Portable, non-powered, suction-generating device for management of life-threatening aerodigestive tract foreign bodies: Novel prototype and literature review.

Objective: To present a novel approach for the emergent, pre-hospital management of life-threatening aerodigestive tract foreign body aspiration using a portable, non-powered, suction-generating device (PNSD), in the context of a literature review of emergent pre-hospital management of patients with foreign body airway obstruction.

Methods: The PubMed and MEDLINE databases were comprehensively screened using broad search terms. A literature review of pre-hospital management and resuscitative techniques of foreign body airway obstruction was performed.

Optimal resection margin for head and neck cutaneous melanoma.

Objectives/hypothesis: The objective of this study was to examine the difference between a narrow (between 1 and 2 cm) and a wide (>2 cm) margin in the surgical resection of head and neck cutaneous melanoma.

Study Design: Population-based cohort analysis.

Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was employed to identify patients who had cutaneous melanoma of the head and neck from 2004 to 2014.

An Algorithm for Sellar Reconstruction Following the Endoscopic Endonasal Approach: A Review of 300 Consecutive Cases.

 The endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) is the workhorse endoscopic procedure for sellar and parasellar pathology. Various reconstruction techniques have been reported following EEA surgery, ranging from no reconstruction to vascularized flaps. We review our institution's experience with sellar reconstruction following EEA and propose an evidence-based algorithm.

Adjuvant radiation therapy improves patient survival in early-stage merkel cell carcinoma: A 15-year single-institution study.

Objectives/hypothesis: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine neoplasm of the skin. Growing evidence supports the benefit of postoperative adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) for locoregional control, but whether it improves overall survival (OS) has been debated. Our objective was to compare the OS of MCC patients who received postoperative RT with those who received surgery alone.

Angiosarcoma of the tongue: A case series and literature review.

Purpose: Angiosarcoma of the tongue is an exceedingly rare malignancy of the head and neck. Such lesions can be primary in nature or occur in a previously irradiated field. We examine a series of cases with relation to clinical presentation, diagnosis, management, and outcomes.

Surgical Care in Liberia and Implications for Capacity Building.

Background: Situational needs of health care facilities inform the optimal allocation of resources and quality improvement efforts. This study examines surgical care delivery metrics at a tertiary care institution in Liberia.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed operative and ward logbooks from January 1 to December 31, 2012.

Primary culture of human Schwann and schwannoma cells: improved and simplified protocol.

Primary culture of human Schwann cells (SCs) and vestibular schwannoma (VS) cells are invaluable tools to investigate SC physiology and VS pathobiology, and to devise effective pharmacotherapies against VS, which are sorely needed. However, existing culture protocols, in aiming to create robust, pure cultures, employ methods that can lead to loss of biological characteristics of the original cells, potentially resulting in misleading biological findings. We have developed a minimally manipulative method to culture primary human SC and VS cells, without the use of selective mitogens, toxins, or time-consuming and potentially transformative laboratory techniques.

An opportunity for diagonal development in global surgery: cleft lip and palate care in resource-limited settings.

Global cleft surgery missions have provided much-needed care to millions of poor patients worldwide. Still, surgical capacity in low- and middle-income countries is generally inadequate. Through surgical missions, global cleft care has largely ascribed to a vertical model of healthcare delivery, which is disease specific, and tends to deliver services parallel to, but not necessarily within, the local healthcare system.