Feasibility of endoscopic treatment of middle ear myoclonus: a cadaveric study.

Stapedius and tensor tympani tenotomy is a relatively simple surgical procedure commonly performed to control pulsatile tinnitus due to middle ear myoclonus and for several other indications. We designed a cadaveric study to assess the feasibility of an entirely endoscopic approach to stapedius and tensor tympani tenotomy. We performed this endoscopic ear surgery in 10 cadaveric temporal bones and summarized our experience.

Balloon laryngoplasty for pediatric laryngeal stenosis: case series and systematic review.

Objectives/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to systematically review available literature on the outcomes of children treated with balloon laryngoplasty (BLP) as a primary or adjuvant treatment for subglottic or laryngeal stenosis, as well as briefly report on a new series of 60 children treated at the Medical University of South Carolina from 2007 to 2013.

Study Design: Review of published case series and retrospective chart review.

Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed and MEDLINE to identify trials that reported clinical outcomes of BLP in human patients under the age of 18 with subglottic or laryngeal stenosis.

The role of aerodigestive tract endoscopy in penetrating neck trauma.

Objective/hypothesis: To determine the role of aerodigestive tract endoscopy in the management of penetrating neck trauma.

Study Design: Retrospective case series.

Methods: A search of the hospital's trauma database was performed for patients who presented with penetrating neck trauma between July 1989 and June 2008.

Cerebellopontine angle ganglionic hamartoma: case report.

Cerebellopontine angle (CPA) ganglionic hamartomas are rare. We present a case of a 49-year-old woman who presented with left-sided hearing loss of more than 4 years' duration and vertigo since childhood. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mass on the intracanalicular segment of cranial nerve VIII on the left side, consistent with acoustic schwannoma.

Impact of neck dissection on long-term feeding tube dependence in patients with head and neck cancer treated with primary radiation or chemoradiation.

Background: The impact of posttreatment neck dissection on prolonged feeding tube dependence in patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) treated with primary radiation or chemoradiation remains unknown.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using propensity score adjustment to investigate the effect of neck dissection on prolonged feeding tube dependence.

Results: A review of 67 patients with node-positive HNSCC (T1-4N1-3), treated with primary radiation or chemoradiation, with no evidence of tumor recurrence and follow-up of at least 24 months, was performed.

Current-generation high-throughput sequencing: deepening insights into mammalian transcriptomes.

Recent papers have described the first application of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies to the characterization of transcriptomes. These studies emphasize the tremendous power of this new technology, in terms of both profiling coverage and quantitative accuracy. Initial discoveries include the detection of substantial new transcript complexity, the elucidation of binding maps and regulatory properties of RNA-binding proteins, and new insights into the links between different steps in pre-mRNA processing.

Postradiotherapy neck dissection for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: pattern of pathologic residual carcinoma and prognosis.

Background: For patients with head and neck cancer who were treated using primary radiotherapeutic approaches, the pattern of pathologic residual carcinoma in the neck dissection specimen and its effect on clinical outcome remains unknown.

Methods: Medical records of 65 patients who underwent 71 neck dissections a median 7 weeks after radiotherapy were reviewed. Median follow-up was 33 months.

Retinoblastoma RB94 enhances radiation treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: To assess whether adenovirus-mediated retinoblastoma 94 (Ad-RB94) transgene expression enhances efficacy of radiation therapy (XRT) of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Experimental Design: The HNSCC cell lines (JHU006 and JHU012) were treated in vitro and in a nude mouse xenograft model with Ad-RB94, Ad-DL312 control vector, or untreated as mock control. Cell viability and tumor growth were evaluated and combined RB94/XRT antitumor activity was analyzed by measuring DNA double-strand breaks, apoptosis-associated early DNA fragmentation, and levels of RB-regulated cell cycle progression E2F1 transcription factor.

Airway obstruction: a rare complication of benign vocal fold polyps.

Objectives: Benign laryngeal polyps usually present with hoarseness and dysphonia. There have been a few reported cases, however, of polyps that caused airway obstruction. Herein we present our series of obstructing laryngeal polyps.

Congenital anomalies of the larynx.

Congenital laryngeal anomalies are relatively rare. However, they may present with life-threatening respiratory problems in the newborn period. Associated problems with phonation and swallowing may prevent a baby from thriving.

Thyroidectomy for Graves' disease: a case-control study.

Objectives: The most common treatment for Graves' disease in the United States is radioactive iodine. Surgery is performed rarely. The surgery for Graves' disease is usually considered technically difficult.

Comparative analysis of tropism between canarypox (ALVAC) and vaccinia viruses reveals a more restricted and preferential tropism of ALVAC for human cells of the monocytic lineage.

The poxviruses including canarypox (ALVAC) and vaccinia viruses are promising vaccine vectors in humans, but little is known about their biology in human cells. Using recombinant enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP)-expressing ALVAC and vaccinia viruses, we have focused here on a side-by-side comparison of ALVAC and vaccinia virus tropism for cells from human peripheral blood and bone marrow. Both ALVAC and vaccinia viruses showed a strong bias towards monocyte infection.