Slow to heal or slow to diagnose cancer?

There are around 8,500 new cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) diagnosed in the UK each year and the incidence appears to be increasing. Although surgical and non-surgical treatment options have improved significantly in the last few decades, five-year survival has not, with an average five-year survival of 56% in the UK. Providing patients have access, there are frequent opportunities for oral cancer screening by their general dental practitioner.

Transcervical repair of tracheal diverticulum.

Tracheal diverticula are rare congenital or acquired abnormalities of the posterior tracheal wall. They are usually asymptomatic, and therefore treatment has not been widely reported. We describe the entity and surgical management of a symptomatic tracheal diverticulum.

Replacing tracheostomy with overnight intubation to manage the airway in head and neck oncology patients: towards an improved recovery.

In maxillofacial head and neck oncology, tracheostomy is often used to secure the airway, but not without risk. This study compared the existing practice of two units: one where tracheostomy was routinely done with one where overnight intubation was used. From both units we retrospectively analysed 50 consecutive patients who had intraoral resection, neck dissection, and microvascular reconstruction for head and neck cancer.

Recurrent Langerhans cell histiocytosis of the mandible.

We report a case of Langerhans cell histiocytosis with a restricted presentation (eosinophilic granuloma of the mandible) complicated by multiple reactivations.

Minor salivary gland squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip demonstrating striking perineural invasion.

Squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) of minor salivary gland origin are extremely rare. We present an unusual case of a 29-year-old female patient who presented with a well-differentiated SCC of minor salivary gland origin arising in the lower lip. Wedge resections of the lip, including bilateral mental nerve excision, were required to clear the tumor because of striking pathological evidence of perineural invasion distant from the primary tumor site.

The proximal tibia donor site in cleft alveolar bone grafting: experience of 75 consecutive cases.

Background: The optimum donor site for cleft alveolar bone grafting is still debated. Donor site morbidity is an important factor in deciding the site for harvest of cancellous bone. Use of the proximal tibia as donor site is associated with few complications.