A mucormycosis case treated with a combination of caspofungin and amphotericin B.

Mucormycosis is a rare, invasive and fatal disease that occurs mainly in diabetes mellitus patients with uncontrolled blood glucose levels or in immunocompromised patients. The mortality rate of this disease is as high as 25 to 80%, despite aggressive surgical treatment and antifungal therapy. This high mortality requires alternative treatment approaches.

Laryngeal plexiform neurofibroma in a child.

Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a genetically inherited, autosomal dominant disease, characterized by multiple cafe au lait spots, cutaneous neurofibromas and "Lisch nodules." Neurofibromatosis can develop from a neural source at any age. However, neurofibroma of the larynx is extremely rare and is usually manifested by obstructive airway symptoms.

Management of patients with coexisting obstructive sleep apnea and laryngopharyngeal reflux disease.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and Laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPR) are both common health problems causing severe morbidity. Since they have similar risk factors, the prevalence of LPR among patients with OSAS is higher compared with general population. However, there exist only a few studies showing the potential causal relation between LPR and OSAS.

The efficacy of nasal surgery in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: a prospective clinical study.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of surgical intervention for nasal pathologies on obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) titrations in patients with OSAS. The study was designed as a prospective case control study. Between December 2007 and June 2010, 31 patients (26 men and 5 women) who were diagnosed with OSAS with polysomnography and confirmed to have obstructive nasal pathology were enrolled in the study.

The role of selective neck dissection in pathological N1 squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of selective neck dissection (SND) in stage pN1 head and neck cancers.

Patients And Methods: Patients who underwent neck dissection due to squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity, larynx, oro-hypopharynx were evaluated retrospectively. Sixty-one patients diagnosed with pathological N1 by neck dissection were included in the study.

Evaluation of amylase levels in the neck drainage and serum for early diagnosis of the pharyngocutaneous fistula.

Objectives: To assess the value of amylase levels in neck drainage and serum for the diagnosis of pharyngocutaneous fistula in the early postoperative period.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a prospective study in a tertiary referral setting. Thirty-two patients (31 males, 1 female; mean age 63; range 45 to 75 years) who had laryngectomy operation as the primary treatment were studied.

Unexpected findings in the neck dissection specimens for primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Objectives: We aimed to determine the incidence of unexpected pathological findings observed during the histopathological examination of the neck dissection specimens performed for primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and their impacts on the treatment and follow-up plans.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 410 patients (369 males, 41 females; 169 patients unilateral, 241 patients bilateral) with a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck, who underwent 651 neck dissections.

Results: Unexpected pathological findings were found in 3.

Accessory nerve function after level 2b-preserving selective neck dissection.

Background: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the relationship between accessory nerve functions and level 2b-preserving selective neck dissection.

Methods: Forty-one necks of 30 patients with laryngeal cancer who underwent unilateral or bilateral level 2b-preserving neck dissections, between February 2003 and July 2005, were evaluated. Neck and shoulder movements and muscle strengths were examined and electroneuromyography (ENMG) was performed preoperatively at the postoperative 21st day and 6th month.

[Disclosure of the diagnosis to the patient with head and neck cancer].

Objectives: The goal of this study was to elicit information on the feelings and thoughts of head and neck cancer patients at the time of disclosure of the diagnosis and to guide the physicians to a better communication with similar patients, taking into consideration general tendencies and the opinion of individual patients.

Patients And Methods: A questionnaire-based, retrospective study was performed between April 2005 and 2006, including 34 patients (26 males 8 females; mean age 52 years; range 19 to 80 years) with head and neck cancer, who had undergone surgery as primary treatment, had been followed-up for at least two years, and were disease-free at the time of the study. A 30-item questionnaire was administered, consisting of multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions.

Suspicion of cricohyoidopexy line rupture after supracricoid partial laryngectomy and the value of computed tomography to exclude this complication.

We presented a 48-year-old man who underwent supracricoid partial laryngectomy with cricohyoidoepiglottopexy. He developed diffuse subcutaneous emphysema and saliva aspiration on the first postoperative day, arousing suspicion of a pexy line rupture. Palpation of the cricohyoid suture line and a lateral cervical X-ray were not helpful.

Hypothyroidism after primary surgical treatment for laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer.

Objectives: We investigated the incidence of hypothyroidism after treatment of laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer (LHC), and evaluated its relationship with treatment modalities.

Patients And Methods: Thyroid functions of 42 patients (41 males, 1 female; mean age 58 years; range 35 to 81 years) undergoing surgical treatment with (74%) or without adjuvant radiotherapy for LHC were prospectively evaluated preoperatively, on the 15th day, and in the sixth month postoperatively. The results were compared in relation to the treatment methods employed.

[The relationship between lymph node size and metastasis and extracapsular spread in squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, orohypopharynx, and oral cavity].

Objectives: We examined the relationship between lymph node size and metastasis and extracapsular spread (ECS) in patients who underwent neck dissection for squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, orohypopharynx, or oral cavity.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated a total of 200 neck dissections performed in 128 patients (107 males, 21 females; mean age 56+/-11 years; range 26 to 81 years) with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, orohypopharynx, or oral cavity, and having complete clinical and pathologic data. Along with 442 metastatic lymph nodes (139 with ECS), the greatest axial diameter of the biggest benign lymph node obtained from each patient was measured.

P53 gene mutations in surgical margins and primary tumor tissues of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Aims And Background: The frequency of p53 mutations in primary tumors, the effect of the mutations on some clinical and pathological features of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and the impact of p53 mutations in the surgical margins on local recurrence were determined,

Material And Methods: We investigated the presence of p53 mutations in primary tumor samples and in the surgical margins of 34 patients with head and neck cancer using single strand conformational polymorphism and sequencing analysis.

