Early enteral nutrition after head and neck surgery with free tissue transfer reconstruction.

Objective: Early enteral nutrition is essential for enhancing recovery after surgery. However, to date, no detailed study has been conducted on the feasibility of early enteral nutrition in patients undergoing head and neck surgery with free tissue transfer reconstruction (HNS-FTTR) and the risk factors for difficulty with early enteral nutrition.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 102 patients who underwent HNS-FTTR at our institution; 61 underwent free jejunal reconstruction (FJ) and 41 did not.

A Case of Ectopic Thyroid Presenting as a Superior Mediastinal Mass.

We report a very rare case of an ectopic thyroid in the superior mediastinum, which was detected incidentally using imaging. The case was a 50-year-old woman patient. She had an orthotopic thyroid and normal thyroid function.

Enhanced recovery after surgery program involving preoperative dexamethasone administration for head and neck surgery with free tissue transfer reconstruction: Single-center prospective observational study.

Background: There are few reports on Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS)-based perioperative management following head and neck surgery with free tissue transfer reconstruction (HNS-FTTR). Here, we prospectively evaluated our ERAS program involving preoperative glucocorticoid administration in HNS-FTTR.

Methods: This prospective study included 60 patients who underwent HNS-FTTR at the Miyagi Cancer Center from June 2017 to December 2018.

Shoulder function after neck dissection: Assessment via a shoulder-specific quality-of-life questionnaire and active shoulder abduction.

Objective: Neck dissection results in a high probability of postoperative shoulder functional impairment, even when the spinal accessory nerve is preserved. Therefore, surgeons must inform patients about the expected functional and qualitative recovery of shoulder function after surgery.

Methods: The present study included a prospective cohort of 66 patients (85 neck dissection sides) who underwent neck dissection between December 2015 and July 2017 at a single institution.

Preoperative prognostic nutritional index as a method to predict postoperative complications after major head and neck surgery with free tissue transfer reconstruction.

Background: Head and neck (H&N) cancer patients are often malnourished and have diminished immunity. H&N surgery with free tissue transfer reconstruction (HNS-FTTR) is associated with a relatively high incidence of postoperative complications.

Methods: Associations between possible risk factors and postoperative Clavien-Dindo (C-D) grades ≥ II and ≥ IIIa wound healing- or infection-related complications, postoperative overall complications and prolonged hospital stay were investigated in 188 patients who underwent HNS-FTTR during 2014-2018.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery program with dexamethasone administration for major head and neck surgery with free tissue transfer reconstruction: initial institutional experience.

Objectives: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols promote recovery after various invasive surgeries. Likewise, preoperative glucocorticoid administration can reduce complications after some surgeries. However, the effects of ERAS protocols and glucocorticoid administration in patients undergoing major surgery for head and neck cancer have not been well described.

Retrospective observational study of occult cervical lymph-node metastasis in T1N0 tongue cancer.

Objective: Delayed neck metastasis is the most significant prognostic factor for early tongue cancer. The main strategies for controlling cervical lymph nodes in Japan are elective neck dissection or watchful waiting. Elective neck dissection offers significantly better survival, but adversely impacts patient quality of life; consequently, here we investigated how to identify high-risk patients warranting elective neck dissection.

Carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid gland: a multi-institutional retrospective analysis in the Northern Japan Head and Neck Cancer Society.

Conclusion: The 3-year progression-free survival rate of non-invasive salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) or adenocarcinoma not otherwise specified (NOS) was significantly better than that of invasive SDC or adenocarcinoma NOS in Carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (CXPA). The presence of invasion is an important prognostic factor for SDC and adenocarcinoma NOS in CXPA.

Objectives: CXPA is a rare parotid gland malignant tumor for which therapy is not yet standardized.

Diagnostic potential of 1-step nucleic acid amplification assay in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma based on CK19 expression in a primary lesion.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of CK19 expression in the primary lesions of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma on the diagnosis of the cervical lymph node (CLN) metastasis using the 1-step nucleic acid amplification assay.

Methods: Primary lesions and 54 CLNs were resected from 21 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma between 2009 and 2011. Each CLN was tested by the 1-step nucleic acid amplification assay, and the CK19 mRNA copy number obtained was compared to the corresponding histopathological results.

Stiffness of salivary gland and tumor measured by new ultrasonic techniques: Virtual touch quantification and IQ.

Objective: To evaluate normal salivary gland stiffness and compare the diagnostic performance of virtual touch quantification (VTQ) and virtual touch imaging quantification (VTIQ) for head and neck tumor.

Methods: A total of 92 measurements were examined, comprising 77 normal salivary glands, 11 benign tumors and four malignant tumors. Examinations were made to evaluate normal salivary gland stiffness and compare the diagnostic performances of new ultrasonic techniques regarding head and neck tumor.

Usefulness of sentinel node navigation surgery in the management of early tongue cancer.

Objective: To determine the validity of sentinel node navigation surgery (SNNS) in early stage tongue cancer, the occurrence rate of postoperative cervical metastasis (POCM) after lead plate technique (LPT) introduction and survival rates in patients who underwent SNNS were analyzed.

Methods: SNNS was performed in 29 patients (stage I: 14, stage II: 15) from 2000 to 2007. Tc-labeled phytate was prepared as a radiotracer a day before SNNS.