Audio-vestibular evaluation in patients with Behcet's syndrome

A prospective controlled clinical study was carried out at the Department of Ophthalmology and ENT, Inonu University Medical Faculty, Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Research Hospital, to evaluate the audiovestibular involvement in patients with Behcet's syndrome compared with controls

Hammer-chisel technique in endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy

We performed a prospective evaluation of endoscopic hammer-chisel dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) procedures on 62 eyes of 44 patients (40 female and 4 male) with chronic epiphora or dacryocystitis (26 unilateral and 18 bilateral). The technique included chisel removal of bone over the lacrimal sac. The follow-up period was 12 to 54 months (mean, 28 months), and the patients' ages ranged from 17 to 67 years (mean, 35.5 years). The success rate of the consecutive endoscopic: hammer-chisel DCR procedures was 87%. During operation, 8 patients had mild mucosal hemorrhage, which did not prevent the successful completion of the operation. Excellent patient tolerance was observed, with minimal morbidity and no major complications. As compared to the external approach, endoscopic hammer-chisel DCR is less traumatic, is less time-consuming, and is practical and cosmetically convenient, with minimal perioperative and postoperative complications. It also allows the simultaneous correction of any intranasal disease. It requires minimal instrumentation and is a relatively easy and fast technique

Facilitated tissue expansion with topical estriol

Tissue expansion is a helpful technique in reconstructive plastic surgery. Unfortunately, tissue expansion still needs to be improved. Twenty-four male Wistar rats were used to evaluate the effect of estriol on tissue expansion. The agents hyaluronidase, estriol, and base cream (as a control) were applied topically to separate animal groups for 5 weeks, and their effects were studied on tissue expansion. Both hyaluronidase (p < 0.05) and estriol (p < 0.001) enhanced the rate of expansion when compared with control animals. Estriol was more effective than hyaluronidase (p < 0.05). Breaking strengths were measured in the estriol and the control groups. Breaking strength was not evaluated in the hyaluronidase group because of the necrotic changes seen at the end of the fifth week. The breaking strength was higher in the control group then in the estriol group (p < 0.05). The authors suggest that topical estriol be used as an adjunctive agent to facilitate tissue expansion