Tracheal airway pressure in tracheostomy tube capping trials: an experimental study.

Background: Tracheostomy tube capping is a commonly used test to determine if the tracheostomy tube can be removed. The success of the capping trial depends on the patient's ability to maintain sufficient spontaneous breathing with an occluded tracheostomy tube. The impact of an occluded tracheotomy tube on airway resistance is currently unknown.

Safety of percutaneous dilatational tracheotomy (PDT) with the rigid tracheotomy endoscope (TED): a 6-month follow-up multicenter investigation.

Background: The rigid tracheotomy endoscope (TED) was recently introduced to improve the fiberoptic technique during percutaneous dilatational tracheotomy (PDT) in critically ill patients. The aim was to evaluate the long-term complications of PDT using TED equipment in a prospective multicenter investigation.

Methods: One hundred eighty adult patients underwent PDT using TED in four German hospitals.

Tracheotomy-Related Deaths.

Background: Tracheotomies are frequently performed on ventilated patients in intensive care and sometimes lead to fatal complications. In this article, we discuss the causes and frequency of death associated with open surgical tracheotomy (OST) and percutaneous dilatational tracheotomy (PDT) on the basis of a review of the pertinent literature.

Methods: We systematically searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases and the Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog for publications (1990-2015) on tracheotomy-related deaths in adults, using the search terms "tracheotomy" and "tracheostomy.

Feasibility and safety of dilatational tracheotomy using the rigid endoscope: a multicenter study.

Background: Fiberoptic tracheo-bronchoscopy is the most commonly used procedure for percutaneous dilational tracheotomy (PDT). However, PDT can be associated with major complications, including death. Furthermore it is unclear, whether the tracheal ring fractures may contribute to the development of tracheal stenosis after PDT nor whether tracheal ring fractures can be prevented by using a rigid endoscope for this procedure.

Struck by lightning: Lichtenberg figures on a 19th-century wax model.

Wax models in dermatology were used to a large extent until the 1930s as three-dimensional models to illustrate various pathologic conditions and in particular cutaneous signs of disease. As an example, a young woman who was struck by lightning and developed Lichtenberg figures is presented. Lichtenberg figures are a fernlike pattern on skin, characteristic of lightning.

Methods of administering superimposed high-frequency jet ventilation and the associated risk for aspiration in a model of tracheal bleeding.

Background: To determine the suitability of different superimposed high-frequency jet ventilation (SHFJV) application methods during tracheal bleeding.

Objective: To determine the effect of SHFJV on the aspiration of blood during tracheal bleeding.

Methods: A test lung was ventilated using SHFJV via a rigid endoscope, a jet laryngoscope and a 4-lumen jet catheter.

Percutaneous dilational tracheostomy (PDT) and prevention of blood aspiration with superimposed high-frequency jet ventilation (SHFJV) using the tracheotomy-endoscope (TED): results of numerical and experimental simulations.

We describe an innovative computer-based method for the analysis of gas flow using a modified airway management technique to perform percutaneous dilatational tracheotomy (PDT) with a rigid tracheotomy endoscope (TED). A test lung was connected via an artificial trachea with the tracheotomy endoscope and ventilated using superimposed high-frequency jet ventilation. Red packed cells were instilled during the puncture phase of a simulated percutaneous tracheotomy in a trachea model and migration of the red packed cells during breathing was continuously measured.

Otomycosis: Diagnosis and treatment.

Aspergillus and Candida spp are the most frequently isolated fungi in patients with otomycosis. The diagnosis of otitis externa relies on the patient's history, otoscopic examination under microscopic control, and imaging studies. Direct preparation of the specimens, particularly with optical brighteners, mycologic culture, and histologic examination, is very important and strongly recommended for the correct diagnosis.

Validation of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-H&N35 in patients with laryngeal cancer after surgery.

Background: The aim of this study was to test the validity of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire, Core Module (QLQ-C30) and Head and Neck Module (QLQ-H&N35) for patients who have undergone surgery due to laryngeal cancer.

Methods: A total of 323 patients from 6 different centers in Germany who had been operated on completed the QLQ-C30 and the QLQ-H&N35 in addition to being surveyed in a personal interview.

Results: Multitrait scaling analysis confirmed the proposed scale structure of both questionnaires.

We and our pets: allergic together?

The study of allergies in creatures living together without being relatives can help us understand the impact of environmental influences. We tested the association of allergies in humans and their pets. A nested unmatched case-control study was performed in a random sample of 4261 inhabitants, aged 25-74 years, of the City of Augsburg, Germany and two adjacent counties.

Hemodilution therapy with hydroxyethyl starch solution (130/0.4) in unilateral idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss: a dose-finding, double-blind, placebo-controlled, international multicenter trial with 210 patients.

Objective: Obtain and analyze first data on hydroxyethyl starch (HES 130/0.4) as monotherapy in acute idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL).

Design: Randomized, double-blind, Phase-II, dose-finding study.

[Tracheotomy-endoscop for dilatational percutaneous tracheotomy (TED)].

While surgical tracheotomies are currently performed using state-of-the-art operative techniques, percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) is in a rapidly evolving state with regard to its technology and the number of techniques available. This has resulted in a range of new complications that are difficult to quantify on a scientific basis, given the fact that more than half of the patients who are tracheotomized in intensive care units die from their underlying disease. The new Tracheotomy Endoscope (TED) is designed to help prevent serious complications in dilatational tracheotomies and facilitate their management.

The epidemiology of nevi and signs of skin aging in the adult general population: Results of the KORA-survey 2000.

Nevi can approximate the melanoma risk and demographic changes will increase the meaning of signs of skin aging (SSA). However, little is known about the epidemiology of nevi and SSA in the general adult population. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and age distribution of common and atypical nevi and SSA as well as gender differences in a large population-based sample.

Comorbid mental disorders in laryngectomees.

Objectives: This study attempted to determine the prevalence of mental disorders among laryngectomees and to assess the current status of the supplied psychooncological care.

Patients And Methods: Patients who were laryngectomized between 1970 and 2001 were recruited at 6 different otolaryngology clinics in the region of Central Germany. 189 interviews were conducted.

First clinical experience with beta-trace protein (prostaglandin D synthase) as a marker for perilymphatic fistula.

A diagnosis of perilymphatic fistula is still controversial. Recently, a case report indicated that beta-trace protein (prostaglandin D synthase) might be a potential marker for perilymphatic fluid. In this multicentre clinical case series study beta-trace protein was used as a marker for perilymphatic fluid fistula.

Reduction of expression of tuberin, the tuberous-sclerosis-complex-gene-2 product in tuberous sclerosis complex associated connective tissue nevi and sporadic squamous and basal cell carcinomas.

Background: Patients affected with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) are prone to the development of multiple benign tumors of the skin and other organs. Tuberin, the protein product of the tuberous-sclerosis-complex-2 tumor suppressor gene (TSC2) has been shown to inhibit cell proliferation. In TSC associated kidney tumors and sporadic brain tumors the loss/reduction of tuberin has been shown.