Tonsillectomy and biopsy for asymptomatic asymmetric tonsillar enlargement: are we right?

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of malignancy in patients with clinically asymmetrical tonsils and who are otherwise asymptomatic.

Design: Retrospective review of our experience based on case note review, carried out in a district general hospital setting during a period of two years.

Material And Methods: 142 patients who had undergone tonsillectomy and biosy were included in the study.

Accuracy of finger-tip palpated tracheostomy tube cuff pressure readings among otolaryngologists.

The tracheal mucosa is very a delicate structure, and pressure-ischaemia problems following the use of cuffed tracheostomy tubes are well documented. Iatrogenic tracheal stenosis is one of the consequences of mucosal ischaemia and is very difficult to treat. In this study the accuracy of finger-tip tested tracheostomy tube cuff inflation pressure, as judged by consultants and non-consultants, was assessed by comparison with manometric pressure readings.

Intractable paroxysmal sneezing.

Intractable paroxysmal sneezing is a rare disease primarily affecting teenage girls. We present the case of a 12-year-old girl who demonstrated the classical features of intractable paroxysmal sneezing of psychogenic origin. Most of the reported cases are psychogenic in origin, but a number of other conditions may cause intractable paraoxysmal sneeze.