Swallowing Disorders in Cervical Facial Tumors

We review current state of the art protocols on swallowing disorders associated to cervical facial tumors. The clinician needs to translate physiology notions to bedside diagnosis. Facing such a case the ENT surgeon must follow several key steps: thorough history taking, barium transit, endoscopy evaluation of swallowing, high resolution diagnosis imaging. Afterwards surgical treatment plan should take into consideration the need to careful dissection of vascular and nervous structures. Dysphagia may present from initial diagnosis or after surgical resection of the tumor or during radiation and chemotherapy. We discuss the use of various staging scales or questionnaires for assessing quality of life. We illustrate the importance of swallowing disorders management with various cases of tumors at the level of skull base, pharynx, salivary glands, larynx, esophagus, etc. There are various solutions for dysphagia ranging from nasogastric feeding tube placement to percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy to specially designed exercises. Sometimes the surgeon neglects these disorders and focuses on airway management. However, the rule should be to encourage swallowing as soon as possible after surgery. A good nutritional status is necessary for a positive prognosis in swallowing disorders. Team effort in tertiary oncology units is the key in supporting such complex cases

Diagnosis and Treatment of Midface Trauma in the Context of Polytrauma: Characteristics during COVID-19 Pandemic Conditions

Midfacial trauma is never an immediate therapeutic emergency excepting cases with nasal bleeding and risk of aspiration or requiring a permeable airway that will allow intubation when appropriate. The patient with polytraumas and midfacial fractures who needs ear, nose, and throat (ENT) or oral and maxillofacial (OMF) surgery should be reassessed at 24 and 48 hours to determine the optimal operating time. The surgical indication should be established according to esthetic and functional deficits. We consider that the optimal operative moment for the lesions of the midface is at 4–5 days after the trauma, under the conditions of a stable hemodynamic, respiratory, and afebrile patient. We propose the schematic presentation of the principles of diagnosis and treatment for midface trauma. We will discuss also some aspects of midfacial trauma during coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic conditions. We must assume every patient with polytrauma as a COVID-19-positive patient. So, it is necessary to have a special circuit for a suspect COVID-19 polytrauma patient between emergency room (ER) department, operating room, and intensive care unit (ICU). All medical team must wear high-level personal protective equipment (PPE) during emergency treatment of a craniofacial trauma in the context of polytrauma until we get the result of RT-PCR testing

Tophaceous Gout – When the Skin Comes First

Gout represents a metabolic disorder with systemic echo, in which needle-like crystals of monosodium urate are deposited in various tissular structures. Crystals accumulation in the connective tissue (tophi) represents the late, chronic stage of this disease, usually emerging after an average of 10 years after disease onset. Herein we report three cases of patients aged 70, 33, and 53 who presented with painful subcutaneous nodules located on various body areas. All of them had hyperuricemia. Several conditions had to be investigated in order to establish the etiology of uric acid metabolism alterations. Laboratory and pathology findings established the diagnosis of gout, with tophi as the first symptom of the disease. Following patient education, diet and lifestyle changes, and medication, the outcome in all patients was favorable, with alleviation of the symptoms. Tophaceous gout as a first presentation of this disease is currently uncommon, but dermatologist should be aware of this rare finding for proper management of such cases and to prevent the resultant significant functional and quality of life impairment if not recognized early

A Comparative Approach of Degradative Potential of Two Different Nanophotocatalysts onto a Model Textile Dye

Motivations and objectives. It is quite a difficult issue to treat, decolorize and mineralize textile dye waste containing dyes by conventional chemical methods (primary: adsorption, flocculation and secondary: chlorination, ozonization. It has been demonstrated that semiconductor photocatalytic oxidation of organic substances can be an alternative to conventional methods of removal of organic pollutants from water [1]. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) employing heterogeneous catalysis have emerged as a potentially destructive technology leading to the total mineralization of most of organic pollutants. An additional advantage of the photocatalytic process is its mild operating conditions and the fact the semiconductor can be activated by sunlight (near UV), thus reducing significantly the electric power requirement and hence the operating cost [2]. The main result and characterizing aspect of the research consist of the effectiveness of a semiconductor photocatalytic treatment of synthetic wastewater. Nanophotocatalysts ZnO have been successfully grown by hydrothermal method, onto some fibrous supports previously functionalized (grafted with MCT (monochlorotriazinyl-β-cyclodextrin, MCT-β-CD). The synthesis is reported elsewhere. The hydrothermal synthesis was performed using two types of surfactants widely used in nanoparticles preparation: Pluronic P123(triblock copolymer) and CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide). The novelty of the study consists in using these two different surfactants in growning of ZnO onto the fibrous supports. For degradation of Erionyl Roth dye, batch experiments were performed by irradiating the aqueous solution of model textile dye, containing ZnO nanocoated fibrous supports as semiconductor, in the presence of UV light. The photocatalytic process occurs under the illumination of an UV lamp, emitting light at wavelength 365 nm. The rate of decolorization was estimated spectrophotometrically from residual concentrations. Results and discussion. The enhancement of the photocatalytic activity is attributed to the CTAB. The performance of the photocatalytic system indicated that the photodegradation of the Erionyl Roth, in the presence of CTAB, occured with a 20 % reduction of time, compared to P123.The study has demonstrated that using the semiconductor performed by CTAB on the ZnO nano-oxides synthesized onto previously MCT grafted fibrous supports is effective in degradation of dyes as well as in the treatment of textile dye waste

Multidisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity as Current Trends in Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Pathology

The specialty of otorhinolaryngology and cervicofacial surgery has experienced accelerated development in recent decades through the development of the techniques and technologies involved [...

