Targeted hypoglossal nerve stimulation for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea: Six-month results.

Objectives/hypothesis: This feasibility study was designed to show the preliminary safety and efficacy of targeted hypoglossal neurostimulation (THN), and to identify baseline predictors of successful therapy.

Study Design: Open-label, prospective, multicenter, single-arm cohort study, conducted at seven centers in the U.S.

[Upper airway stimulation in obstructive sleep apnea].

The stimulation of the upper airway represents an effective treatment option in case of CPAP failure in patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea. The stimulation with respiratory sensing (Inspire Medical Systems) has shown a high level of evidence in larger cohorts and longer follow-up studies. Whether the results of the stimulation without respiratory sensing (ImThera Medical) can be compared with the therapy with sensing, remains open up to now.

Epstein-Barr virus colonization of tonsillar and peripheral blood B-cell subsets in primary infection and persistence.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) persists in the immune host by preferentially colonizing the isotype-switched (IgD(-)CD27(+)) memory B-cell pool. In one scenario, this is achieved through virus infection of naive (IgD(+)CD27(-)) B cells and their differentiation into memory via germinal center (GC) transit; in another, EBV avoids GC transit and infects memory B cells directly. We report 2 findings consistent with this latter view.

Differential surface expression and possible function of 9-O- and 7-O-acetylated GD3 (CD60 b and c) during activation and apoptosis of human tonsillar B and T lymphocytes.

The disialoganglioside GD3 (CD60 a) and its O-acetylated variants have previously been described as surface molecules of human T lymphocytes of the peripheral blood system. Here we report the expression of the 9-O-, and 7-O-acetylated disialoglycans of GD3 (CD60 b and CD60 c respectively) on human tonsillar lymphocytes. CD60 b and c are surface-expressed on activated germinal centre B cells and colocalize in raft-like structures on the cell surface together with the cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase Lyn and Syk.

Tonsillar homing of Epstein-Barr virus-specific CD8+ T cells and the virus-host balance.

Patients with infectious mononucleosis (IM) undergoing primary EBV infection show large expansions of EBV-specific CD8+ T cells in the blood. While latent infection of the B cell pool is quickly controlled, virus shedding from lytically infected cells in the oropharynx remains high for several months. We therefore studied how responses localize to the tonsil, a major target site for EBV, during primary infection and persistence.

Estriol induced squamous metaplasia on the nasal mucosa in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate by light and electron microscopy the effect of topical estriol on the nasal mucosa in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT).

Methods: Twelve patients were instructed to apply twice daily 0.1% estriol as a nose ointment over a period of 12 months.

[Principals of high frequency surgery].

Electrosurgical instruments are routinely and daily applied at a variety of indications in Otorhinolaryngology. They can be used for cutting, coagulation and devitalisation. All have in common that the high frequency energy is transported into the tissue via an instrument and by this causes a thermal change.

[Effect of high frequency application on the tongue base. In vitro results of "radiofrequency application" on the porcine tongue base].

Background And Objective: A newly developed radio-frequency monopolar needle electrode was evaluated in vitro on porcine tongues.

Patients And Methods: Porcine tongues with different tissue temperatures (20+/-1) degrees C and (32+/-2) degrees C were coagulated for 90 s. In a second step, 23 coagulations at 7 W were applied (34+/-2) degrees C.

Benign mixed tumor of the lacrimal gland. Clinical diagnosis and surgical management.

The accurate clinical diagnosis of benign mixed tumors of the lacrimal gland is important for the proper therapeutic management. We present an adult case with a benign mixed tumor of the orbital lobe of the lacrimal gland, 8 years after periorbital blunt injury. The tumor lesion was diagnosed later in the persisting traumatic tumefaction region.

Integration of apoptosis and telomere erosion in virus-specific CD8+ T cells from blood and tonsils during primary infection.

Human-virus-specific CD8+ T cells that are found during primary infection have been studied almost exclusively in the peripheral blood, and it is unclear whether these cells are regulated in the same way as those in secondary lymphoid tissue. We investigated, therefore, the control of apoptosis and telomere erosion of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific CD8+ T cells found in the blood and tonsils of the same patients during acute infectious mononucleosis (AIM). Although the clonal composition of CD8+ T cells as determined by heteroduplex analysis was similar in both compartments, there was greater CD28 expression in the tonsil population, indicating that they were less differentiated.

Plasma surgery and topical estriol: effects on the nasal mucosa and long-term results in patients with Osler's disease.

