Consumer acoustic reflectometry by parents in detecting middle-ear fluid among children undergoing tympanostomy.

Objective: This study aimed at evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of a consumer model acoustic reflectometer in the hands of parents in the detection of middle-ear fluid among children.

Design: Prospective diagnostic study according to STARD guidelines. Acoustic reflectometry recorded by the parents was compared with otomicroscopic myringotomy with suction in general anaesthesia, performed immediately afterwards.

Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma in minor salivary gland of the hard palate.

We present a case of 53-year-old man with an extremely rare malignant neoplasm, minor salivary gland epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma of the hard palate. The lesion was detected incidentally by a dentist, and the patient was successfully treated with surgical excision and postoperative irradiation. The patient has remained asymptomatic and free of disease for 4 years after diagnosis.

Comorbidity and diagnostic delay in cancer of the larynx, tongue and pharynx.

Comorbidity and diagnostic delay are independent prognostic factors in head and neck cancer, most notably in laryngeal cancer. We investigated their inter-relationship and their relative significance in survival of three different head and neck cancers. A population-based retrospective cohort of 221 patients with cancer of oral tongue, pharynx or larynx diagnosed between 1986 and 1996.

Comparison of old, professional and consumer model acoustic reflectometers in the detection of middle-ear fluid in children with recurrent acute otitis media or glue ear.

Objective: Acoustic reflectometry is an alternative method of determining the probability of middle-ear fluid. Its sensitivity and specificity are comparable to those of pneumatic otoscopy and tympanometry. The relative superiority between the first-generation model and second-generation spectral gradient acoustic reflectometers (introduced for both professional and consumer use) has not been studied.

A follow-up study of minimally invasive lip biopsy in the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome.

The aims of this study were to characterize a minimally invasive technique of minor salivary gland biopsy of the lower lip and to present a large patient material undergoing this procedure because of a suspicion of Sjögren's syndrome (SS), as well as to assess the procedure's short-term and long-term value as a diagnostic test and a prognostic factor. The sample consists of consecutive 191 patients undergoing lower lip biopsy in 1987-1990 in Kanta-Hame Central Hospital, Hameenlinna, Finland. The method used was the retrospective chart review.

Differential prognostic impact of comorbidity in head and neck cancer.

Background: The aim was to investigate how the effect of comorbid illnesses on survival is modified by other prognostic factors in head and neck cancer.

Methods: A population-based retrospective cohort study involved 221 patients residing in 1 primary health care district (population about 700,000) in whom head and neck carcinoma was diagnosed between January 1, 1986, and December 31, 1996. Data on clinical characteristics and survival were obtained from patient charts.

Tonsillectomy versus watchful waiting in recurrent streptococcal pharyngitis in adults: randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To determine the short term efficacy and safety of tonsillectomy for recurrent streptococcal pharyngitis in adults. Design Randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Academic referral centre in Finland.

Incidence and outcome of head and neck mucosal melanoma--a population-based survey from Northern Finland.

Objectives: To characterize incidence, clinical characteristics and outcome of head and neck mucosal melanoma in a recent, population-based patient series.

Study Design: Retrospective survey.

Methods: A population-based, descriptive study with patients diagnosed in Northern Finland between 1983 and 2001.

Spectral gradient acoustic reflectometry in the diagnosis of middle-ear fluid in children.

Diagnosis of otitis media is based on detection of middle-ear fluid (MEF) and is both important and difficult to achieve. Also non-infectious MEF is important to detect, since it can compromise hearing. In this prospective, blinded study, spectral gradient acoustic reflectometry (SG-AR) was evaluated as an indicator of MEF among children.

Detection of middle-ear fluid in children with spectral gradient acoustic reflectometry: a screening tool for nurses?

Objective: To evaluate the validity of spectral gradient acoustic reflectometry (SG-AR) in the hands of nurses in screening children for middle-ear fluid (MEF).

Design: Prospective, blinded study.

Setting: A satellite study within the Finnish Otitis Media Vaccine Trial in primary care in 1995-99.

Head and neck cancer in primary care: presenting symptoms and the effect of delayed diagnosis of cancer cases.

Background: Little is known about the diagnosis of head and neck carcinoma in primary care. We sought to estimate the general prevalence of symptoms reported by patients with head and neck carcinomas and to determine the association between detection patterns of head and neck cancer cases in primary care and survival.

Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, we used a questionnaire to estimate the general prevalence of symptoms associated with head and neck cancer from a sample of 5646 primary care visits in 25 randomly selected health centres over 4 weeks throughout Finland.

Prognostic factors in laryngeal carcinoma: the role of apoptosis, p53, proliferation (Ki-67) and angiogenesis.

Even though the roles of different known or suggested prognostic factors in laryngeal cancer have been studied in detail, clinical stage at time of diagnosis and anatomic subsite of the tumour remain the only practical predictors of clinical outcome and offer the only guidelines in the planning of treatment. In this study, the relative roles of known demographic and clinical prognostic factors, in addition to four histopathological factors, were evaluated in a sample of 100 laryngeal carcinoma patients with multivariate analysis using the Cox regression model. In addition to advanced stage (stage III-IV) (relative hazard of death (HR) 8.

Diagnostic delays in laryngeal carcinoma: professional diagnostic delay is a strong independent predictor of survival.

Background: Clinical stage at the time of diagnosis is the most important determinant of prognosis in cancers of the head and neck. Accordingly, delay in diagnosis could worsen survival in laryngeal cancer, although this hypothesis has not been verified in previous studies.

Methods: To determine the effects of patient and professional diagnostic delays on survival in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), a population-based sample of 66 patients with LSCC in Northern Finland between 1990 and 1995 was investigated.