ENT

Tuberculous otitis media can be difficult to diagnose because it can easily be confused with other acute or chronic middle ear conditions. Compounding this problem is the fact that physicians are generally unfamiliar with the typical features of tuberculous otitis media. Finally, the ...

Post-tonsillectomy swallowing pain is a common and distressing side effect after tonsillectomy and thus of great clinical interest. Up until now, there is no randomized controlled patient- and observer-blinded study evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture against swallowing pain after tonsillectomy. We therefore compared the potency of specific verum acupuncture points related to a Chinese medical diagnosis in reducing postoperative swallowing pain with non-specific control points on the body as well as a non-acupuncture group who received standard medication only. The standardized pain therapy after tonsillectomy was orally administered nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) (diclofenac 3 × 50 mg oral). The patients (n = 123) treated with NSAID were asked about their acute pain after taking a sip of water between the first and fifth postoperative day. Participants’ pain was assessed using visual analog (VAS) [zero (0) for no pain up to ten (10) for the acute reported outset pain] before and 20 min, 1, 2 and 3 h after acupuncture treatment or standard pain medication, respectively. The functional assessment of diagnosis and treatment point-combination occurred by means of the “Heidelberg Model” of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Verum acupuncture lead to a significant additional pain relief. In comparison to the acupuncture, they also reported an average of 3 h duration of adequate pain-relief past taking the NSAID. This trial strongly supports a specific acupuncture scheme for the treatment of postoperative swallowing pain after tonsillectomy. It may particularly serve as an alternative pain treatment in case of NSAID intolerances.

Supraglottic stenosis/collapse is an uncommon condition. It can be difficult to detect and may be a cause of failed decannulation following tracheostomy. We present a novel technique to correct supraglottic stenosis/collapse. We performed a retrospective analysis of the records of patients in whom attempts at decannulation had failed at our center between 2003 and 2007. A subgroup with supraglottic stenosis/collapse with posterior displacement of the base of the epiglottis was identified. Our epiglottic repositioning procedure was performed in these patients. Through an external incision, the epiglottis was divided above the anterior commissure and attached to the superior border of the thyroid cartilage. Eight decannulation failures out of 36 attempted decannulations were identified. Three of these 8 cases involved supraglottic stenosis/collapse due to posterior displacement of the base of the epiglottis. Correction of the supraglottic stenosis/collapse led to successful decannulat...

Twenty Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients (mean age 69.9 years) and 24 normal individuals’ (mean age 63.8) both ears were investigated by brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) and pure tone audiometry (PTA). There were no statistically significant age differences between the patients and control subjects. PTA results were significantly elevated for PD patients in 4,000 and 8,000 Hz (P < 0.05). Parkinsonian patients showed significantly increased latencies in wave V and I–V interpeak latencies (P < 0.05). The results of this study suggest that PTA and BAEPs could be affected in parkinson disease.

ENT/phoniatrics specialists are frequently the primary reference persons for patients who have problems with the professional use of their voice. Singers show the highest risk factors for voice disorders among all professional voice users. The treatment and care of singers requires specific knowledge and competence of the physician, as well as a treatment setting adapted to the needs of this special group of patients, whose existence depends on the use of their voice. To some extent, evidence based concepts can be taken into account when treating professional singers. In cases for which no concepts have yet been developed and evaluated, recourse to clinical experience is necessary. In the present paper, current concepts for the treatment of singers are discussed on the basis of scientific publications and on long-standing experience of consultations in musician&#39;s medicine and ENT, under the aspects of diagnosis, therapy as well as prevention, taking into account the most frequen...

