Evaluation and Management of Chronic Aspiration in Children With Normal Upper Airway Anatomy.

Importance: Chronic airway aspiration is a challenging problem for physicians and caregivers and can cause significant pulmonary morbidity in pediatric patients. Our knowledge regarding the causes and optimal management of these patients is in its infancy.

Objective: To review our experience with the evaluation and management of pediatric patients with documented aspiration and normal upper airway anatomy.

Endoscopic surgical repair of type 3 laryngeal clefts.

Importance: Type 3 laryngeal clefts (LC type 3) are traditionally repaired through an open approach, which requires tracheal intubation or tracheotomy placement and risks potential wound complications.

Objective: To describe the surgical technique and outcomes of endoscopic carbon dioxide laser-assisted repair in pediatric patients with LC type 3.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Retrospective medical record review of 6 patients with LC type 3, diagnosed via direct laryngoscopy and rigid bronchoscopy, from January 2007 to September 2013, at a tertiary pediatric hospital.

Genetics of chronic rhinosinusitis: a primer.

Modern methods for the study of genetics offer promising new means of exploring complex diseases such as chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Powerful new high-throughput tools extend the capabilities of existing technologies. However, for the inexperienced reader, a lack of familiarity with the techniques used may limit comprehension of the articles and hamper the appreciation of the potential of this area of research.

Assessment of Toll-like receptor 2 gene polymorphisms in severe chronic rhinosinusitis.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is believed to reflect an inflammatory response of the sinonasal mucosa to bacteria and/or fungi. Staphylococcus aureus, a gram-positive organism, is frequently implicated. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) is involved in innate immunity, recognizing gram-positive organisms via detection of bacterial lipopeptides.

Influence of leukotriene gene polymorphisms on chronic rhinosinusitis.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is increasingly viewed as an inflammatory condition of the sinonasal mucosa interacting with bacteria and/or fungi. However, factors conferring susceptibility to disease remain unknown. Advances in genomics offer powerful tools to explore this disorder.

Bacteriology of the sinus cavities of asymptomatic individuals after endoscopic sinus surgery.

Objective: To determine the resident flora and the level of bacterial presence of the healthy sinus cavity post-endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS).

Setting: University-based prospective trial.

Method: Subjects included asymptomatic patients who had undergone ESS for inflammatory disease more than 12 weeks previously.