Correlations between Morphology, the Functional Properties of Upper Airways, and the Severity of Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is considered the silent killer pathology of the new millennium. This is due to increased risk factors such as obesity. Healthcare systems face an increasing burden from severe cases of OSA. We performed a study on a group of 152 Romanian patients with OSA recording data obtained through polysomnography and cephalometric variables, recorded in lateral plain X-rays. The results confirmed some of the data available from previous studies worldwide, but some of the variables presented a positive statistical correlation specific to our study group. For example, the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) correlated with the uvula length but surprisingly did not correlate with body mass index (BMI) because obesity tends to become endemic in Romania. To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies focusing on cephalometric data in Romanian OSA patients. The results obtained through this study will be further analyzed in research on larger groups of Romanian OSA patients

Could Artificial Intelligence Prevent Intraoperative Anaphylaxis? Reference Review and Proof of Concept

Drugs and various medical substances have been used for many decades to diagnose or treat diseases. Procedures like surgery and anesthesia (either local or general) use different pharmacological products during these events. In most of the cases, the procedure is safe and the physician performs the technique without incidents. Although they are safe for use, these substances (including drugs) may have adverse effects, varying from mild ones to life-threatening reactions in a minority of patients. Artificial intelligence may be a useful tool in approximating the risk of anaphylaxis before undertaking a medical procedure. This material presents these undesirable responses produced by medical products from a multidisciplinary point of view. Moreover, we present a proof of concept for using artificial intelligence as a possible guardship against intraoperative anaphylaxis

Extracranial Facial Nerve Schwannoma—Histological Surprise or Therapeutic Planning?

Schwannomas (neurilemomas) are benign, slow-growing, encapsulated, white, yellow, or pink tumors originating in Schwann cells in the sheaths of cranial nerves or myelinated peripheral nerves. Facial nerve schwannomas (FNS) can form anywhere along the course of the nerve, from the pontocerebellar angle to the terminal branches of the facial nerve. In this article, we propose a review of the specialized literature regarding the diagnostic and therapeutic management of schwannomas of the extracranial segment of the facial nerve, also presenting our experience in this type of rare neurogenic tumor. The clinical exam reveals pretragial swelling or retromandibular swelling, the extrinsic compression of the lateral oropharyngeal wall like a parapharyngeal tumor. The function of the facial nerve is generally preserved due to the eccentric growth of the tumor pushing on the nerve fibers, and the incidence of peripheral facial paralysis in FNSs is described in 20–27% of cases. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) examination is the gold standard and describes a mass with iso signal to muscle on T1 and hyper signal to muscle on T2 and a characteristic “darts sign.” The most practical differential diagnoses are pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid gland and glossopharyngeal schwannoma. The surgical approach to FNSs requires an experienced surgeon, and radical ablation by extracapsular dissection with preservation of the facial nerve is the gold standard for the cure. The patient’s informed consent is important regarding the diagnosis of schwannoma and the possibility of facial nerve resection with reconstruction. Frozen section intraoperative examination is necessary to rule out malignancy or when sectioning of the facial nerve fibers is necessary. Alternative therapeutic strategies are imaging monitoring or stereotactic radiosurgery. The main factors which are considered during the management are the extension of the tumor, the presence or not of facial palsy, the experience of the surgeon, and the patient’s options

Biologics for Chronic Rhinosinusitis—A Modern Option for Therapy

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is an important ENT pathology which affects about 5–12% of the general population. The treatment of CRS can be pharmacological (nasal sprays, douches, systemic antibiotics and steroids), surgical (endoscopic sinus surgery) or immunological according to established algorithms. CRS was divided for many years into CRS with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and CRS without nasal polyps (CRSsNP). New ways of classifying CRS by endotypes (presence of neutrophilia, eosinophilia, fibrosis, glandular hypertrophy and epithelial dysmorphisms) appeared after the most recent understandings of the pathophysiology of the disease. Other classifications divide CRS into primary and secondary forms, localized/diffuse types and anatomical presentation. A new type of treatment has been administered in the last years, biologics. For the moment, biologics are indicated just in the cases of the patients who have undergone ESS or have contraindications for surgery and have bilateral polyps and meet a minimum of three of the following criteria: the necessity for systemic therapies with oral or parenteral corticosteroids or contraindications to systemic steroids, significant loss of smell or impaired QoL score, comorbid asthma and type 2 inflammation. This article aims to present the most relevant studies which used the three types of biologics (anti-IgE, anti-IL5 and anti-IL4/IL3) and wishes to increase the awareness of this new type of treatment that can be used in some CRS cases