Rapid telehealth implementation into an otolaryngology practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: Report outcomes of rapid implementation of telehealth across an academic otolaryngology-head and neck surgery department during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This is a retrospective, single-institution study of rapid deployment of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Characteristics of patients were compared between those who agreed and those who declined telehealth care.

Socioeconomic Status and Rurality Among Patients With Head and Neck Cancer.

Objective: Describe the relationship among rurality, socioeconomic status (SES), and patient/tumor characteristics in patients presenting with head and neck cancer.

Study Design: Retrospective single-institution study.

Setting: Academic tertiary-level medical center.

Development and Assessment of an Otolaryngology-Specific Surgical Priority Scoring System.

Objective: To develop and assess an otolaryngology-specific surgical priority scoring system that incorporates varying levels of mucosal involvement.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort.

Setting: Academic medical center.

Evolving disparities in the epidemiology of oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers.

Incidence rates of head and neck cancers (HNC) associated with human papillomavirus (HPVa) infection are increasing while non-HPV-associated (non-HPVa) HNC cancer rates are decreasing. As nearly all sexually active individuals will acquire an HPV infection, it is important to understand epidemiologic trends of HNCs associated with this sexually transmitted disease. We analyzed SEER 9 (1973-2012) and 18 data (2000-2012) for HPVa HNCs (oropharynx area; OP) and non-HPVa (oral cavity area; OC).

Quantitative assessment of the longevity of poly-L-lactic acid as a volumizing filler using 3-dimensional photography.

Objective: To demonstrate the efficacy and longevity of injectable poly-L-lactic acid as a volumizing injectable in the midface region quantitatively using 3-dimensional (3-D) imaging.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Prospective study assessing changes in midfacial volume in 15 women aged between 40 and 60 years using a 3-D imaging system at 12, 24, 36, and 48 weeks after 3 treatments with poly-L-lactic acid. Three-dimensional imaging was acquired using the 3-D camera and software.

Mechanisms of decreased intestinal epithelial proliferation and increased apoptosis in murine acute lung injury.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of acute lung injury on the gut epithelium and examine mechanisms underlying changes in crypt proliferation and apoptosis. The relationship between severity and timing of lung injury to intestinal pathology was also examined.

Design: Randomized, controlled study.

Early antibiotic administration but not antibody therapy directed against IL-6 improves survival in septic mice predicted to die on basis of high IL-6 levels.

Elevated interleukin (IL)-6 levels correlate with increased mortality following sepsis. IL-6 levels >14,000 pg/ml drawn 6 h after cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) are associated with 100% mortality in ND4 mice, even if antibiotic therapy is initiated 12 h after septic insult. Our first aim was to see whether earlier institution of antibiotic therapy could improve overall survival in septic mice and rescue the subset of animals predicted to die on the basis of high IL-6 levels.

Iron dysregulation combined with aging prevents sepsis-induced apoptosis.

Background: Sepsis, iron loading, and aging cause independent increases in gut epithelial and splenic apoptosis. It is unknown how their combination will affect apoptosis and systemic cytokine levels.

Materials And Methods: Hfe-/- mice (a murine homologue of hemochromatosis) abnormally accumulate iron in their tissues.

Age disproportionately increases sepsis-induced apoptosis in the spleen and gut epithelium.

Both aging and sepsis independently increase splenic and gut epithelial apoptosis. Sepsis-induced apoptosis in either cell type is also associated with increased mortality in young mice. We sought to determine whether age alters sepsis-induced splenic and gut epithelial cell death.

High-dose exogenous iron following cecal ligation and puncture increases mortality rate in mice and is associated with an increase in gut epithelial and splenic apoptosis.

Objectives: Despite having dysregulated iron metabolism, critically ill patients may receive exogenous iron for the treatment of anemia. Iron is associated with increased tissue apoptosis and may facilitate bacterial growth. We hypothesized that exogenous iron administration given after the onset of sepsis would lead to increased mortality rate.

Antibiotics improve survival in sepsis independent of injury severity but do not change mortality in mice with markedly elevated interleukin 6 levels.

Genetically identical mice have a heterogeneous response to antibiotic therapy in sepsis, with only a subset deriving therapeutic benefit. We sought to determine whether the severity of a septic insult correlates with the survival benefit conferred by antibiotics. We also sought to determine whether antibiotics given 12 h after injury alter survival in animals predicted to die based upon high interleukin (IL)-6 levels drawn 6 h earlier.

Bcl-2 inhibits gut epithelial apoptosis induced by acute lung injury in mice but has no effect on survival.

Gut epithelial apoptosis is increased in human studies and animal models of noninfectious inflammation and sepsis. Elevated intestinal cell death appears to be physiologically significant in sepsis. Previous studies demonstrate that overexpression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 in the gut epithelium of transgenic mice is associated with improved survival from Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia and cecal ligation and puncture.