CSO (Canadian Society of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery) position paper on rhinologic and skull base surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Healthcare services in many countries have been partially or completely disrupted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic since its onset in the end of 2019. Amongst the most impacted are the elective medical and surgical services in order to conserve resources to care for COVID-19 patients. As the number of infected patients decrease across Canada, elective surgeries are being restarted in a staged manner.

Non-canonical Targets of HIF1a Impair Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell Function.

Mammalian cells respond to insufficient oxygen through transcriptional regulators called hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs). Although transiently protective, prolonged HIF activity drives distinct pathological responses in different tissues. Using a model of chronic HIF1a accumulation in pluripotent-stem-cell-derived oligodendrocyte progenitors (OPCs), we demonstrate that HIF1a activates non-canonical targets to impair generation of oligodendrocytes from OPCs.

Suppression of proteolipid protein rescues Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease.

Mutations in PLP1, the gene that encodes proteolipid protein (PLP), result in failure of myelination and neurological dysfunction in the X-chromosome-linked leukodystrophy Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD). Most PLP1 mutations, including point mutations and supernumerary copy variants, lead to severe and fatal disease. Patients who lack PLP1 expression, and Plp1-null mice, can display comparatively mild phenotypes, suggesting that PLP1 suppression might provide a general therapeutic strategy for PMD.

Capsaicin for non-allergic rhinitis.

Background: There are many forms of rhinitis. Patients are diagnosed with non-allergic rhinitis when anatomic, infectious and allergic aetiologies have been excluded. The symptoms, including nasal congestion, blockage or obstruction, clear rhinorrhoea, sneezing and, less frequently, nasal itching, can range from mild to debilitating.

A late recognition of tapia syndrome: a case report and literature review.

Tapia syndrome is characterized by concurrent paralysis of the recurrent laryngeal and hypoglossal nerves. The mechanism is associated with airway manipulation in 70% of patients and is attributed to compression or stretching of these nerves. Diagnosis is based on recognition of the concurrent paralyses and investigations to exclude central or vascular causes.

Osteoradionecrosis of the mandible: a case series at a single institution.

Background: Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) defines exposed irradiated bone, which fails to heal over a period of 3-6 months without evidence of residual or recurrent tumor. In the previous decades, a staging and treatment protocol suggested by Marx, has dominated the approach to ORN. However, recently this paradigm is shifting.

Correcting a bent septum by a k-wire stabilization during an extracorporeal septal reconstruction.

Background: Extracorporeal septoplasty has been successfully employed in difficult cases of septal deviation. A novel technique of wire fixation during extracorporeal septoplasty is presented.

Methods: All patients had complete or near complete nasal airway blockage.

Disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaires in rhinitis and rhinosinusitis: review and evaluation.

Quality of life (QoL) measurements are the best approximation of the burden of disease for the patient. Patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) estimate health-related quality of life (HRQoL). PROMs can be generic or disease-specific.

Radiation effects and radioprotection in MC3T3-E1 mouse calvarial osteoblastic cells.

Background: Little is known about the mechanisms and treatment of radiation-induced inhibition of craniofacial bone growth. In an earlier study, the radioprotector amifostine (WR-2721) administered to rabbits before irradiation radioprotected cultured orbitozygomatic complex periosteal osteoblast-like cells. This study assessed the effects of amifostine and its active metabolite on the radiation survival, function, and phenotype of mouse calvarial osteoblast-like cells in a cell culture model.

Bisphosphonate-induced necrosis of the jaws: a reconstructive nightmare.

Purpose Of Review: Bisphosphonates are used for the management of metastatic bone disease, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and Paget's disease of bone. An increasing number of reports have associated the use of bisphosphonates with the occurrence of osteoradionecrosis of the jaw. The purpose of this review is to summarize the recent literature in this area, specifically focusing on its management.

Supraorbital artery myocutaneous island flap for forehead defect reconstruction.

The frontalis musculocutaneous island flap offers advantages of immediate repair for small to medium-sized forehead defects (0.5-5 x 0.5-5 cm).

Radiation-induced craniofacial bone growth inhibition: in vitro cytoprotection in the rabbit orbitozygomatic complex periosteum-derived cell culture.

Background: Radiotherapy for the management of head and neck cancer in pediatric patients results in severe inhibition of craniofacial bone growth. Previously, the infant rabbit orbitozygomatic complex was established as an experimental model. Amifostine, a cytoprotective agent, was found effective in preventing radiation-induced bone growth inhibition.

An in vitro model of radiation-induced craniofacial bone growth inhibition.

Radiation-induced craniofacial bone growth inhibition is a consequence of therapeutic radiation in the survivors of pediatric head and neck cancer. Previously, the infant rabbit orbitozygomatic complex (OZC) was established as a reliable animal model. The purpose of this study was to develop a cell culture model from the rabbit OZC to study the effects of radiation in the craniofacial skeleton.

Radiation-induced craniofacial bone growth disturbances.

Multimodality treatment, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery, is required for the management of head and neck cancer in pediatric patients. Despite the modern advances in radiation dosing and targeting techniques, the radiation damage to the growing craniofacial skeleton in children remains a significant clinical problem. The first part of this review summarizes the clinical effects of radiotherapy on craniofacial bone growth in children.

Radioprotection of craniofacial bone growth.

In this review, the potential of pharmacologic therapy for prevention of radiation-induced bone growth inhibition is discussed. Significant radioprotection using the radioprotector Amifostine has been achieved in animal models of radiation-induced retardation of long and craniofacial bone growth. Moreover, radioprotection in vitro has been achieved in a number of cell lines, including osteoblast-like, endothelial, and fibroblastic.