Conservative treatment in head and neck cancer

The incidence of head and neck cancer in Slovenia is increasing, especially inmale population. Late diagnosis, in advanced of disease, influences not onlythe treatment results but also the treatment strategies and modalities: aggressive surgery combined with radiotherapy and reconstructive procedures and chemotherapy in inoperable tumors is therefore indicated too frequently instead of organ sparing treatment. Early detection should be improved, especially in the target population, and all up-to-date diagnostic technology should be employed in centralized multidisciplinary pre-treatment assessment. Good co-operation between surgeons, radio and chemotherapists in planning, performing as well as in evaluating the treatment is also a basic condition for better implementation of organ sparing approaches in head and neck cancer

Voice quality after radiation therapy of early glottic cancer

Radiation therapy is generally accepted as a successful treatment modality forearly glottic cancer offering an acceptable voice quality after the treatment. In order to evaluate objectively the voice quality in irradiated patients and to eliminate the influence of decreasing voice quality as a result of normal aging, the results of the acoustic analysis of voice in 20 patients with early glottic cancer treated with radiation therapy were compared to the results of 20 age-matched volunteers. The results established worse voice quality in the irradiated group but the difference was not significant except in amplitude perturbation quotient which expresses the instability of loudness. In order to identity the factors which could influence the quality of voice after irradiation of the laryngeal carcinoma, the results of laryngoscopy and the biopsy extension, were correlated with theresults of the perceptive voice evaluation and the results of acoustic voice analysis. No significant influence of the stated factors on the voice quality of the patients was established. Only the irregular glottic gap duringphonation indicated to be connected with very hoarse voice. In conclusion, radiation therapy of early glottic cancer results in an abnormal, but still satisfactory voice quality when compared to the voice quality of normal age-matched speakers. The hoarseness is the results of instability of pitch and specifically the instability of amplitude (loudness). The voice quality after the treatment can be influenced by the tumor extension and localization, the sequels of excisional biopsy, and the radiation therapy or functional disorder. All the stated factors are very intermingled and are probably acting together

The influence of the training process modification on core strength of recreational runners

V diplomskem delu smo na vzorcu desetih zdravih odraslih rekreativnih tekačev raziskovali razliko v moči trupa med zimsko vadbo, ki je vsebovala funkcionalno vadbo za moč trupa in nog ter letno vadbo, kjer je prevladoval tekaški trening. S pomočjo adaptiranih merilnih naprav smo v laboratoriju za kineziologijo na Fakulteti za šport v razmiku dveh mesecev merili moč mišic trupa pri izometrični kontrakciji pri levi in desni rotaciji trupa, bočnem upogibu trupa v levo in desno smer ter zaklona. Splošno izboljšanje moči trupa se je pokazalo pri štirih od petih meritev (levi odklon: 12,0 %desni odklon: 17,1 %leva rotacija: 5,7 %desna rotacija: 8,6 %) ter pri devetih od desetih merjencev. Povprečni napredek je znašal 7,0 %. Pozitiven trend se je pokazal pri 64 % vseh meritev. Razlike med aritmetičnimi sredinami kot tudi deleži in trendi individualnih napredkov nakazujejo na izboljšanje moči trupa pri levem in desnem odklonu ter levi in desni rotaciji ter poslabšanje moči trupa pri zaklonu. T-testi za odvisne vzorce oz. ustrezni neparametrični testi pri 5 % tveganju so pokazali statistične značilnosti razlik med meritvami pred in po spremembi trenažnega procesa pri desnem odklonu (z = -2,395, p = 0,017), medtem ko so bile preostale razlike statistično neznačilne (levi odklon: t(9) = -1,900, p = 0,090zaklon: t(9) = 1,887, p = 0,092leva rotacija: z = -1,275, p = 0,202desna rotacija: t(9) = -1,965, p = 0,081). Hipoteza H1: Moč trupa se bo po začetku treningov teka in tekaške tehnike v primerjavi z močjo trupa po končani zimski vadbi izboljšala je bila ovržena.In the present Diploma thesis we studied the difference of core strength on ten healthy adult recreational runners during winter training sessions, which included functional training for core and leg strength, and summer training sessions, which were mostly composed of running training. With adapted measuring devices we measured the strength of core muscles during the left and right axial core rotation, left and right side bend and back extension. The measurements were done at the Laboratory for Kinesiology at the Faculty of Sport in the interval of two months. General improvement of core strength was evident in four out of five measurements (left side bend: 12,0 %right side bend: 17,1 %left rotation: 5,7 %right rotation: 8,6 %) and in nine out of ten subjects. An average core strength improvement was 7,0 %. Positive trend was present in 64 % of all measurements. The difference between averages as well as rates and trends of individual improvements show the increase of core strength at left and right side bend as and left and right rotation while there was a decline of strength at back extension. T-tests for dependent samples or adequate non-parametric tests at 5 % risk showed the statistic characteristics of difference between measurements before and after the change of the training process in right side bend (z = -2,395, p = 0,017). The other measurements were statistically insignificant (left side bend: t(9) = -1,900, p = 0,090back extension: t(9) = 1,887, p = 0,092left rotation: z = -1,275, p = 0,202right rotation: t(9) = -1,965, p = 0,081). The hypothesis H1 (The core strength after running trainings and running technique drills will be improved in comparison to the core strength after winter training sessions.) was proven to be wrong