Purpose: Although COVID-19 anosmia is often transient, patients with persistent olfactory dysfunction (pOD) can experience refractory parosmia and diminished smell. This study evaluated four putative therapies for parosmia in patients with chronic COVID-19 olfactory impairment.
Methods: After screening nasal endoscopy, 85 patients (49 female, 58%) with pOD and treatment-refractory parosmia were randomized to: (1) ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide and luteolin + olfactory training (OT) (umPEALUT group, n = 17), (2) alpha-lipoic acid + OT (ALA group, n = 21), (3) umPEALUT + ALA + OT (combination group, n = 28), or 4) olfactory training (OT) alone (control group, n = 23).
Although chronic sinusitis widely affects the adult population, the treatments currently used did not always satisfactorily solve the symptoms. Traditional therapy with steroids and antibiotics presents risks and benefits and the new drugs, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElderly people are at high risk of suffering from infection and being affected by severe forms of disease because their immunosystem suffers from aging. The alteration of normal immune functions causes the increase of pro-inflammatory cytokines which can expose these people to increased risk of developing pathologies as cancer, diabetes, and/or arthritis. Some supplements could be helpful for restoring normal immune functions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealthcare (Basel)
August 2022
Some nutraceuticals have been studied as supportive treatment for fighting upper respiratory tract infection and middle ear disease. Our study aims at evaluating the effect of a specific oral supplementation in the treatment of pediatric otits media. The subjects were randomly assigned by the physician (single-blinded study) to one of three groups: Control Group (CG), Treatment Group 1 (TG1), or Treatment Group 2 (TG2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Olfactory training is the only evidence-based treatment for post-viral olfactory dysfunction. Smell disorders after SARS-CoV-2 infection have been attributed to neuroinflammatory events within the olfactory bulb and the central nervous system. Therefore, targeting neuroinflammation is one potential strategy for promoting recovery from post-COVID-19 chronic olfactory dysfunction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmell alteration and cognitive impairment are common features of the Long-COVID Syndrome. Mental clouding, often described as brain fog, might affect smell by altering recollection of odors or through a share mechanism of neuroinflammation. We investigated mental clouding, headache, and cognitive function in adult patients with persistent COVID-19 olfactory dysfunction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) is indicated for the treatment of nasolacrimal obstruction with some authors suggesting the use of a silicone tube (stent) to maintain rhinostomy patency a long time. This study aims at comparing the results of endoscopic-DCR (En-DCR) with and without silicone stenting.
Methods: A randomized prospective study was conducted from January 2013 to January 2018, following patients for up to 72 months.
Aim: To understand the impact of COVID pandemic on the activity and patients' care of the Head and Neck regional Unit, temporary moved in a COVID-free hospital.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the yearly activity of the "Head & Neck Cancer Unit" at the Azienda Ospedali Riuniti Marche Nord (Italy) during 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic) and we compared it with the one performed in 2019. Statistical analyses were performed using Chi-square.
Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital
June 2021
Objective: Interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and pharyngeal associated lymphoid tissue are thought to influence the manifestations of COVID-19. We aimed to determine whether a previous history of tonsillectomy, as a surrogate indicator of a dysfunctional pharyngeal associated lymphoid tissue, could predict the presentation and course of COVID-19.
Methods: Multicentric cross-sectional observational study involving seven hospitals in Northern and Central Italy.
Objective: To present a rare case of sebaceous cyst masking skin squamous carcinoma. The delayed diagnosis made necessary a two-step (demolition and reconstruction) surgery to save patient's life.
Material And Methods: A 77-year-old male, suffering from persistent right hemicrania and eye pain referred to different specialists, who misinterpreted his symptoms.
Objective: Many authors have investigated the most appropriate surgical approach to the deviated septum in childhood, considering the obligate mouth-breathing habit a possible cause of malocclusion and disharmonious development of the facial skeleton in growing kids. Nevertheless, controversies still remain about the long-term functional/esthetic results of such procedures, mainly due to the duration of the follow-up and possible confounding factors.
Methods: 111 Caucasian children (age range: 6-13 years) were submitted to a personal "Quick" septoplasty surgical technique between 2005 and 2010.
Metastatic lymph nodes of the head and neck are often associated with locoregional spread of mucosal squamous carcinoma, but in rare instances visceral malignancies may bypass Virchow's node. The possibility of distant metastasis should be considered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Tracheostomy tube cuff balloon herniation is a rare event and can determine airway obstruction. Sometimes the obstruction is not very evident but, if it is not correctly solved, can determine a severe hypoxia with patient's death.
Material And Methods: We present a 49-year-old male patient, with cT4aN0M0 squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, who was admitted to the hospital for definitive surgical resection.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg
January 2021
While olfactory dysfunction associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has attracted considerable interest, few studies have tracked outcomes at serial time points or beyond 2 weeks. Furthermore, data are conflicting regarding whether COVID-19 severity correlates with degree of olfactory dysfunction. This prospective case-control study analyzed prevalence and severity of subjective loss of smell in outpatients (n = 23) and inpatients (n = 20) with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection vs healthy controls (n = 25).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Preservation rhinoplasty (PR) is revolutionizing rhinoplasty surgery, based on new anatomical studies, advanced tip suture techniques, and refinement of surgical techniques. Septal surgery is a fundamental preparatory stage during PR, especially for the dorsal preservation let/push-down procedure. To increase the predictability of the septoplasty aesthetic effects on the nasal dorsum and further extend the principles of PR to septal surgery, we applied the endoscopic technology to the "quick" septoplasty technique we had already developed in the past decades.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To estimate the diagnostic performance of Narrow Band Imaging (NBI) in patients with cervical metastasis from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of unknown primary (SCCUP) origin.
Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases were systematically scrutinized up to July 1, 2019, looking for studies that encompassed the NBI in the SCCUP diagnostic work up. The main inclusion criteria for eligible articles for the meta-analysis were non-evidence of primary tumor after physical examination and conventional cross-section imaging before NBI assessment and the availability of complete data on the diagnostic accuracy of NBI.
JAMA Facial Plast Surg
December 2019