Early Mortality among Patients with Head and Neck Cancer Diagnosed in Thuringia, Germany, between 1996 and 2016-A Population-Based Study.

Population-based studies on early mortality in head and neck cancer (HNC) are sparse. This retrospective population-based study investigated early mortality of HNC and the influence of patients' tumor and treatment characteristics. All 8288 patients with primary HNC of the German federal state Thuringia from 1996 to 2016 were included.

Role of Intraparotid and Neck Lymph Node Metastasis in Primary Parotid Cancer Surgery: A Population-Based Analysis.

This population-based study investigated the prognostic role of intraparotid (PAR) and cervical lymph node (LN) metastasis on overall survival (OS) of primary parotid cancer. All 345 patients (median age: 66 years; 43% female, 49% N+, 31% stage IV) of the Thuringian cancer registries with parotid cancer from 1996 to 2016 were included. OS was assessed in relation to the total number of removed PAR and cervical LN, number of positive intraparotid (PAR+), positive cervical LN, LN ratio, log odds of positive LN (LODDS), as well as including the PAR as LODDS-PAR.

Electromyography of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscles: a consensus guideline.

Purpose: Since the introduction of transcutaneous-transcricoidal needle approaches, electromyography (EMG) of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle (PCA) became easier to perform and teach. Among the Neurolaryngology working group of the European Laryngological Society, several centers have adopted PCA EMG as part of their routine EMG workup in vocal fold immobility collectively gathering long-term experience. The purpose is to give an update and an extension to already existing guidelines on laryngeal EMG with specific regard to PCA EMG.

Long-Term Facial Nerve Outcome in Primary Parotid Cancer Surgery: A Population-Based Analysis.

Objectives/hypothesis: To determine immediate postoperative and long-term facial nerve dysfunction after parotid cancer surgery, risk factors, and the role of facial reanimation surgery.

Study Design: Population-based long-term analysis for all new primary parotid carcinoma cases in Thuringia from 1996 to 2019.

Methods: Data of the cancer registries of Thuringia, a federal state in Germany, were analyzed in combination with hospital-based data on facial function.

Systemic therapy for recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer: a population-based healthcare research study in Thuringia, Germany.

Purpose: Systemic therapy choice for patients with recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer (R/M HNC) is a challenge. Not much is known about systemic therapies used in daily clinical routine and their outcome.

Methods: Data of all 283 patients with R/M HNC (89.

Crumley's Classification of Laryngeal Synkinesis: A Comparison of Laryngoscopy and Electromyography.

Objectives/hypothesis: Applying the principles of misdirected nerve regeneration to the larynx, Roger Crumley in 1989 coined the term laryngeal synkinesis (LS) which he later (2000) classified into 4 types (type I - good voice, type II - involuntary twitches and poor voice, type III - adduction during inspiration, type IV - abduction during phonation). Neurophysiological data were not available for all LS patients at that time. The current study was undertaken to utilize and test the Crumley classification for a clinical interrater comparison and, secondly, compare predicted with actual laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) results.

Gender Disparities in Epidemiology, Treatment, and Outcome for Head and Neck Cancer in Germany: A Population-Based Long-Term Analysis from 1996 to 2016 of the Thuringian Cancer Registry.

This study determined with focus on gender disparity whether incidence based on age, tumor characteristics, patterns of care, and survival have changed in a population-based sample of 8288 German patients with head neck cancer (HNC) registered between 1996 and 2016 in Thuringia, a federal state in Germany. The average incidence was 26.13 ± 2.

PCA Atrophy and Synkinesis as the Main Factors for Persistent Vocal Fold Immobility in RLN Paralysis.

Objectives/hypothesis: An immobile vocal fold due to recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury usually shows no gross signs of atrophy and lies near the midline. In 1881, Felix Semon proposed that this phenomenon was due to a selective injury of nerve fibers supplying the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle (PCA) and supported this with postmortem proof of selective PCA atrophy. In recent decades, evidence has emerged that the RLN regenerates after injury but does not always result in useful motion of the vocal folds.

Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Stimulator.

Electrical stimulation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve is a safe and promising therapeutic approach with the potentiality to overcome the shortcomings of conventional surgical glottal enlargement. Although aberrant or synkinetic reinnervation is commonly considered an unfavorable condition, particularly for recovery of vocal fold movement, its presence is essential to ensure the effective clinical performance of laryngeal pacemakers. Thus, the effective selection of patients who can profit from laryngeal pacemakers implantation demands the implementation of new diagnostic tools based on tests capable of reliably detecting the presence of viable reinnervation on at least one vocal fold.

