Review of perforator flaps in head and neck cancer surgery.

Purpose Of Review: Perforator flaps are increasingly being used to reconstruct head and neck defects. They offer several advantages over nonperforator-based flaps with lower donor site morbidity and a versatile range of reconstructive options. The anterolateral thigh flap is well established in the head and neck and is a good example of a reliable perforator free flap.

Risk factors for well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma in patients with thyroid nodular disease.

Objectives: Evaluate current accepted risk factors for well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma, and develop a predictive model to determine one's risk of malignancy given a thyroid nodule.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis of 600 patients.

Subjects And Methods: Patients with benign thyroid nodular disease and with well-differentiated thyroid cancer were randomly selected.

Prediction of pharyngocutaneous fistulas after laryngectomy.

Objective: To assess the predictive value of wound amylase as an indicator for pharyngocutaneous fistula development following laryngectomy for cancer.

Design And Setting: We conducted a prospective observational study at a tertiary referral center of 102 consecutive laryngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer patients undergoing laryngectomy with or without pharyngectomy.

Intervention: Data were collated on potential predictors of fistula formation compared with rate of development of clinical fistulas, all confirmed radiologically.

Does Catecholamine Secretion from Head and Neck Paragangliomas Respond to Radiotherapy? Case Report and Literature Review.

We report a 38-year-old woman with a malignant catecholamine-secreting vagal paraganglioma. In the preceding year she had intermittent severe frontoparietal headaches. While she was receiving radiotherapy (35 Gy in 15 fractions) she developed palpitations, which steadily worsened over the following three years.

Recurrent pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid gland.

This is a retrospective analysis of 35 patients treated for a first recurrence of pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid gland from 1982 to 1997. All patients were treated surgically; no patient received radiotherapy for benign disease. We experienced a locoregional control rate of 77%.

Familial non-medullary thyroid cancer: a matched-case control study.

Objectives: Familial non-medullary thyroid cancer (FNMTC) is a newly recognized disease entity and can be distinguished from the more common sporadic non-medullary thyroid cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine some of the potential distinguishing features of FNMTC.

Study Design: Retrospective association study and matched-case control study.

Clinical course of thyroid carcinoma after neck dissection.

Objectives/hypothesis: The objective was to compare the rate and site of recurrences in patients with well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma who underwent a central compartment dissection, a posterolateral neck dissection, or a combination of both procedures.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Methods: The charts of 522 consecutive patients with well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma were reviewed, and 74 patients who had undergone a neck dissection were identified.

Intratumoral lymphatics and lymph node metastases in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: To examine the relationship between lymphatic vessel density and clinical and pathological variables in patients with well-differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Subjects: Clinical information was retrieved on 109 previously untreated patients with well-differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma treated with total thyroidectomy and postoperative iodine I 131 ablation. Median follow-up was 38 months.

Clinical outcome following total laryngectomy for cancer.

Background: Patients with advanced cancers of the larynx and hypopharynx have been treated with total laryngectomy at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney in the past. Increasingly, these patients are being managed with organ-sparing protocols using chemo-therapy and radiotherapy. The aim of the present study was to review complication, recurrence and survival rates following total laryngectomy.

Predictive value of serum thyroglobulin after surgery for thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: To determine the relationship between stimulated serum thyroglobulin levels (taken 3 months after total thyroidectomy) and tumor stage and recurrence in patients with well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review in a tertiary care institution.

Methods: Two hundred thirteen consecutive patients with well differentiated thyroid carcinoma treated between 1983 and 1998 were identified.

Squamous cell carcinoma arising in the skin of a deltopectoral flap 27 years after pharyngeal reconstruction.

Background: Development of a second primary squamous cell carcinoma in the skin of a flap used for pharyngeal reconstruction is rare.

Methods: A case of squamous cell carcinoma is presented arising in a deltopectoral flap used to reconstruct the hypopharynx 27 years after total laryngectomy. Three previous reports found on review of the literature are summarized.