Differences and similarities between atypical facial pain and trigeminal neuropathic pain.

Objective: To investigate contribution of neuropathic mechanisms to clinically diagnosed atypical facial pain (AFP) using neurophysiologic and thermal quantitative sensory testing (QST) and comparing findings in AFP with those in definite trigeminal neuropathic pain (TNP).

Methods: Twenty patients with AFP and 12 patients with TNP participated after thorough clinical diagnostic workup. All patients underwent blink reflex (BR) recordings, habituation of the BR, and (except one patient with TNP) thermal QST.

Estrogen receptor-beta is the predominant estrogen receptor subtype in human oral epithelium and salivary glands.

Many studies have shown that the oral mucosa and salivary glands are sensitive to estrogen action. However, the expression of estrogen receptors (ERs) within these tissues is an area of controversy. ERs exist as two subtypes (ERalpha and ERbeta), and we hypothesized that the incongruity between ER expression and estrogen sensitivity may result from differential expression of ER subtypes in oral tissues.

Electronystagmographic findings in patients with acute cerebral vascular disease and vertigo.

A neurootologist examined 233 successive cases of acute disabling vertigo from the Clinic of Neurology of Turku University Central Hospital. On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 24 patients had evidence of acute cerebral or cerebellar brain infarction. The examination scheme included a case history analysis, clinical neurootological examination and electronystagmography (ENG).

Difficult airway in a patient with Marshall-Smith syndrome.

Marshall-Smith syndrome is a rare clinical disorder characterized by accelerated bone maturation, dysmorphic facial features, airway abnormalities and death in early infancy because of respiratory complications. Although patients with Marshall-Smith syndrome have several features with potential anaesthetic problems, previous reports about anaesthetic management of these patients do not exist. We present a case, in which severe hypoxia developed rapidly after routine anaesthesia induction in an eight-month-old male infant with this syndrome.

The evaluation and treatment of the neck in carcinoma of the oral cavity.

Locoregional recurrence is the most common cause of failure in the treatment of carcinoma in the oral cavity. The extent of the disease can be evaluated by inspection, endoscopy, palpation, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound (US). The treatment consists of surgery, radiation, and their combination.