Ultrasonography-guided electromagnetic needle tracking in laryngeal electromyography.

Purpose: The clinical evaluation of vocal fold movement disorders should contain the electromyography of the laryngeal muscles (LEMG). The most challenging point in LEMG is the right positioning of the EMG needle in the small target muscles. As the results of the EMG have great influence in the decision of treatment it is important to confirm the results of this examination.

Laryngeal EMG: Preferential damage of the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle branches especially in iatrogenic recurrent laryngeal nerve lesions.

Objective: Laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) of the thyroarytenoid (TA) muscle alone may not be sufficient in all patients to characterize or prove a recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) lesion in cases of vocal fold immobility. LEMG of the posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) muscle may provide additional information.

Study Design: Retrospective review.

Laryngeal pacing for bilateral vocal fold paralysis: Voice and respiratory aspects.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of neurostimulation with the laryngeal pacemaker (LP) system in patients with bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVFP) in terms of voice quality and respiratory function.

Study Design: Feasibility study, first-in-human, single-arm, open-label, prospective, multicenter study with group-sequential design and 6-month follow-up period, as described in details in our previous publication.

Methods: Nine symptomatic BVFP subjects were unilaterally implanted with the LP system at three study sites in Germany and Austria.

Laryngeal pacing via an implantable stimulator for the rehabilitation of subjects suffering from bilateral vocal fold paralysis: A prospective first-in-human study.

Objectives/hypothesis: To evaluate the performance and safety of the newly developed Laryngeal Pacemaker System (LP System) for the treatment of bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVFP).

Study Design: Feasibility, first-in-human, single-arm, open-label, prospective, multicenter study with a group sequential design and a 6-month follow-up period.

Methods: Nine symptomatic BVFP subjects were implanted unilaterally with the LP System.

Synchronous video laryngoscopy and sonography of the larynx in children.

Unlike laryngoscopy, laryngeal sonography is easily applicable, well tolerated by young children and less exhausting for the examiner. The aim of this study was to determine if sonography can adequately visualize the laryngeal structures and vocal fold movements of children. Synchronic video laryngoscopy and sonography of the larynx were performed in 35 children (aged 2-8 years) without a laryngeal disease.

Pre-clinical evaluation of a minimally invasive laryngeal pacemaker system in mini-pig.

Microlaryngoscopic enlargement techniques have been the standard treatment for bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVFP) for decades. Laryngeal pacing is a promising alternative treatment based on the electrostimulation of the posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) muscle. This paper reports on the results of a pre-clinical study aiming to evaluate this method.

Voice and respiratory outcomes after permanent transoral surgery of bilateral vocal fold paralysis.

Objectives/hypothesis: Bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVFP) is a rare but life-threatening condition mostly caused by iatrogenic damage to the peripheral recurrent laryngeal nerve. Endoscopic enlargement techniques have been the standard treatment for decades. However, prospective studies using internationally accepted phoniatric and respiratory evaluation guidelines are rare.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa Acquisition in Cystic Fibrosis Patients in Context of Otorhinolaryngological Surgery or Dentist Attendance: Case Series and Discussion of Preventive Concepts.

Introduction. P. aeruginosa is the primary cause for pulmonary destruction and premature death in cystic fibrosis (CF).

Incidence, treatment, and outcome of parotid carcinoma, 1996-2011: a population-based study in Thuringia, Germany.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine patterns of care and survival in a population-based sample of patients with parotid cancer who were treated in Thuringia, a federal state in Germany, between 1996 and 2011.

Methods: Data of 295 patients with primary parotid cancer from the Thuringian cancer registry were evaluated for patient's characteristics, tumor stage, incidence, and trends in treatment, cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS).

Results: Stages IV tumors and the amount of tumors in all age cohorts ≥45 years of age increased significantly during the observation period (p = 0.

Laryngeal pacing for bilateral vocal fold immobility.

Purpose Of Review: This article reviews literature on the scientific background of functional electric stimulation of the immobile larynx, the status of animal pacing trials, and first clinical attempts to establish laryngeal pacing.

Recent Findings: Impaired vocal fold motion is seen following recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis and is a result of inadequate or synkinetic reinnervation. The term vocal fold paralysis should only be used after verification using laryngeal electromyography.