Two-flap palatoplasty: description of the surgical technique and reporting of results at a single center.

Two-flap palatoplasty is commonly used to treat cleft palate defects, but only a few reports on outcomes have been published in the literature. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 257 cases of cleft palate treated with two-flap palatoplasty at a single center in Greece over a 13-year period. Our outcomes data included surgical complication rates, the results of speech assessments, midface development, and other parameters.

Unilateral choanal atresia in one monozygotic twin: a case report.

Unilateral atresia is an extremely uncommon congenital disorder in monozygotic twins. We present the first case in the literature of premature, monozygotic twins with no other congenital genetic defects other than only one twin with unilateral choanal atresia on the right side, being the other sibling completely normal. Diagnostic examinations performed to both twins consisted of nasal endoscopy, which revealed only one twin with unilateral choanal atresia; axial computed tomography scan; genetic analysis; chromosome analysis; abdominal ultrasound and echocardiography.

Dietary habits of preschool aged children with tonsillar hypertrophy, pre- and post-operatively.

Background And Objectives: Tonsillectomy has been reported to have a positive effect on weight gain of children with tonsillar hypertrophy. This effect may be related to better respiration or/and feeding, immunological or metabolic factors. In this study we analyse the effect of tonsillectomy on the dietary habits of children.

Outpatient cold knife tonsillectomy in toddlers with sleep disordered breathing.

Problem: Tonsillectomy performed as day surgery has become popular over the last fifteen years. However, there are conflicting opinions regarding the safety of this practice, especially in children of very young age. We sought to determine the safety of outpatient tonsillectomy in children aged three years old and younger.

Adenoidectomy plus tympanostomy tube insertion versus adenoidectomy plus myringotomy in children with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

Objective: To determine whether tympanostomy tube insertion has benefit, compared with simple myringotomy, in children with otitis media with effusion who receive concurrent adenoidectomy as treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome caused by adenoid hypertrophy.

Methods: Fifty-two children older than three years with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome were randomly assigned to receive either adenoidectomy plus tympanostomy tube insertion (group one, n = 25) or adenoidectomy plus myringotomy (group two, n = 27). Pre- and post-operative health-related quality of life was assessed using the otitis media-6 (OM-6) tool, and audiological outcomes were recorded six and 12 months post-operatively.

PFAPA syndrome in children: A meta-analysis on surgical versus medical treatment.

Objective: To compare the range of medical and surgical therapies for children with PFAPA syndrome.

Methods: A literature search was performed using Medline, Embase, Ovid and Cochrane databases for studies between 1987 and 2010 that compared PFAPA treatment in children (surgical versus medical). Random-effect meta-analytical techniques were conducted for the outcome measures.

Acute mastoiditis complicated with bezold abscess, sigmoid sinus thrombosis and occipital osteomyelitis in a child.

Acute otitis media complications are relative rare since the introduction of antibiotics. Still many controversies exist on the diagnosis and treatment of some of them. In this report we describe a pediatric case of upper cervical abscess (bezold abscess), sigmoid sinus thrombosis and occipital osteomyelitis following mastoiditis, presenting with persistent fever and otorrhea.

Surgical outcomes and histology findings after tonsillectomy in children with periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis syndrome.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate (a) specific histologic findings in children with periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis (PFAPA) syndrome who had tonsillectomy and (b) to assess any improvement of symptoms after tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy.

Materials And Methods: This project is a retrospective study performed at "Aghia Sophia" Children's Hospital (Athens, Greece), between May 2007 and July 2008. Nine children were recruited into this study.

Cleft lip and palate treatment of 530 children over a decade in a single centre.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the process of care and the outcomes of cleft lip and palate operations carried by a multidisciplinary team at a centre of craniofacial anomalies with a high patients' volume.

Methods: A retrospective review of all cleft lips and/or palates cases treated in the centre from 1995 to 2007 was performed. Direct and long term complication rates, clinical, audiologic, speech intelligibility and dental arch assessments were analyzed.

Tonsillectomy versus tonsillotomy performed with scissors in children with tonsillar hypertrophy.

Objective: We sought to determine the morbidity and the short and long-term effectiveness of tonsillotomy (partial tonsillectomy) performed with scissors compared with conventional cold knife (total) tonsillectomy.

Methods: We conducted a 2-year prospective non-randomized study at a tertiary children's hospital. One thousand and twenty-three children were recruited (243 in the tonsillotomy and 780 in the tonsillectomy group).

Otitis media with effusion: what parents want to know.

Introduction: Otitis media with effusion is a common condition of childhood. The development of an information leaflet for parents of children with the condition, and its impact on clinical management, have not previously been examined.

Patients And Methods: Eighteen doctors and 38 parents assessed the content of an information leaflet on otitis media with effusion, by applying two rounds of the modified Delphi technique.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in childhood and adolescence: a single institution's experience with treatment modalities during the last 15 years.

Pediatric nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) represents a locally advanced undifferentiated tumor with widely varying epidemiological features and with a high cure rate when combined modality treatment is provided. Both local and systemic treatment is necessary, and additional treatment with biologic modifiers seems promising. In this study, clinical experience and therapeutic results of 10 children with newly diagnosed NPC, treated in a single pediatric hematology/oncology institution in Athens over a period of 15 years, are analyzed.