Arterial calcification on preoperative computed tomography imaging as a risk factor for pharyngocutaneous fistula formation after total laryngectomy.

Background: Research in esophageal surgery showed that computed tomography (CT) assessed arterial calcification (AC) is associated with postoperative complications. We investigated the association between AC and pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) formation after laryngectomy.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing laryngectomy.

Time interval between (chemo)radiotherapy and subsequent laryngectomy is not prognostic for post operative complications and survival.

Purpose: Pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) formation and swallowing difficulties are common and troublesome complications following total laryngectomy (TL). Prior (chemo)radiotherapy ((C)RT) is thought to be a risk factor for these complications, but there is conflicting evidence as to whether the time interval between (C)RT and TL is important. The impact of time interval on these complications and also its impact on overall survival are investigated.

Dilation after laryngectomy: Incidence, risk factors and complications.

Background: Neopharyngeal stenosis is a recognized sequela of total laryngectomy (TL). We aim to investigate the incidence of stenosis requiring dilation, risk factors for stenosis and complications of dilation.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing TL in two dedicated head and neck centers in the Netherlands.

Preoperative low skeletal muscle mass as a risk factor for pharyngocutaneous fistula and decreased overall survival in patients undergoing total laryngectomy.

Background: Low skeletal muscle mass (SMM) is associated with postoperative complications, prolonged hospital stay, and short overall survival (OS) in surgical oncology. We aimed to investigate this association in patients undergoing total laryngectomy (TL).

Methods: A retrospective study was performed of patients undergoing TL.

Impact of human papillomavirus on outcome in patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with primary surgery.

Background: Knowledge about prognostic factors in surgically treated patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is limited. The purpose of this study was to identify influential factors on survival in a large cohort of patients with surgically treated oropharyngeal SCC.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of survival estimates in patients with surgically treated oropharyngeal SCC using tumoral positivity for human papillomavirus (HPV) and risk-of-death categories according to a study from 2010 as stratification factors.

Does airway intervention before primary nonsurgical therapy for T3/T4 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma impact on oncological or functional outcomes?

Questions Under Study: Even today, some patients with laryngeal cancer present with airway obstruction necessitating an intervention in the form of either a tracheostomy or transoral laser debulking (TOL). Controversy exists as to whether such an intervention is a risk factor for poor oncological or functional outcome in patients who then undergo primary (chemo)radiotherapy.

Methods: Retrospective chart review of all patients undergoing primary curative nonsurgical treatment for T3/T4 laryngeal squamous cell cancer at the University Hospital Zurich between 1981 and 2011.

Success of salvage treatment: a critical appraisal of salvage rates for different subsites of HNSCC.

Objective: Despite advances in interdisciplinary treatment protocols, the chance of cure for recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) following failed primary therapy is poor and often entails a high morbidity. Recurrence rates vary widely in the literature depending on tumor localization, primary tumor stage, and treatment modality, and only a minority of patients can be salvaged.

Study Design: Historical cohort study.

Airway management in head and neck cancer patients undergoing microvascular free tissue transfer: delayed extubation as an alternative to routine tracheotomy.

Questions Under Study: The aim of this study was to evaluate two practices of airway management in patients undergoing head and neck cancer (HNC) resection and microvascular free tissue transfer (MFTT), and to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches.

Methods: Patients undergoing a delayed extubation approach (NO-TRACH group) and patients undergoing primary tracheotomy (PRIM-TRACH group) were retrospectively evaluated in terms of perioperative and postoperative outcome measures.

Results: Not performing routine tracheotomy was safe and no perioperative airway complications occurred.

Fatally invasive actinomycosis masquerading as a tonsillar carcinoma.

Background: Actinomyces is a bacterial rod found in the normal oral flora. It can gain entry to the submucosa via trivial wounds and ultimately lead to slow growing lesions which may mimic cancerous lesions.

Methods And Results: We present the case of an elderly, immunosuppressed woman who presented with a herald bleed from a tonsillar lesion.

Epithelial cyst in the posterior triangle of the neck: atypical branchial cyst or cystic lymph node metastasis?

We report the case of a 66-year-old man with a cervical neck mass located behind the left sternocleidomastoid muscle. To exclude malignancy, a full workup, including clinical, radiological, and cytological examination, was performed but failed to provide a definitive diagnosis. Histological analysis following excisional biopsy revealed a benign epithelial cyst, consistent with an atypically located branchial cyst.

Evaluation of universal newborn hearing screening in Switzerland 2012 and follow-up data for Zurich.

Background: The European Consensus Statement of Neonatal Hearing recommended universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) in 1998. UNHS was introduced in Switzerland in 1999 under the auspices of a "Swiss Working Group Hearing Screening in Newborns". The aim of this study was to evaluate the number of newborns being screened and consequently followed-up in Switzerland for the year 2012.

Factors predictive of outcome following primary total laryngectomy for advanced squamous cell carcinoma.

The increasing use of primary chemoradiation (CRT) for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) means that historical surgical data sets are not representative of the modern laryngectomy patient. We analyse a contemporary total laryngectomy (TL) cohort to identify factors predictive of outcome. This is a retrospective consecutive case note review in a UK tertiary referral centre.

Pre-operative tracheostomy does not impact on stomal recurrence and overall survival in patients undergoing primary laryngectomy.

Pre-operative tracheostomy (POT) to secure a critical airway up to several weeks before definitive laryngectomy in patients with laryngeal cancer has been proposed as a risk factor for poor oncologic outcome. Few modern papers, however, examine this question. The aim of this study is therefore to determine whether POT affects oncologic outcome with an emphasis on stomal/peristomal recurrence.