Postoperative Swallowing Assessment After Lung Transplantation.

Background: Dysphagia, aspiration, and potential pneumonia represent a major source of morbidity in patients undergoing lung transplantation. Conditions that potentiate dysphagia and aspiration include frailty and prolonged intubation. Our group of speech-language pathologists has been actively involved in performance of a bedside evaluation of swallowing, and instrumental evaluation of swallowing with modified barium swallow, and postoperative management in patients undergoing lung transplantation.

Handgrip strength and dysphagia assessment following cardiac surgery.

Objectives/hypothesis: Prolonged intubation has been recognized as a risk factor for dysphagia following cardiac surgery. We conducted a study to determine whether those patients intubated longer than 12 hours following cardiac surgery exhibit low handgrip strength and if dysphagia is prevalent in those with low handgrip strength.

Study Design: Feasibility study.

Frailty measurements and dysphagia in the outpatient setting.

Objective: Deconditioning and frailty may contribute to dysphagia and aspiration. Early identification of patients at risk of aspiration is important. Aspiration prevention would lead to reduced morbidity and health care costs.

A nomenclature paradigm for benign midmembranous vocal fold lesions.

Objectives/hypothesis: There is a significant lack of uniform agreement regarding nomenclature for benign vocal fold lesions (BVFLs). This confusion results in difficulty for clinicians communicating with their patients and with each other. In addition, BVFL research and comparison of treatment methods are hampered by the lack of a detailed and uniform BVFL nomenclature.

Transfection of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells with native tumor DNA induces antigen-specific T-cell responses in vitro.

Objective: Nucleofection of genomic tumor (Tu) DNA into human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (hMoDC) was evaluated for use in producing anti-tumor vaccines able to induce effective T-cell specific immune responses.

Methods: Cultured hMoDC obtained from HLA-A2+ normal donors were nucleofected with genomic DNA extracted from an HLA-A2+gp100+ Mel 526 cell line and 3' end-labeled with biotinylated TdT nucleotides or from a genetically-modified Mel 526 expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). An Amaxa Nucleofector system was used for electroporation.

Successful cochlear implantation in a patient with superficial siderosis.

Objective: To define the presentation and outcome of cochlear implantation in a patient with profound sensorineural hearing loss due to superficial siderosis.

Study Design: Retrospective case review.

Results: Postimplantation speech reception threshold was 34 dB, and hearing in noise testing sentences were 71% demonstrating a successful outcome.

Safety of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty as outpatient surgery.

Objective: Determine the admission rate and characterize the complications in uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) patients scheduled to have outpatient surgery.

Study Design And Setting: Retrospective review of patients undergoing UPPP between 2000 and 2004 in a tertiary care setting.

Results: UPPP alone or in conjunction with tonsillectomy, septoplasty, or supraglottoplasty was carried out in 110 patients.

Multiplexed analysis of serum cytokines as biomarkers in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck patients.

Objective: Our objective was to characterize cytokine profiles in the systemic circulation of patients with active squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) compared with long-term tobacco smokers as controls. Furthermore, we hypothesized that persistent immune dysregulation in patients cured of their disease may be reflected in altered cytokine profiles in the systemic circulation.

Study Design: Retrospective, case-control study.

Decreased absolute counts of T lymphocyte subsets and their relation to disease in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Purpose: Apoptosis of circulating CD8+ T cells seen in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck [SCCHN (Hoffmann T, et al. Clin Cancer Res 2002;8:2553-62)] suggested a possibility of lymphocyte imbalance. Therefore, absolute numbers and percentages of lymphocyte subsets were examined in the peripheral blood of SCCHN patients and controls.