Background:  Oral verrucous hyperplasia (OVH) is a premalignant lesion that may transform into an oral cancer.Methods:  Sixty consecutive OVH cases were collected from 2003 to 2004. Clinicopathological features and the 5-year malignant transformation rate of these 60 OVH lesions were evaluated and analyzed.Results:  We found that 84% of OVH lesions occurred in patients between 40 and 69 years of age. The most common site for OVH lesions was the buccal mucosa (48%), followed by the tongue (20%), palate (18%), gingiva (7%), and labial mucosa (7%). Approximately 91% of OVH patients were areca quid chewers and 89% were smokers. When 60 OVH lesions were classified into 30 plaque-typed and 30 mass-typed OVH lesions, the mass-typed OVH lesions had a higher malignant transformation rate of 17% (5/30) than the plaque-typed OVH lesions (3%, 1/30) during a mean follow-up period of 59 ± 7 months. The mean time for malignant transformation was 22 ± 11 months. Of the 6 OVH lesions with malignant transformation, 2 underwent total surgical excision and 4 did not receive any form of therapy.Conclusions:  We conclude that OVH lesions occur more commonly on the buccal mucosa and are highly associated with the areca quid chewing and cigarette smoking habits. The overall 5-year malignant transformation rate of 60 OVH lesions was 10%. The mass-typed OVH lesions had a higher malignant transformation rate than the plaque-typed OVH lesions and thus should receive an immediate treatment, such as total surgical excision or photodynamic therapy, after the histopathologic diagnosis.

Background: Dorsal hump reduction is a critical step in rhinoplasty. Most of the reasons behind revisional procedures are related to incorrect hump reduction.Methods: The authors used a modified dorsal hump reduction method in their primary cases, the steps of which are as follows: 1) dissection of the nasal vault; 2) bilateral submucoperichondrial dissections to free the cartilaginous septum; 3) separation of the upper lateral cartilages from the cartilaginous septum; 4) partial dissection of the upper lateral cartilages from the inner surfaces of the nasal bones bilaterally; 5) separation of the bony septum from the nasal bones bilaterally; 6) reduction of the partially isolated nasal bones; 7) en bloc cartilaginous and bony septum removal. The authors have operated on 68 primary cases over a 2 year period (30 mo).Results: In the great majority of cases, the results were satisfactory. No revisions were performed in this patient group.Conclusions: This method is a good alternative to traditional techniques in noses with a high and narrow roof, thin skin, and weak middle nasal vault. Revision could be performed more easily when required. Initially, wide noses may not seem good candidates for this procedure; however, careful case-based preoperative planning may overcome this difficulty.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is a viral illness caused by novel coronavirus called as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 11, 2020. Initial studies have shown molecular resemblances in the receptor binding domains of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 which bind angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE 2) receptors, thereby entering the host cells to cause infection. COVID 19 can present as a broad spectrum of illness, from mild common cold to life threatening acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiorgan dysfunction and shock. The key step transforming mild disease to severe is immune dysfunction and cytokine dysregulation resulting in what is called as “cytokine storm syndrome”. It is prudent to diagnose cytokine storm early in the course of disease to mitigate the subsequent consequences. The use of H score as in secondary haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH) can be helpful as the inflammatory cytokine profile in sHLH is very similar to that of COVID 19. The article also discusses the past experience and current evidence of use of immunological cytokine specific antibodies, new anti-rheumatic drugs and role of convalescent plasma that may prove instrumental in the fight against COVID 19 as they can precisely target the key steps of the immune response. An approach in this regard is also proposed to screen patients of severe COVID 19 disease for exuberant inflammation by measuring cytokines in an attempt to identify patients who will benefit from this selective immunosuppression.

Food allergies occur in 1–2% of adults and in 8% of children under 6 years of age. Food-induced allergies are immunological reactions that cause a variety of symptoms affecting the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and respiratory tract. The reactions are mediated by both IgE- and non-IgE-dependent (cellular) mechanisms. Isolated food-induced allergic rhinitis is not common as it frequently occurs together with other food allergy symptoms such as asthma, eczema, oral allergic manifestations, urticaria, and gastrointestinal symptoms. The present paper provides an overview of food allergies and food-induced allergic rhinitis.