Results: The p53 mutations (codons 175addAT, 175delGC, 206G --> A, and 248delC) were found in the primary tumor samples of 15 of 34 patients (44.12%) and in the surgical margins of 5 of the 15 tumors (33.

The relationship between shoulder pain and damage to the cervical plexus following neck dissection.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between shoulder pain and damage to the cervical plexus after neck dissection. The study was performed prospectively on 34 neck sides of 17 patients with laryngeal cancer who underwent laryngectomy plus bilateral selective neck dissection (II, III, IV, +/- VI) at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology of Uludag University between December 2003 and October 2004. The cervical plexus was protected on one side of the neck and sacrificed on the other, while the accessory nerve was spared on both sides.

Endolaryngeal cordectomy using cold instruments for treatment of T1 glottic cancers.

In the treatment of early-stage glottic cancers, radiotherapy and surgery have similar success rates. In our department, we have been using cold instruments coupled with surgical microscope and/or telescopes for several years in treatment of early stage glottic cancers. Our aims were, to present our experience with endolaryngeal resection of T1 glottic cancers with cold instruments coupled with surgical microscope and telescopes, to present our oncological results, to discuss the advantages of endolaryngeal cordectomy over open cordectomy or RT and to discuss whether laser is obligatory for this approach or not.

Primary oral cancer in a Turkish population sample: association with sociodemographic features, smoking, alcohol, diet and dentition.

The aim of this multicentre case-control study was to investigate the association of a variety of factors with oral cancer in a group of Turkish patients. Questionnaires were used to investigate the sociodemographic features, smoking and alcohol consumptions, dietary habits and dental status of 79 primary oral cancer patients and 61 controls. Data were statistically analysed with Mann-Whitney U-test, Pearson Chi-square and binary logistic regression analyses to determine the odds ratios.

Atypical angiofibromas: a report of four cases.

In this study, our four patients with angiofibroma with various atypical features are presented. Related literature is reviewed and criteria for atypicality are proposed. 14 patients, diagnosed and treated for angiofibroma in the Otorhinolaryngology Department of Faculty of Medicine in Uludag University between January 1992 and December 2003, have been evaluated.

A case of granulocytic sarcoma during complete remission of acute myeloid leukemia with multiple masses involving the larynx and nasopharynx.

A thirty-seven-year-old male patient presented with dysphagia and hoarseness six months after complete remission of acute myeloid leukemia (AML-M0), which had been treated with chemotherapy. Physical examination revealed left vocal cord paralysis and involvement of the 9th, 10th, and 12th cranial nerves. Sagittal and axial magnetic resonance scans of the nasopharynx and neck showed a mass in the left retropharyngeal and perivertebral regions, 6x4 cm in size; another mass in the left vallecula, and infiltration of the right preepiglottic tissue by another mass of 2 cm.

Selective neck dissection for clinically N0 neck in laryngeal cancer: is dissection of level IIb necessary?

The most common morbidity associated with selective neck dissection (SND; II-IV) is spinal accessory nerve dysfunction and related shoulder disability. Nerve dysfunction is usually attributed to stretching of the nerve during clearance of lymph nodes lying posterior and superior to the spinal accessory nerve (level IIb). If these lymph nodes were left in place and not removed, stretching of the spinal accessory nerve during neck dissection and postoperative shoulder disability could be avoided.

[Total pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy and gastric pull-up: an evaluation of 10 cases].

Objectives: We evaluated the patients who underwent total pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy (T-PLE) and gastric pull-up (GPU) for hypopharyngeal tumors extending to the cervical esophagus.

Patients And Methods: Ten patients (8 females, 2 males; mean age 50 years; range 39 to 60 years) were treated with T-PLE and GPU, total thyroidectomy, and bilateral neck dissection including zone VI. Histopathologic diagnoses were squamous cell carcinoma (n = 8), basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (n = 1), and adenoid cystic carcinoma (n = 1).

Shoulder function after accessory nerve-sparing neck dissections.

Background: This study was designed to observe the effect of preserving the spinal accessory nerve (SAN) during neck dissection (ND) and adjuvant radiotherapy (ART) after ND on shoulder function.

Methods: Fifty-seven patients with head and neck cancer who had undergone primary tumor resection and various types of NDs were enrolled in this prospective study. Postoperative shoulder joint range of motion was evaluated by goniometry, and muscle strength was measured manually.

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx: a report of four new cases.

Objectives: This study is designed to report the clinical and pathologic features and outcome of cases of basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) of the larynx treated in our clinic.

Study Design: A retrospective review of the medical records of these patients.

Methods: Four cases of BSCC of the larynx were treated in our department.

[The management of pharyngocutaneous fistulas after total laryngectomy and the factors affecting their incidence].

Objectives: This study sought to determine the incidence and etiologic factors of pharyngocutaneous fistulas occurring after total laryngectomy.

Patients And Methods: A total of 138 patients (136 males, 2 females; mean age 59.5 years; range 36 to 83 years) underwent total laryngectomy for squamous cell carcinoma.

[The incidence of hyperinsulinemia in patients with tinnitus and the effect of a diabetic diet on tinnitus].

Objectives: We investigated the incidence of hyperinsulinemia in patients presenting with tinnitus and evaluated the effect of diabetic diet on tinnitus.

Patients And Methods: Serum insulin levels were measured and oral glucose tolerance test was performed in 52 patients (26 males, 26 females; mean age 50 years; range 20 to 80 years) with idiopathic tinnitus. Those with hyperinsulinemia were given a diabetic diet for four months.