A pilot study of balloon dilation in an animal model resulting in cricoid cartilage fracture: implications for the stenotic pediatric airway.

Objective: Endoscopic balloon dilation is increasingly popular as primary therapy for infants with subglottic stenosis. We aim to determine the maximum balloon diameter and pressure where no fracture of the cricoid would occur, minimum balloon size and pressures where a gross fracture of the cricoid occurs, and location of these fractures. We tested these objectives by performing balloon dilation in laryngotracheal complexes of eight euthanized adult male New Zealand white rabbits, with airway characteristics similar to a 3- to 9-month-old infant.

Pediatric tracheotomies in an Asian population: the Singapore experience.

Objective: Over the past 2 decades, tracheotomy in children and infants has evolved from a primarily emergent procedure for upper airway obstruction into a semielective procedure for airway access in assisted ventilation. We present a 12-year retrospective review of tracheotomies performed in the pediatric population in Singapore.

Study Design And Setting: We reviewed all tracheotomies performed in children below the age of 16 years in 2 tertiary pediatric medical centers in Singapore from January 1991 to December 2003.

Idiopathic submandibular sialoceles in the neck.

A submandibular sialocele is a subcutaneous cavity containing saliva. The clinical and radiologic features of 3 patients with an idiopathic submandibular sialocele are presented. All 3 patients were males in their twenties.

Metachronous adenocarcinoma of the maxillary sinuses: a rare entity.

Malignant tumours of the nasal cavities and paranasal sinuses are uncommon. They constitute less than one per cent of all tumours and less than three per cent of head and neck tumours. Although multiple primary carcinomas of the aerodigestive tract are commonly reported, metachronous maxillary sinus carcinomas are rare.