Outcome after Radiotherapy for Vestibular Schwannomas (VS)-Differences in Tumor Control, Symptoms and Quality of Life after Radiotherapy with Photon versus Proton Therapy.

Background: To evaluate differences in local tumor control (LC), symptoms and quality of life (QOL) of 261 patients with VS after stereotactic radiosurgery/hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (SRS/HFSRT) vs. fractionated radiotherapy (FRT) vs. fractionated proton therapy (FPT) were studied.

Acupuncture as Complementary Treatment for Acute Tinnitus: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.

Background: Up to now, tinnitus has been an almost non-treatable symptom affecting more than 18% of the population in industrialized countries. So far, there are only a few studies evaluating the effectiveness of acupuncture in tinnitus treatment, none of which include acute tinnitus (<3 months). The aim of this pilot study was to explore the feasibility of recruitment and adherence to acupuncture conducted according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine in patients with acute idiopathic tinnitus and to assess effect sizes on subjective and objective outcomes within a randomized controlled design.

Long-term quality of life changes after primary septorhinoplasty.

Purpose: Health-related quality of life measurements are gaining in importance in clinical medicine. Little is known about the long-term quality of life changes after septorhinoplasty. This study was designed to analyse the long-term quality of life impacts of septorhinoplasty, using disease-specific instruments-rhinoplasty outcome evaluation (ROE) and Functional Rhinoplasty Outcome Inventory-17 (FROI-17); as well as a generic instrument-Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36).

Measurable impact of acupuncture on mucosal swelling of inferior turbinates: a prospective, randomized, controlled study.

Conclusions: Sham acupuncture turned out to be more effective than expected. The effect of acupuncture cannot be assessed by optical rhinometry (ORM).

Objectives: In most cases nasal congestion is caused by hypertrophy of the inferior turbinate as a result of allergic and chronic rhinitis.

Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 in saliva: possible preoperative marker of malignancy in parotid tumors.

Objective: Facial nerve preservation and oncological safety are crucial in surgery of parotid tumors. An unexpected histopathologic diagnosis of a malignant parotid tumor, however, may unfavorably require a second, more radical surgery. The aim of this study was to find out whether the assessment of serological tumor markers in parotid saliva might have some diagnostic significance in the preoperative differentiation between benign and malignant parotid lesions.

Development of an oral cancer recurrence mouse model after surgical resection.

Oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) are frequent epithelial malignancies and afflicted with a poor prognosis. The majority of these cancers are treated with surgical resection and local recurrences are predominantly responsible for a fatal outcome. In order to provide a better understanding of the development of these local recurrences after surgical ablation, we developed an orthotopic floor-of-mouth squamous cell carcinoma murine model, in which local recurrences occur at a high frequency (55%, 8 out of 15 mice) within 6-21 days after microsurgical removal of the primary.

Acupuncture for nasal congestion: a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical pilot study.

Background: Nasal congestion is one of the most common complaints dealt with in otorhinolaryngology. Side effects of decongestants are frequently seen in patients with chronic nasal congestion. This leads to an increasing demand of alternative treatments such as acupuncture.

Additional use of acupuncture to NSAID effectively reduces post-tonsillectomy pain.

Post-tonsillectomy swallowing pain is a common and distressing side effect after tonsillectomy and thus of great clinical interest. Up until now, there is no randomized controlled patient- and observer-blinded study evaluating the efficacy of acupuncture against swallowing pain after tonsillectomy. We therefore compared the potency of specific verum acupuncture points related to a Chinese medical diagnosis in reducing postoperative swallowing pain with non-specific control points on the body as well as a non-acupuncture group who received standard medication only.

Lipid-based Nose Ointment for Allergic Rhinitis.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of a lipid-based nose ointment in treating allergic rhinitis.

Study Design And Setting: Prospective, open, randomized, controlled clinical study in the outpatient departments of 2 tertiary care centers.

Results: No specific adverse effects were observed.

A time-frequency feature extraction scheme for the automated detection of binaural interaction in auditory brainstem responses.

The binaural interaction component (BIC), the difference between the summed monaurally evoked potentials of each ear and the binaurally evoked brainstem potentials, has been shown to be related to directional hearing. However, the detection of the beta-peak as the most consistent part of the BIC is often difficult. Furthermore, there is no clearly defined signal feature characterizing the difference between the monaurally and the binaurally evoked brainstem responses.

Numerical sex chromosome aberrations in juvenile angiofibromas: genetic evidence for an androgen-dependent tumor?

Juvenile angiofibromas (JAs) are rare benign tumors arising almost exclusively in the posterior nasal cavity of adolescent males. While male sex predominance and tumor manifestation during adolescence are well known clinical features, their genetic causes are still unknown. Observation of an increased androgen binding rate to the cytosol of JAs and immunohistological finding of strong AR expression have suggested involvement of the androgen receptor (AR) in JA biology.