Validation of the Maxillary Sinus Roof as a Landmark for Navigating the Pediatric Skull Base.

Objective: To define a new anatomic relationship in pediatric sinus surgery, assessing the maxillary roof as a constant safe landmark to avoid skull base injury in the pediatric population.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: Tertiary care children hospital.

Multicenter Interrater Reliability in the Endoscopic Assessment of Velopharyngeal Function Using a Video Instruction Tool.

Objective: Assess interrater agreement of endoscopic assessment of velopharyngeal (VP) function before and after viewing the video instruction tool (VIT). We hypothesized improvement in interrater agreement using the Golding-Kushner scale (GKS) after viewing the VIT.

Study Design: Prospective study.

Operative management of choanal atresia: a 15-year experience.

Objective: To analyze factors affecting 15-year surgical outcomes of choanal atresia repair.

Design: Case series.

Setting: Tertiary care pediatric hospital.

MRSA and non-MRSA otorrhea in children: a comparative study of clinical course.

Objective: To test the perception that post-tympanostomy tube otorrhea caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a more virulent disease than otorrhea caused by other pathogens by analyzing the clinical differences and disease courses in children diagnosed with otorrhea caused by MRSA bacteria vs non-MRSA bacteria.

Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: Tertiary children's hospital.

Fixation methods in pediatric cochlear implants: retrospective review of an evolution of 3 techniques.

Objective: To review 3 techniques of cochlear implant (CI) fixation used by a single surgeon for the fixation of 320 consecutive CIs in a pediatric population and associated complications.

Study Design: Case series with chart review.

Setting: Tertiary referral children's hospital.

The management of myringotomy tubes in pediatric cochlear implant recipients.

Objective: To investigate the impact of myringotomy tubes (MTs) on outcomes for pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients.

Design: Retrospective case-control chart review.

Setting: Tertiary care pediatric hospital.

Health disparities in pediatric cochlear implantation: an audiologic perspective.

Objectives: A national survey of pediatric cochlear implantation (PCI) audiologists was conducted with three aims: (1) to determine if PCI audiologists perceive within their clinical practice a negative effect of low socioeconomic status (SES) on postimplant speech and language outcomes; (2) to understand their perceptions of the underlying factors leading to outcome disparities; and (3) to elicit suggestions for improving outcomes in disadvantaged populations. We hypothesized that audiologists would perceive reduced speech and language outcomes within their lower SES patient population, and that this noted disparity would be related to parental adherence (compliance) and access to habilitation.

Design: A survey containing 22 quantitative and open-ended questions was electronically mailed to a data base of 234 PCI audiologists.

The multidisciplinary evaluation and management of cleft lip and palate.

Cleft lip with or without a cleft palate (CLP) and cleft palate alone (CPA) are common birth defects, with a combined birth prevalence of about 1 to 2/1,000. Affected children have a number of medical issues and potential complications, and therefore require a wide variety of healthcare specialists beyond plastic surgeons and dental specialists. For this reason, the best environment in which to deliver this care is a multidisciplinary cleft clinic (MCC) that features a team of healthcare providers, including audiology, pediatric otolaryngology, speech pathology, occupational/feeding therapy, and genetics.

Hearing screening practices among a national sample of primary care pediatricians.

The objective of this study was to describe variations in hearing screening using a survey mailed to a national sample of primary care pediatricians prior to the 2003 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) hearing screening guidelines. Of the 390 primary care respondents, only 303 (78%) performed audiometry, routinely beginning at age 3 (32%), 4 (44%), or 5 (17%); 81% defined abnormal audiometry primarily as failure to hear at a specified decibel level: 15 dB hearing level (HL) (<1%), 16 to 20 dB HL (10%), 21 to 25 dB HL (23%), 26 to 30 dB HL (44%), 31 to 40 dB HL (16%), and more than 40 dB HL (6%). This study serves as a baseline for comparison with postguideline practices.

The use of genetic testing in the evaluation of hearing impairment in a child.

Purpose Of Review: To review the role of genetic testing in the evaluation of hearing impairment in children.

Recent Findings: The introduction of genetic testing has greatly enhanced the evaluation of deafness and hearing impairment in children. It can save time and money as well as providing patients, their families, and their physicians with important information; however, this testing is different from the medical testing that pediatricians typically order.

Hearing screening at well-child visits.

Objectives: To determine hearing screening failure rates in primary care settings and to examine the referral practices in response to an abnormal screening test.

Methods: We enrolled a convenience sample of children between 3 and 19 years of age who were undergoing hearing screening during a well-child visit. A failure was defined as missing any frequency (1000, 2000, or 4000 Hz) in either ear at 20-dB hearing level.

Multiple intraparenchymal parotid calculi: a case report and review of the literature.

We describe an unusual case of bilateral intraparenchymal parotid stones with unilateral parotitis in a 17-year-old boy. The patient went on to develop multiple parotid abscesses, which we treated with a superficial parotidectomy. To our knowledge, this is only the second report of intraparenchymal parotid stones in a pediatric patient.

Success and complications of four-duct ligation for sialorrhea.

Objective: Sialorrhea can have a significant negative effect on quality of life, impeding social interactions and severely limiting employment opportunities. Many surgical options to control sialorrhea have been reported. One of the newest procedures is combined ligation of the submandibular and parotid ducts, reported only once in the literature in one series of five patients to date.

Microdebrider versus CO2 laser removal of recurrent respiratory papillomas: a prospective analysis.

Objective: To compare postoperative patient discomfort, voice quality, and procedure time and cost for removal of recurrent respiratory papillomas using the microdebrider versus the CO2 laser.

Study Design: A randomized prospective study comparing children undergoing excision of recurrent respiratory papillomas by CO2 laser versus excision by microdebrider.

Methods: For the 6-month study, patients for whom removal of recurrent respiratory papillomas was indicated were randomly assigned by birth year to microdebrider or CO2 laser therapy.