Publications by authors named "P C Belafsky"
Objective: The shape of esophageal dilators has not changed in over 350 years. Clinical and animal research suggests that the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) is not round but approximates a kidney shape and that cylindrical dilators may be suboptimal. The Infinity UES Dilation System has been developed specifically for the anatomic configuration of the UES.
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- This study looked at why some patients don't feel better after surgery for Zenker Diverticulum, a throat condition.
- Researchers followed 184 patients and found that 12% of them didn't improve much.
- They discovered that having another problem called a hiatal hernia was common in those who didn't improve, suggesting that doctors should check for other issues before surgery to help these patients.
Background: The loss of laryngeal function affects breathing, swallowing, and voice, thus severely compromises quality of life. Laryngeal transplantation has long been suggested as a solution for selected highly affected patients with complete laryngeal function loss.
Objective: To obtain insights regarding the advantages, weaknesses, and limitations of this procedure and facilitate future advances, we collected uniform data from all known laryngeal transplants reported internationally.
Importance: Late effects of head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment include profound dysphagia, chronic aspiration, and death. Functional laryngectomy (FL) can improve patient survival and quality of life (QoL); however, removing a failing larynx for a noncancer reason is a difficult decision. Data regarding the ability of FL to improve self-perceptions of voice, swallowing, and QOL in survivors of HNC with intractable aspiration are inconclusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResponse to "A response to a single cadaver study assessing the efficacy of two commercially available devices for airway foreign body relief.".
Laryngoscope Investig Otolaryngol
February 2024