Simulation-based workshop for emergency preparedness in otolaryngology.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of a hands-on simulation-based course with emphasis on procedural techniques, clinical reasoning, and communication skills developed to improve junior Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) residents' preparedness in managing otolaryngologic emergencies.

Methods: Junior OHNS residents and faculty from residency programs in California, Nevada, and Arizona participated in this workshop in 2020 and 2021. The stations featured airway management techniques, ultrasound-guided needle aspiration, nasoseptal hematoma evacuation, and facial fracture repair using various models and cadavers.

Postoperative Gabapentin's Effect on Opioid Consumption and Pain Control Following Sinonasal Surgery.

Objective: This study investigates the impact of postoperative gabapentin on opioid consumption and pain control following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) and/or septoplasty.

Methods: Patients who underwent ESS and/or septoplasty at a single institution from 2021 to 2022 were enrolled. All patients received postoperative hydrocodone-acetaminophen for pain control.

Decontamination Methods for Reuse of Filtering Facepiece Respirators.

Importance: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has proven to be highly infectious, putting health care professionals around the world at increased risk. Furthermore, there are widespread shortages of necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) for these individuals. Filtering facepiece respirators, such as the N95 respirator, intended for single use, can be reused in times of need.

Laryngeal Pilar Cyst Masquerading as an Internal/External Laryngocele.

Objectives: This study aimed to document and describe a case of a laryngeal pilar cyst and to review the literature.

Methods: We describe the case of a 65-year-old woman with a laryngeal pilar cyst presenting with occasional ear pain and positional dyspnea, with imaging studies suggesting external/internal laryngocele. We also review the existing clinical literature.

Low-cost modular phonosurgery training station: development and validation.

Objective: Phonosurgery requires technical precision and careful tissue handling. Typically, phonosurgical procedures require single-operator techniques, making it difficult for novice residents to develop necessary skills. We developed a low-cost phonosurgery simulator to allow practice and acquisition of microlaryngeal skills.

Audiovestibular Characteristics of Small Cochleovestibular Schwannomas in Neurofibromatosis Type 2.

Objective: Describe the relationship between cochleovestibular schwannoma (CVS) volume, audiovestibular characteristics, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in patients with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2).

Study Design: Subgroup analysis of NF2 prospective natural history study from 2008 to 2011.

Setting: Quaternary medical research institute.

Three-dimensional direct laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy: enhanced visualization of the airway.

Importance: This is the first description of 3-dimensional (3D) pediatric airway endoscopy in the otolaryngology literature detailing the superior visualization with this technology. Ultimately, enhanced optics may further improve the treatment of airway pathology.

Objective: To report the first case series examining the use of 3D direct laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy (DLB) in the diagnosis and management of laryngotracheal pathology.

Oncologic benefit of tonsillectomy in stage I and II tonsil cancer: a surveillance epidemiology and end results database review.

Importance: Treatment of low-stage tonsil cancer with radiotherapy is common, but the type of diagnostic procedure prior to radiotherapy varies. This study uses the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registry to determine whether tonsillectomy or other surgical procedures prior to radiotherapy have an impact on outcome.

Objective: To demonstrate whether tonsillectomy adds oncologic advantage over biopsy alone in stage I or II tonsil cancers prior to definitive radiotherapy.

Intraprotein electron transfer in a two-domain construct of neuronal nitric oxide synthase: the output state in nitric oxide formation.

Intersubunit intraprotein electron transfer (IET) from flavin mononucleotide (FMN) to heme is essential in nitric oxide (NO) synthesis by NO synthase (NOS). Previous crystal structures and functional studies primarily concerned an enzyme conformation, which serves as the input state for reduction of FMN by electrons from NADPH and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) in the reductase domain. To favor the formation of the output state for the subsequent IET from FMN to heme in the oxygenase domain, a novel truncated two-domain oxyFMN construct of rat neuronal NOS (nNOS), in which only the FMN and heme domains were present, was designed and expressed.

Direct measurement by laser flash photolysis of intramolecular electron transfer in a two-domain construct of murine inducible nitric oxide synthase.

Intersubunit intramolecular electron transfer (IET) from FMN to heme is essential in the delivery of electrons required for O2 activation in the heme domain and the subsequent nitric oxide (NO) synthesis by NO synthase (NOS). Previous crystal structures and functional studies primarily concerned an enzyme conformation that serves as the input state for reduction of FMN by electrons from NADPH and FAD in the reductase domain. To favor formation of the output state for the subsequent IET from FMN to heme in the oxygenase domain, a novel truncated two-domain oxyFMN construct murine inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), in which only the FMN and heme domains were present, was designed and expressed.

Nitric-oxide synthase output state. Design and properties of nitric-oxide synthase oxygenase/FMN domain constructs.

Mammalian nitric-oxide synthases are large modular enzymes that evolved from independently expressed ancestors. Calmodulin-controlled isoforms are signal generators; calmodulin activates electron transfer from NADPH through three reductase domains to an oxygenase domain. Structures of the reductase unit and its homologs show FMN and FAD in contact but too isolated from the protein surface to permit exit of reducing equivalents.