Serum interleukin 1β in patients with acquired laryngotracheal stenosis.

Objectives: To determine the serum levels of interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) in patients with acquired laryngotracheal stenosis (ALTS) and healthy volunteers and compare levels between serum and tissue of the stenotic segment.

Materials And Methods: An exploratory cohort study included 20 participants with ALTS and 5 healthy volunteers. ALTS group was categorised into mild and severe according to grade of stenosis and presence of tracheostomy.

Sound frequency spectra of snore in relation to the site of obstruction among snorers.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the sound frequency of snoring in relation to the site of upper airway vibration among snorers.

Methods: 383 snores from 40 participants who complained of snoring were digitally recorded during natural and induced sleep using a level III polysomnography monitor with a built-in microphone. During drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE), the real-time site of upper airway obstruction was assessed, and the sound frequency of snoring was recorded synchronously.

Adaptation and Validation of the Self-Evaluation of Communication Experiences after Laryngectomy (SECEL) Questionnaire into Bahasa Malaysia.

Background: Communication adjustment from patients' perspective is paramount to ensure optimization of voice rehabilitation post laryngectomy. Very few specific self-rating tools exist with the Self-Evaluation of Communication Experiences after Laryngectomy (SECEL) having the most evidence regarding validity, reliability and clinical utility.

Objectives: This study aimed to translate and validate a Bahasa Malaysia version of SECEL (mSECEL) using a validated framework of transcultural adaptation.

Quantitative laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) in unilateral vocal fold paralysis: Developing normative values using the opposite normal mobile vocal fold.

Objective: Laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) is used to confirm neuropathy; traditionally, it is evaluated qualitatively. This study aimed to develop normative values for the thyroarytenoid-lateral cricoarytenoid (TA-LCA) muscle complex by determining the mean turns (MT) and mean amplitudes (MA) using the opposite normal mobile vocal fold in unilateral vocal fold paralysis (VFP). This study also compared the MT and MA of the paralyzed vocal fold with that of the normal side and analyzed their correlations.

A proposal for needle projections in transcutaneous injection laryngoplasty using three-dimensionally reconstructed CT scans.

Purpose: This study aims to determine laryngeal dimension in relation to all three transcutaneous injection laryngoplasty (TIL) approaches (thyrohyoid, transthyroid and cricothyroid) using three-dimensionally reconstructed Computed Tomography (CT) scan and compare the measurements between sex, age group and ethnicity.

Methods: CT scans of the neck of two hundred patients were analysed by two groups of raters. For thyrohyoid approach, mean distance from the superior border of the thyroid cartilage to the laryngeal cavity (THd) and mean angle from the superior border of the thyroid cartilage to mid-true cords (THa) were measured.

Body plethysmography for measuring airway resistance in patients with bilateral vocal fold immobility.

Objective: This study investigated the reliability of body plethysmography in comparison to spirometry in objectively measuring upper airway functions.

Methods: The study population consisted of 53 participants, 23 patients with BVFI after endolaryngeal laser posterior cordectomy and 30 healthy volunteers. All of them had body plethysmography (airway resistance, Raw), spirometry (ratio of forced expiratory flow at 50% to forced inspiratory flow at 50%, FEF/FIF and peak inspiratory flow, PIF), 6 min-walking-test (6MWT) and Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnea scale measurements.

Unusual Presentation of Myasthenia Crisis Following Thymectomy and Thyroidectomy.

Respiratory distress after thyroidectomy and thymectomy can be challenging. We encountered a 70-year-old lady with a long-standing goiter with concomitant thymoma. She underwent the surgery and developed respiratory distress upon extubation with loss of laryngeal sensation causing severe aspiration.

Supraglottoplasty for laryngomalacia: who will benefit?

Objective: Laryngomalacia is the most common cause of neonatal and infantile stridor. The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of surgical intervention in children with laryngomalacia.

Methods: Between January 1998 and December 2008, 15 children with laryngomalacia underwent surgical intervention at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, from which only eight case notes were available.