Intra-parotid facial nerve neuroma, an overlooked differential for a parotid lesion.

Facial nerve neuromas rarely occur in the intra-parotid segment of the facial nerve and when they do, masquerade as a parotid lump. The imaging and clinical features of the intra-parotid facial neuroma overlaps with the more commonly encountered salivary gland neoplasms and is thus overlooked. However, if not recognized, may result in serious and avoidable adverse events for the patient if biopsied or surgically removed.

Dedifferentiated liposarcoma of the deep (paralaryngeal) soft tissue: lessons learnt from a case with a partly deceptively benign appearing dedifferentiated component.

We present a case (female, 61 years of age) of dedifferentiated liposarcoma of the deep, cervical (paralaryngeal) soft tissue with a significant myxoid component and characteristic immunohistochemical (strong and diffuse expression of p16, mdm2 and cdk4 in both the well differentiated liposarcomatous and dedifferentiated components) and molecular genetic findings (MDM2-gene amplification on fluorescence in situ hybridization). The myxoid component which was present in the well differentiated liposarcomatous component gave the tumor atypical radiological features. The case presented initial diagnostic difficulties, mainly because of the bland histomorphological appearance of the limited biopsy material from the sampled non-lipogenic, dedifferentiated component.

Malleus-to-footplate versus malleus-to-stapes-head ossicular reconstruction prostheses: temporal bone pressure gain measurements and clinical audiological data.

Hypothesis: Several clinical reports suggest that if the stapes superstructure is intact, ossicular reconstruction should be made to the stapes head rather than the footplate to achieve a better hearing outcome. To test this hypothesis, we compared the in situ mechanical performance of hydroxylapatite (HA) malleus-to-stapes-head (MSH) ossicular reconstruction prosthesis (ORP) with malleus-to-footplate (MFP) ORP, both manufactured by Project HEAR.

Background: ORPs are commonly used to replace a missing or deficient incus.

Invasive middle ear cholesterol granuloma involving the basal turn of the cochlea with profound sensorineural hearing loss.

Study Design: A retrospective surgical case review.

Setting: A tertiary-care, university teaching hospital.

Patients: The authors describe a unique case operated on for a middle ear cholesterol granuloma, which had invaded the cochlea and vestibule causing profound sensorineural deafness.