The acute effects of alcohol on auditory thresholds

There is very little knowledge about alcohol-induced hearing loss. Alcohol consumption and tolerance to loud noise is a well observed phenomenon as seen in the Western world where parties get noisier by the hour as the evening matures. This leads to increase in the referrals to the "hearing aid clinic" and the diagnosis of "cocktail party deafness" which may not necessarily be only due to presbyacusis or noise-induced hearing loss

Experience versus complication rate in third molar surgery

OBJECTIVES: The records of 1087 patients who underwent surgical removal of third molar teeth were prospectively examined to analyse the possible relationship between postoperative complications and the surgeon's experience parameter. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Seven surgeons (three specialists in surgical dentistry [specialists SD] and four oral and maxillofacial Senior House Officers [OMFS residents]) carried out the surgical procedures. For each patient, several variables were recorded including age, gender, radiographic position of extracted teeth, treating surgeon, duration of surgery and postoperative complications. RESULTS: Analysis of the data revealed some differences in the incidence of complications produced by the specialists SD and OMFS residents. The main statistically relevant differences were increase the incidences of trismus, nerve paraesthesia, alveolar osteitis and infection in the resident-treated group, while the specialist-treated group showed higher rates of post-operative bleeding. CONCLUSION: The higher rate of postoperative complications in the resident-treated group suggests that at least some of the complications might be related to surgical experience. Further work needs to compare specialists of training programmes with different years of experience, using large cross – sectional studies

Recent technological developments: In situ histopathological interrogation of surgical tissues and resection margins

Objectives: The tumour margin is an important surgical concept significantly affecting patient morbidity and mortality. We aimed in this prospective study to apply the microendoscope on tissue margins from patients undergoing surgery for oral cancer in vivo and ex vivo and compare it to the gold standard "paraffin wax", inter-observer agreement was measured; also to present the surgical pathologist with a practical guide to the every day use of the microendoscope both in the clinical and surgical fields. Materials and methods: Forty patients undergoing resection of oral squamous cell carcinoma were recruited. The surgical margin was first marked by the operator followed by microendoscopic assessment. Biopsies were taken from areas suggestive of close or positive margins after microendoscopic examination. These histological samples were later scrutinized formally and the resection margins revisited accordingly when necessary. Results: Using the microendoscope we report our experience in the determination of surgical margins at operation and later comparison with frozen section and paraffin section margins "gold standard". We were able to obtain a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 90%. Inter-observer Kappa scores comparing the microendoscope with formal histological analysis of normal and abnormal mucosa were 0.85. Conclusion: The advantage of this technique is that a large area of mucosa can be sampled and any histomorphological changes can be visualized in real time allowing the operator to make important informed decisions with regards the intra-operative resection margin at the time of the surgery

Orofacial findings in chronic granulomatous disease: report of twelve patients and review of the literature

Abstract Background Chronic granulomatous disease is an extremely rare primary immunodeficiency syndrome that can be associated with various oral complications. This can affect high number of patients. However, data on oral complications is sparse. Here we will review the literature and describe the orofacial findings in 12 patients. Findings The age range was 5-31 years. Oral findings were variable, and reflected a low level of oral hygiene. They included periodontitis, rampant caries, gingivitis, aphthous-like ulcers, and geographic tongue. One patient had white patches on the buccal mucosa similar to lichen planus. Another patient had a nodular dorsum of the tongue associated with fissured and geographic tongue. Biopsies from the latter two lesions revealed chronic non-specific mucositis. Panoramic radiographs showed extensive periodontitis in one patient and periapical lesions in another patient. Conclusion Patients with chronic granulomatous disease may develop oral lesions reflecting susceptibility to infections and inflammation. It is also possible that social and genetic factors may influence the development of this complication. Therefore, oral hygiene must be kept at an optimum level to prevent infections that can be difficult to manage.</p

Recent technological developments: in situ histopathological interrogation of surgical tissues and resection margins.

OBJECTIVES: The tumour margin is an important surgical concept significantly affecting patient morbidity and mortality. We aimed in this prospective study to apply the microendoscope on tissue margins from patients undergoing surgery for oral cancer in vivo and ex vivo and compare it to the gold standard "paraffin wax", inter-observer agreement was measured; also to present the surgical pathologist with a practical guide to the every day use of the microendoscope both in the clinical and surgical fields. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients undergoing resection of oral squamous cell carcinoma were recruited. The surgical margin was first marked by the operator followed by microendoscopic assessment. Biopsies were taken from areas suggestive of close or positive margins after microendoscopic examination. These histological samples were later scrutinized formally and the resection margins revisited accordingly when necessary. RESULTS: Using the microendoscope we report our experience in the determination of surgical margins at operation and later comparison with frozen section and paraffin section margins "gold standard". We were able to obtain a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 90%. Inter-observer Kappa scores comparing the microendoscope with formal histological analysis of normal and abnormal mucosa were 0.85. CONCLUSION: The advantage of this technique is that a large area of mucosa can be sampled and any histomorphological changes can be visualized in real time allowing the operator to make important informed decisions with regards the intra-operative resection margin at the time of the surgery