102 research outputs found
Schwannoma of the Hypoglossal Nerve Mimicking Carotid Body Paraganglioma
Carotid body paragangliomas (CBPs) clinically present as highly vascularized cervical
masses with a pathognomonic localization at the carotid artery bifurcation. Following ultrasonography and MRI/CT imaging, surgical resection with optional preoperative embolization is considered
as the treatment of choice in most cases. We herein present the case of a 60-year-old female with
characteristic clinical signs and imaging findings of a right-sided CBP who finally went to surgical
treatment. Intraoperatively, the tumor showed an adherent growth to the hypoglossal nerve that
had to be partially resected, resulting in a postoperative nerve palsy. Histological examination of
the resected tumor revealed the unexpected diagnosis of a hypoglossal nerve schwannoma. To the
best of our knowledge, we herein present the third case reported in the literature of a unilateral
hypoglossal schwannoma located at the carotid bifurcation mimicking clinical symptoms, imaging
and intraoperative findings of a CBP
âA Head Start or a Pain in the Neck?ââEstablishment and Evaluation of a Video-Based âHands-Onâ Head and Neck Ultrasound Course
The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly highlighted the need for more digitalization in
healthcare. Teaching ultrasound skills in online courses is a key challenge in this context. The aim of
this study was to establish an online video-based head and neck ultrasound course with an evaluation
of the quality, effectiveness, and feasibility of this teaching method compared to in-person teaching.
Twenty-two medical students were taught head and neck ultrasound in two groups: one group in an
in-person course and the other one in a video-based course. Learning success was analyzed using
self-evaluation forms and external assessment by an experienced ultrasonographer. Comparing pre and post-training self-evaluation, all participants showed statistically significant learning progress.
In the external assessment, the overall scores in both groups did not differ significantly. The courses
themselves were positively evaluated by all participants. Herein, we present the first feasibility
study of a web-based head and neck-ultrasound course for medical students. The methodology
provides the potential for future changes in telemedical education and sustainable improvements in
telemedical teaching and global intra-clinical and interdisciplinary patient care
Pott's puffy tumor: a need for interdisciplinary diagnosis and treatment
Pottâs puffy tumor (PPT) is an infection of the frontal sinus with subperiosteal and intracranial abscess formation and one of the rare entities in pediatrics. We present a series of four cases of PPT that occurred in two children (6 and 9 years) and in two young adults (17 and 19 years). All patients were treated by an interdisciplinary team of pediatric, neurosurgical, ENT, radiological, and neuroradiological specialists. Antibiotic treatment was combined with single endoscopic surgery in one case and combined endoscopic sinus surgery with an open transcranial approach to drain intracranial abscess formation in three cases. It is important to be aware that PPT occurs in children with the finding of intracranial abscess formation. Therefore, a close interdisciplinary cooperation for successful treatment is needed in this rare disease
Complete remission of an early-stage laryngeal cancer under combined pembrolizumab and chemotherapy treatment of a synchronous lung adenocarcinoma
Background: Anti-PD1-Checkpoint inhibition (CI) is an established treatment of recurrent and/or metastatic head
and neck cancer. A potential beneft from CI in early-stage disease that is usually treated by radiation or surgery has
not been investigated so far and is currently not addressed in clinical trials.
Case presentation: A 58-year-old man was diagnosed with a cT2 supraglottic laryngeal cancer and a synchronous
metastasized adenocarcinoma of the lung. As the patient refused any treatment of his laryngeal cancer, he received
combined immune-chemotherapy according to the KEYNOTE-189 protocol. After 4 cycles of pembrolizumab/carboplatin/pemetrexed, the patient showed a complete remission of his laryngeal cancer with a clear shrinkage of
the mediastinal and hilar lung cancer metastases. After 21 cycles of maintenance therapy, the lung adenocarcinoma
shows a stable disease status with no signs of any residual or recurrent laryngeal cancer.
Conclusions: Anti-PD1-CI may be a treatment option also for early-stage HNSCC with excellent functional outcome
when established therapies are not available
AllâOrganic Battery Based on Deep Eutectic Solvent and RedoxâActive Polymers
Sustainable battery concepts are of great importance for the energy storage demands of the future. Organic batteries based on redox-active polymers are one class of promising storage systems to meet these demands, in particular when combined with environmentally friendly and safe electrolytes. Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) represent a class of electrolytes that can be produced from sustainable sources and exhibit in most cases no or only a small environmental impact. Because of their non-flammability, DESs are safe, while providing an electrochemical stability window almost comparable to established battery electrolytes and much broader than typical aqueous electrolytes. Here, we report the first all-organic battery cell based on a DES electrolyte, which in this case is composed of sodium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (NaTFSI) and N-methylacetamide (NMA) alongside the electrode active materials poly(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl-oxyl methacrylate) (PTMA) and crosslinked poly(vinylbenzylviologen) (X-PVBV). The resulting cell shows two voltage plateaus at 1.07â
V and 1.58â
V and achieves Coulombic efficiencies of 98â%. Surprisingly, the X-PVBV/X-PVBV redox couple turned out to be much more stable in NaTFSIâ:âNMA 1â:â6 than the X-PVBV/X-PVBV couple, leading to asymmetric capacity fading during cycling tests
Differential nasal swab cytology represents a valuable tool for therapy monitoring but not prediction of therapy response in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps treated with Dupilumab
Introduction: Chronic Rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) is a common
chronic disease with a high impact on patientsâ quality of life. If conservative and
surgical guideline treatment cannot sufficiently control disease burden,
biologicals can be considered as a comparably new treatment option that has
revolutionized CRSwNP therapy since the first approval of Dupilumab in 2019.
