Effect of hypoglossal nerve stimulation on snoring: an evaluation using objective acoustic parameters.

Study Objectives: Hypoglossal nerve stimulation is an established therapy for sleep apnea syndrome. Whether or not this therapy on snoring and nighttime noise exposure is effective and how strong this effect may be has not been objectively investigated thus far and was the aim of this study.

Methods: In 15 participants (14 males; age: 30-72 years; mean: 51.

A standardized marking procedure for ENT operations to prevent wrong-site surgery: development, establishment and subsequent evaluation among patients and medical personnel.

Purpose: Wrong-site surgeries are rare but potentially serious clinical errors. Marking the surgical site is crucial to preventing errors, but is hindered in the ENT field by the presence of many internal organs. In addition, there is no standardized marking procedure.

Tobacco use in patients with ENT tumours: Deficits in the provision of education and smoking cessation support.

Purpose: Smoking is not only one of the main risk factors for the development of most malignant and numerous benign ENT tumours but also has an important influence on therapy and prognosis. Even quitting smoking at the time of diagnosis significantly reduces mortality. Patients have a particularly strong desire to stop smoking when they are diagnosed.

[Hygiene in ENT examination: Fluorescence study with overview of current recommendations].

Increasing normative demands on patient safety and quality assurance measures, but also the problem of multi-resistant germs and pathogens with a high potential for infection, increase the need for hygienically correct work.In this study, hygienically relevant potential sources of contamination in ENT examinations were to be identified and possible improvement strategies examined.A complete ENT examination was performed by 5 examiners with different professional experience, whose gloves were wetted with fluorescent lotion prior to the examination.

Are annoyance scores based on sound pressure levels suitable for snoring assessment in the home environment?

Purpose: An objective statement about the annoyance of snoring can be made with the Psychoacoustic Snore Score (PSS). The PSS was developed based on subjective assessments and is strongly influenced by observed sound pressure levels. Robustness against day-to-day interfering noises is a fundamental requirement for use at home.

Snoring: is a reliable assessment possible?

Purpose: It is not easy to assess how severe and annoying a patient's snoring is. Solid parameters are lacking; snorers cannot deliver a reliable self-assessment and it is uncertain whether bed partners' statements can be relied upon. The purpose of the present study was therefore to investigate whether and how well snoring assessment based on acoustic parameters and bed partners' reporting agree.

Snoring - An Acoustic Definition.

Objective- The distinction of snoring and loud breathing is often subjective and lies in the ear of the beholder. The aim of this study is to identify and assess acoustic features with a high suitability to distinguish these two classes of sound, in order to facilitate an objective definition of snoring based on acoustic parameters. Methods- A corpus of snore and breath sounds from 23 subjects has been used that were classified by 25 human raters.

Calculating annoyance: an option to proof efficacy in ENT treatment of snoring?

To develop and validate an objective method for calculating the annoyance caused by snoring sounds. 53 subjects assessed 50 different snoring and breath sounds on a visual analog scale for level of annoyance. A linear regression analysis was used to correlate these subjective assessments with objectively calculated psychoacoustic parameters (loudness, roughness, sharpness, and fluctuation strength, calculating the maximum, mean, and 5th percentile in each case).

Depth-dependent changes of obstruction patterns under increasing sedation during drug-induced sedation endoscopy: results of a German monocentric clinical trial.

Purpose: Drug-induced sedation endoscopy (DISE) and simulated snoring (SimS) can locate the site of obstruction in patients with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). There is clinical evidence for a change in collapsibility of the upper airway depending on the depth of sedation. So far, a dose-response relationship between sedation and collapsibility has not been demonstrated.

Positive frozen section margins predict local recurrence in R0-resected squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyse the impact of surgical margins on tumour recurrence and survival of patients with carcinomas of the head and neck.

Material And Methods: A cohort of 156 patients with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated by local resection with negative margins and neck dissection between 2004 and 2012 was investigated. Margin status in frozen sections and permanent paraffin tissues were analysed and compared to clinical and histopathological parameters as well as to tumour recurrence (local, regional and distant) and disease-specific survival (DSS).

Genomic aberrations of MDM2, MDM4, FGFR1 and FGFR3 are associated with poor outcome in patients with salivary gland cancer.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 and 3 (FGFR1, FGFR3) impact on tissue homoeostasis, embryonic development and carcinogenesis. Murine double minute protein 4 (MDM4) and mouse double minute 2 homologue (MDM2) are regulators of p53-protein and may be the origin of an apoptosis overpowering cascade. A collective of 266 carcinomas of salivary glands were investigated for MDM2, MDM4, FGFR1 and FGFR3 aberrations by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Drug-induced sleep endoscopy and simulated snoring in patients with sleep-disordered breathing: agreement of anatomic changes in the upper airway.

Drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) and simulated snoring (SimS) are performed as part of the diagnostic procedure in patients with suspected sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Despite both techniques frequently performed, they have rarely been evaluated yet in terms of agreement of the obtained results. Both diagnostic procedures were performed consecutively in 40 patients with SDB and documented identically.

Evaluation of acoustic characteristics of snoring sounds obtained during drug-induced sleep endoscopy.

Introduction: Snoring sounds are discussed to contain acoustic information about their geneses. Nocturnal snoring can easily be recorded acoustically but it is difficult to visually verify its genesis. Contrary, snoring patterns induced by drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) can be visually differentiated.

Long-term outcome and subjective quality of life after surgical treatment of lower lip cancer.

Objectives: Squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip represents a common type of cancer with a favourable prognosis. Different types of defect reconstruction after ablative surgery are described for maintenance of patients' quality of life.

Materials And Methods: The study retrospectively evaluates the outcome of 105 patients treated for lower lip cancer.

Are subjective assessments of snoring sounds reliable?

The aim of this study is to investigate whether snoring sounds can be reliably, i.e. reproducibly and comparably, assessed by the listener.

The nasal cycle during wakefulness and sleep and its relation to body position.

Objectives/hypothesis: To compare the occurrence, duration, and relative amplitudes of the nasal cycle (NC) during wakefulness and sleep, and to investigate the relationship of the NC to body position.

Study Design/methods: In 20 healthy subjects, the NC was measured by long-term rhinoflowmetry for an average 23.1 hours during wakefulness and sleep.

Value of anatomic site, histology and clinicopathological parameters for prediction of lymph node metastasis and overall survival in head and neck melanomas.

Introduction: Head and neck melanoma compromises a group of aggressive tumours with varying clinical courses. This analysis was performed to find anatomic and clinicopathological parameters predictive for lymph node metastasis and overall survival.

Material And Methods: Data and outcome of 246 patients with a malignant melanoma in the head and neck region were retrospectively analyzed for predictive parameters.

Distinguishing snoring sounds from breath sounds: a straightforward matter?

Background: Although snoring is a common problem, no unequivocal definition yet exists for this acoustic phenomenon. The primary study objective was to investigate whether snoring sounds can be distinguished at all clearly from breath sounds. Our secondary objective was to evaluate whether the sound pressure level in common use and psychoacoustic parameters are suitable for making this distinction.

Predictors of cervical lymph node metastasis in salivary gland cancer.

Background: This study compares clinicopathological parameters with novel molecular markers for predicting cervical lymph node metastasis in salivary gland cancer.

Methods: Three hundred sixteen salivary gland carcinomas were included in this study. Genomic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), and hepatocyte growth factor receptor (MET) was determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Triple test as predictive screen for unilateral weakness on caloric testing in routine practice.

Objective: To investigate in vertigo patients in routine practice to what extent a rapid and straightforward triple bedside test (spontaneous nystagmus, head-shaking nystagmus, and the head impulse test) can predict a normal result on caloric testing.

Study Design: Prospective, single-blind, diagnostic study.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Aberrations of MET are associated with copy number gain of EGFR and loss of PTEN and predict poor outcome in patients with salivary gland cancer.

Hepatocyte growth factor receptor (MET) is a key driver of oncogenic transformation. Copy number gain and amplification of MET positively enhance tumour growth, invasiveness and metastasis in different cancer types. In the present study, 266 carcinomas of the major and minor salivary glands were investigated for genomic MET status by fluorescence in situ hybridization and for protein expression by immunohistochemistry.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss: systemic steroid therapy and the risk of glucocorticoid-induced hyperglycemia.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is usually treated with systemic glucocorticoids. Intratympanic injections of glucocorticoids offer a possibly equivalent treatment alternative, avoiding adverse systemic effects on blood glucose. We, therefore, investigated the extent to which different doses of systemic glucocorticoid therapy affects blood glucose levels.

The annoyance of snoring and psychoacoustic parameters: a step towards an objective measurement.

The aim of this study was to find out whether objective analysis of snoring sounds (sound pressure level and psychoacoustic parameters) correlates with the subjective rating by participants with respect to perceived annoyance and hence whether it is useful. 43 participants, aged 22-65 years with normal hearing, were asked to rate 60 snoring sounds from simple and obstructive snorers according to their level of annoyance. A correlation analysis according to Spearman was then performed on objectively calculated parameters.

Evidence for a role of epithelial mesenchymal transition during pathogenesis of fistulae in Crohn's disease.

Background: The pathogenesis of fistulae in Crohn's disease (CD) patients is barely understood. We recently showed that more than two-thirds of CD fistulae are covered with flat, mesenchymal-like cells (transitional cells [TC]) forming a patchy basement membrane. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process of reprogramming epithelial cells, allowing them to migrate more effectively and giving epithelial cells an "invasive" potential.