Comparison of Mechanical Forces used in Open Tracheotomy versus Percutaneous Tracheotomy Techniques.

Objective: To understand the etiology of tracheotomy-induced tracheal stenosis by comparing the differences in techniques and mechanical force applied with open tracheotomy (OT) versus percutaneous tracheotomy (PCT) placement.

Methods: This study is an unblinded, experimental, randomized controlled study in an ex-vivo animal model. Simulated tracheostomies were performed on 10 porcine tracheas, 5 via a tracheal window technique (OT) and 5 using the Ciaglia technique (PCT).

Dynamic Volumetric Computed Tomography Angiography is an Effective Method to Evaluate Tracheomalacia in Children.

Objective: Standard methods to evaluate tracheal pathology in children, including bronchoscopy, may require general anesthesia. Conventional dynamic proximal airway imaging in noncooperative children requires endotracheal intubation and/or medically induced apnea, which may affect airway mechanics and diagnostic performance. We describe a technique for unsedated dynamic volumetric computed tomography angiography (DV-CTA) of the proximal airway and surrounding vasculature in children and evaluate its performance compared to the reference-standard of rigid bronchoscopy.

Barriers to Pediatric Osseointegrated Bone-Conduction Hearing Devices.

Objective: To identify social, demographic, and clinical barriers for implantation with Osseointegrated Bone Conduction Devices (OBCD) in pediatric candidates.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study of 94 children who met standard OBCD implantation criteria.

Setting: Tertiary stand-alone children's hospital.

Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling Reveals Nonlinear Airway Stress during Trachea Development.

Normative trachea dimensions and aerodynamic information during development was collected to establish clinical benchmarks and showed that airway development seems to outpace respiratory demands. Infants and toddlers' trachea exhibit higher aerodynamic stress that significantly decreases by teenage years. This implies large airway pathology in younger children may have a more substantial clinical impact.

Barriers to Decannulation After Double-Stage Laryngotracheal Reconstruction.

Objectives/hypothesis: To identify any potential barriers for decannulation in children undergoing double-staged laryngotracheal reconstruction (dsLTR) beyond the severity of disease itself.

Study Design: Case series with chart review.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review from 2008 to 2018 of 41 children who had undergone dsLTR as primary treatment for laryngotracheal stenosis at a stand-alone tertiary children's hospital.

Association of Estrogen Receptor Alpha Expression With Survival in Oropharyngeal Cancer Following Chemoradiation Therapy.

Background: Oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma (OPSC) continues to increase in incidence secondary to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Despite the good overall prognosis for these patients, treatment with chemoradiation is associated with morbidity and treatment failure. Better predictors for disease outcome are needed to guide de-intensification regimens.

Noninvasive Analysis of the Sputum Transcriptome Discriminates Clinical Phenotypes of Asthma.

Introduction: It is increasingly recognized that asthma is a heterogeneous disease. Therefore, it is possible that analysis of gene expression in the airway will reveal clinically meaningful transcriptional endotypes of asthma (TEA clusters).

Methods: We measured whole transcriptome gene expression profiles in the sputum and whole blood of 100 individuals with asthma and 12 control subjects using the Affymetrix HuGene ST 1.

Noninvasive analysis of the sputum transcriptome discriminates clinical phenotypes of asthma.

Rationale: The airway transcriptome includes genes that contribute to the pathophysiologic heterogeneity seen in individuals with asthma.

Objectives: We analyzed sputum gene expression for transcriptomic endotypes of asthma (TEA), gene signatures that discriminate phenotypes of disease.

Methods: Gene expression in the sputum and blood of patients with asthma was measured using Affymetrix microarrays.

Metabolic profiling of Helicobacter pylori glycosylation.

Metabolic oligosaccharide engineering was used to profile glycoproteins of the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori.