Intensity-modulated radiation therapy as primary treatment for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Over the past decade, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has gained widespread use in the treatment of head and neck cancer.

Methods: All patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx treated with primary IMRT with or without chemotherapy over a 5-year period were reviewed. Outcomes and morbidity were analyzed and compared with previously published data.

Transoral robot-assisted excision of a lingual thyroid gland.

Lingual thyroid is a rare condition in which ectopic thyroid tissue is present in the base of tongue. We present a case of a 46-year-old patient with a symptomatic lingual thyroid that was successfully removed with minimal morbidity using transoral robotic surgery. The traditional treatment algorithm for lingual thyroid is reviewed.

Endoscopic repair of Zenker's diverticulum by harmonic scalpel.

Purpose: Although endoscopic staple-assisted esophagodiverticulostomy (ESED) has become the initial treatment of choice for most patients with Zenker's diverticulum (ZD), anatomical restraints prevent its use in all cases. We describe an endoscopic approach for treating ZD using the harmonic scalpel, which can be used in certain cases where diverticulum anatomy precludes ESED.

Materials And Methods: Medical records of 7 consecutive patients who underwent endoscopic repair of ZD using the harmonic scalpel (Harmonic Ace, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc, Cincinnati, OH) were reviewed.

Keratoacanthoma-type squamous cell carcinoma developing in a skin graft donor site after tumor extirpation at a distant site.

The development of squamous cell carcinoma in split-thickness skin graft donor sites is rare in the reported literature. We report a case of keratoacanthoma-type squamous cell carcinoma developing in a split-thickness skin graft donor site 6 weeks after orbital exenteration for squamous cell carcinoma. We review the literature and discuss possible causes.