of juvenile angiofibroma with unusual protrusion out of the nasal cavity, and its management with surgery and radiotherapy.br /br /strongMETHODS:/strong br /strongDesign/strong: Case Report br /strongSetting/strong: Tertiary Public Referral Centre br /strongPatient/strong: Onebr /br /strongRESULTS/strong: A 17-year-old gentleman presented with a huge tumor protruding from his left nostril, diagnosed with juvenile angiofibroma stage IlIA by MRI and angiography. Following successful pre-operative embolization, the protruding mass was ligated and truncated, followed by surgical resection via external approach. Post-operative residual tumor was treated with adjuvant radiotherapy. There was no evidence of recurrence after nine months.br /br /strongCONCLUSION/strong: A high index of suspicion is of paramount importance in the diagnosis of JA and avoids the possibility of an unwarranted biopsy which could spell disaster. The most useful tools for diagnosis are MRI and arterial angiography. Treatment is primarily surgical. Irradiation therapy has been reported to achieve satisfactory outcomes, especially for unresectable residual disease and/or intracranial extension, where total surgical resection is unlikely to be attained without unacceptable morbidity./p

The lower cheek flap combined with neurosurgical approach for infratemporal fossa tumour

p style=text-align: justify;strongOBJECTIVE:/strong To describe our experience in performing the lower cheek flap for access to the infratemporal fossa combined with the neurosurgical approach. br /br /strongMETHODS:/strongbr /strongDesign:/strong Case report br /strongSetting:/strong Tertiary Referral Center br /strongPatients:/strong Two br /br /strongRESULTS:/strong Two unusual tumours involving the infratemporal and middle cranial fossa were excised using this combined appoach. The infratemporal fossa tumour was accessed via the lower cheek flap while the intracranial portion was resected from above via craniotomy.br /br /strongCONCLUSION:/strong The lower cheek flap in combination with the neurosurgical approach allows optimal exposure to tumours involving the infratemporal and middle cranial fossae. It has less complications and better aesthetic outcome compared to other approaches./p