Real-time ultrasonography in the otolaryngology office setting

Over the past two decades, diagnostic ultrasonography has evolved into an extensively used noninvasive imaging modality. It plays a vital role in the disciplines of vascular surgery, cardiology, neonatology, pediatrics, ophthalmology, gynecology, and urology, to name a few, but it is in the field of obstetrics that this technology has been maximally used as an office procedure to evaluate the status of the fetus. In the evaluation of head and neck disorders, ultrasonography has been the subject of sporadic reports for the past 15 years.le3 However, except for the evaluation of thyroid masses,4 it has never been widely accepted in the United States as a diagnostic modality, and has taken a b…

Malignant and benign sinonasal paragangliomas

Objectives/Hypothesis To report on the clinical course and management of sinonasal paragangliomas (PGLs). Study Design and Methods Retrospective chart review of six patients with PGLs of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Results Three patients had tumors with malignant clinical behavior with cerebral metastases or infiltration of brain and local recurrence, despite surgery and/or radiotherapy, while three patients demonstrated a benign course. Conclusion Sinonasal paragangliomas are frequently malignant. If malignant, they are very aggressive, with rapid local spread as well as high metastatic potential despite surgical resection; and they have a poor prognosis. Malignancy cannot be d…

A Targeted Problem and Its Solution

Quantitative DNA measurements in malignant and benign lesions of the upper aerodigestive tract.

Thirty-six patients underwent biopsy of clinically suspicious lesions of the mucosa of the upper aerodigestive tract. The biopsy material was evaluated histologically and cytologic smears out of the same lesion underwent quantitative DNA analysis using a numerical index derived from the single cell DNA content. In 30 patients, histologically diagnosed squamous cell cancer was confirmed by DNA analysis with the malignancy grade correlating with the morphologic differentiation of the tumor. Six lesions were histologically benign: i.e. dysplasia (n = 3), hyperplasia (n = 2) and chronic inflammation (n = 1). DNA analysis confirmed the benign nature in 4 cases, but in 2 cases of dysplasia, a dia…

Auditory brain stem responses in patients with human immunotropic virus infection of different stages.

Thirty patients (26 men, 4 women) with human immunotropic virus infection of different stages were examined. Eleven patients had a history of i.v. drug abuse, nine patients had a history of treated lues infection, and one patient suffered from Kaposi's sarcoma. At the time of the examination, opportunistic infections or acute encephalitis were not apparent in any patient. All patients underwent otoneurological examinations, including pure-tone audiometry, caloric vestibular testing, and recording of the auditory brain stem responses (ABR). Six patients reported onset of hearing impairment during the last 3 yr. Two of them had flat sensorineural hearing loss; in the other cases, pure-tone au…