With the aim to select patients who benefit from this new treatment and to find a
marker for therapy monitoring, we investigated the cellular composition of nasal
mucous membranes and inflammatory cells of patients suffering from CRSwNP
and undergoing Dupilumab therapy using non-invasive nasal swab cytology.
Methods: Twenty CRSwNP patients with the indication for Dupilumab therapy
have been included in this prospective clinical study. In total, five study visits were
conducted with ambulatory nasal differential cytology using nasal swabs starting
with the beginning of therapy and followed by visits every 3 months for 12
months. First, these cytology samples were stained with the May-GrunwaldGiemsa method (MGG) and the percentage of ciliated cells, mucinous cells,
eosinophil cells, neutrophil cells, and lymphocytes was analyzed. Secondly, an
immunocytochemical (ICC) ECP-staining was performed to detect eosinophil
granulocytes. Additionally, during each study visit the nasal polyp score, SNOT20
questionnaire, olfactometry, the total IgE concentration in peripheral blood as
well as the eosinophil cell count in peripheral blood were recorded. The change
of parameters was evaluated over one year and the correlation between clinical
effectiveness and nasal differential cytology was analyzed.
Results: In both MGG (p<0.0001) and ICC analysis (p<0.001) a significant
decrease of eosinophils was seen under Dupilumab treatment. When patients
were divided into a Eo-low- (<21%) and Eo-high- (â„21%) group according to the
percentage eosinophils in nasal swab catology in the first study visit, the Eo-highgroup showed a greater change of eosinophils over time (D17.82) compared to
the Eo-low-group (D10.67) but, however, no better response to therapy. The
polyp score, SNOT20 questionnaire, and total IgE concentration in peripheral
blood showed a significant decrease during the observation period (p<0.0001).
Discussion: Nasal swab cytology as an easy-to-apply diagnostic method allows
detection and quantification of the different cell populations within the nasal
mucosa at a given time. The nasal differential cytology showed a significant
decrease of eosinophils during Dupilumab therapy and can therefore be used as
non-invasvive method for monitoring therapy success of this cost intensive
therapy and potentially can allow an optimized individual therapy planning and
management for CRSwNP patients. Since the validity of initial nasal swab
eosinophil cell count as a predictive biomarker for therapy response was
limited in our study, additional studies including larger number of participants
will be necessary to further evaluate the potential benefits for clinical practice of
this new diagnostic method
Combining Deep Eutectic Solvents with TEMPOâbased Polymer Electrodes: Influence of Molar Ratio on Electrode Performance
For sustainable energy storage, all-organic batteries based on redox-active polymers promise to become an alternative to lithium ion batteries. Yet, polymers contribute to the goal of an all-organic cell as electrodes or as solid electrolytes. Here, we replace the electrolyte with a deep eutectic solvent (DES) composed of sodium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (NaTFSI) and N-methylacetamide (NMA), while using poly(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl-oxyl methacrylate) (PTMA) as cathode. The successful combination of a DES with a polymer electrode is reported here for the first time. The electrochemical stability of PTMA electrodes in the DES at the eutectic molar ratio of 1â:â6 is comparable to conventional battery electrolytes. More viscous electrolytes with higher salt concentration can hinder cycling at high rates. Lower salt concentration leads to decreasing capacities and faster decomposition. The eutectic mixture of 1â:â6 is best suited uniting high stability and moderate viscosity
Expression of SEC62 Oncogene in Benign, Malignant and Borderline Melanocytic TumorsâUnmasking the Wolf in Sheepâs Clothing?
SEC62 oncogene located at chromosomal region 3q26 encodes for a transmembrane protein
of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and is expressed at high levels in numerous human malignancies. SEC62 overexpression has been associated with worse prognosis and high risk for lymphatic
and distant metastases in head and neck cancer, cervical cancer, hepatocellular cancer, and lung
cancer. However, its role in the development and tumor biology of melanocytic lesions has not
been investigated so far. An immunohistochemical study including 209 patients with melanocytic
lesions (malignant melanoma (MM), n = 93; melanoma metastases (MET), n = 28; Spitz nevi (SN),
n = 29; blue nevi (BN), n = 21; congenital nevi (CN), n = 38) was conducted and SEC62 expression
was correlated with clinical data including patient survival and histopathological characteristics.
SN showed the highest SEC62 expression levels followed by MET, MM, CN, and BN. High SEC62
expression correlated with a shorter overall and progression-free survival in MM patients. Additionally, high Sec62 levels correlated significantly with higher tumor size (T stage), the presence of
tumor ulceration, and the presence of lymph node as well as distant metastases. Strikingly, SEC62
expression showed a strong correlation with Clark level. Taken together, these data demonstrate that
SEC62 is a promising prognostic marker in MM and has the potential to predict biological behavior
and clinical aggressiveness of melanocytic lesions
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