Middle ear ventilation status postoperatively after translabyrinthine resection of vestibular schwannoma with mastoid obliteration and Eustachian tube occlusion: is the Eustachian tube enough to ventilate the middle ear without the mastoid air cell system?

Background: Gas pressure balance is essential for maintaining normal middle ear function. The mucosal surfaces of the middle ear, the mastoid air cell system (MACS), and the Eustachian tube (ET) play a critical role in this process; however, the extent that each of these factors contributes to overall middle ear ventilation is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine if the ET alone can maintain normal middle ear pressure without the MACS.

The effectiveness of nurse-led outpatient referral triage decision making in pediatric otolaryngology.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of nurse-led triage of outpatient referrals in an academic pediatric otolaryngology practice.

Methods: Three hundred consecutive outpatient referrals were reviewed and triaged by two otolaryngology registered nurses and two attending pediatric otolaryngologists. The nurses received triage training.

Post-tonsillectomy complications in children less than three years of age: a case-control study.

Objectives: To assess the need for post-tonsillectomy admission in children under the age of three years.

Design: A retrospective case-control study.

Method: Medical records of 127 children under the age of three years who underwent tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy were reviewed for complications and compared to 127 gender-matched controls between three to four years of age.

The long-term effects of mandibular distraction osteogenesis on developing deciduous molar teeth.

Background. Many studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of mandibular distraction osteogenesis (MDO) in alleviating the micrognathia-associated upper airway obstruction but very few studies have focused on long-term dental outcomes. Objective.

Wait times for head and neck cancer patients in the Maritime provinces.

Objective: To assess wait times for surgery and radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients from the Maritime provinces.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of 275 Maritime head and neck cancer patients treated between 2007 and 2009 by the tertiary Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Service at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre (QEII HSC) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was conducted to assess surgical and radiotherapy wait times.

Results: The mean wait time from referral to assessment by a head and neck surgeon was 15 days.

A case of autologous microfat grafting in lip reconstruction of a whistle deformity following cancer treatment.

A whistle deformity is defined as a deficiency in the vertical length of the lip so that the free margins of the upper and lower lips do not meet normally, giving the appearance of whistling. This is a common secondary deformity of the vermilion in patients with cleft lip. A case involving a 61-year-old man who developed a whistle deformity as a result of two wedge resections and postoperative radiotherapy for treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip is presented.