Objective: The study goal was to report on the long-term results and effect of argon plasma coagulation (APC) surgery and topical estriol in patients with Osler's disease who had recurrent epistaxis. Study design In a prospective clinical study, 52 patients underwent APC and estriol application and were followed for 18 months regarding their bleeding frequency and intensity. Patient blood samples were obtained to determine the serum estriol levels.

Argon plasma coagulation (APC) surgery in otorhinolaryngology.

The Argon Plasma Coagulation (APC) technique has been used with success in open surgery and endoscopy for hemostasis and thermal devitalisation of pathological tissue. We developed techniques and instruments for the use of this technique in Otorhinolaryngology, because of its excellent hemostatic effects and devitalising properties. APC surgery is based on a monopolar high-frequency (HF) electrical current transmitted through ionized argon gas from the tip of an applicator to the tissue surface in a contact-free mode.

Administration of autologous fetal membranes: Effects on the coagulation in pregnant mini-pigs.

OBJECTIVE: A hallmark of the so-called amniotic fluid embolism is the induction of coagulation defects. Entry of meconium-free autologous amniotic fluid into the circulation, however, is innocuous. Little is known about the true causative agent or agents.

[Argon plasma coagulation and topically applied estriol. Long-term results in the treatment of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia of the nasal mucosa].

Background And Objective: Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an autosomal dominant fibrovascular dysplasia with the main symptom of recurrent epistaxis. At present, only limited data are available on long-term results in the treatment of epistaxis. A part from the surgical treatment of the bleeding telangiectasia with argon plasma, an additional postoperative long-term treatment with estriol nose-ointment was performed and the results were analysed.

Topical estrogens combined with argon plasma coagulation in the management of epistaxis in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

The aim of this study was to assess the value of topically applied estrogens in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Twenty-six patients with this disorder were treated with argon plasma coagulation and randomized into 2 groups: group A, which had postoperative application of estriol ointment (n = 14), and group B, which had postoperative application of dexpanthenol ointment (n = 12). Over a period of 12 months, the frequency and intensity of bleeding, the patient's satisfaction, and the success of the treatment were evaluated with a questionnaire.

[Nitinol stent implantation in benign esophagotracheal fistula].

The self-expanding nitinol stent is easy to handle and well tolerated. It offers an improved method in the treatment of perforations of the upper aerodigestive tract. It is easily implantable with rigid and flexible endoscopes.

Long-term results of inferior turbinate reduction with argon plasma coagulation.

Objectives: Surgical reduction of the inferior turbinates is a commonly used therapy in patients with hyperplastic inferior turbinates when medical management remains ineffective. Current surgical methods have disadvantages (e.g.

Tonsillectomy with argon plasma coagulation (APC): evaluation of pain and hemorrhage.

Objective: Argon plasma coagulation (APC) offers a new possibility for tonsillectomy (TE) because of its effective hemostasis and limited penetration depth of the coagulation zone. The APC dissector allows dissection and hemostasis in a one-step procedure. The aim of this prospective, randomized, single-blinded study was the evaluation of pain and hemorrhage of the "hot" argon-plasma-coagulation tonsillectomy (TE(APC)) compared with a conventional "cold" non-electrosurgery tonsillectomy (TE(Conv)).

High-dose intravenous paraoxon exposure does not cause organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) in mini pigs.

Organophosphorus compounds are inhibitors of serine hydrolases. Some of these compounds produce, in addition to their high acute toxicity, a more persistent effect: organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN). The putative molecular entity whose inhibition is thought to be responsible for OPIDN is the neuropathy target esterase (NTE).

Paraoxon sensitive phenylvalerate hydrolase in assessing the severity of acute paraoxon poisoning.

Introduction: Intoxications with organophosphorous compounds, especially paraoxon, are frequent. Organophosphorous compounds inhibit serine hydrolases such as acetylcholine, butyrilcholine, and carboxyl esterases although acetylcholine and butyrylcholine are too sensitive to paraoxon to be useful markers of severity. They cannot show a dose-dependent inhibition during an acute organophosphorous compounds exposure because maximal enzyme inhibition is reached at very low organophosphorous compounds concentrations.

Inverse correlation of apoptotic and angiogenic markers in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Angiogenesis is essential for tumour growth and metastasis. The induction of tumour vascularization is mediated by the release of angiogenic peptides. Among these factors, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) are thought to be the most important.

[Coexpression of VEGF and bFGF is associated with increased vascular density in head and neck carcinomas].

Background: Angiogenesis is crucial for tumor growth and metastasis. In several tumors, microvascular density has been shown to correlate with metastasis and aggressiveness. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (bFGF) are known to have potent angiogenic activity.