Breaking bad news to cancer patients in times of COVID-19.

Breaking bad news is a mandatory provision in the professional life of nearly every physician. One of its most frequent occasions is the diagnosis of malignancy. Responding to the recipients' emotions is a critical issue in the delivery of unsettling information, and has an impact on the patient's trust in the treating physician, adjustment to illness and ultimately treatment.

[Sialendoscopy--learning curve and nation-wide survey in German ENT-departments].

Background: Sialendoscopy is an established, minimal-invasive technique to diagnose and treat obstructive diseases of major salivary glands. Knowledge on learning curve and distribution in Germany is limited. MATERIAL UND METHODS: An 11 item questionnaire on Sialendoscopy was sent to all 159 German ent-hospitals.

[Successful treatment of benign tracheal stenosis with a silicone stent (Polyflex-Stent) over 5 years].

Inoperable, functional relevant stenoses of the airways can be effectively treated short-termed and medium-termed by means of bronchoscopic stenting occasionally, silicone stents cause problems after long-term periods, such as migration and retention of bronchial secretions. Metallic stents can lead to obstructing granulomas or even bronchial wall perforation. As regards long-term treatment with airway stents over several years, there is little experience and no uniform recommendations are known.

Deposition of semivolatile organic compounds to spruce needles : II. Experimental evaluation of the relative importance of different pathways.

The accumulation of atmospheric HCB, Lindane, DDT, DDE and the PCB congeners 52, 101, 138, 153 and 180 in spruce needles (Picea abies) was investigated at outdoor locations and in greenhouses supplied with ambient air. The air supply of the greenhouses was modified to dinstinguish between gaseous and particle-associated deposition of the compounds. Accumulation of the compounds occurred in all spruce except those grown in the greenhouse where the gaseous concentration of the compounds was reduced.