Effect of Cleft Palate Repair Timing on Inpatient Complication Rate: Review of a National Database.

Objectives: Timing of cleft palate repair is controversial. We aim to assess whether timing of cleft palate repair affects rates of inpatient complications, length of stay (LOS), and cost of stay.

Methods: The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids' Inpatient Database 2009 was queried for all admissions with a primary diagnosis of cleft palate during which cleft palate repair was performed as a primary procedure.

Nasal cavity dimensions in congenital pyriform aperture stenosis.

Objective: To determine the dimensions of the nasal cavity in infants with congenital pyriform aperture stenosis (CPAS).

Study Design: The nasal cavities of seven children with CPAS were identified and were compared to the nasal cavities of 13 neonates (<30 days old) who had received CT scans for other indications.

Methods: The width of the nasal cavities was measured at the pyriform aperture, choana, and at two standardized points along the lateral nasal wall (LW-1 and LW-2) between the pyriform aperture and choana.

Predicting HPV status in head and neck cancer: the predictive value of sociodemographic and disease characteristics.

Objective: To determine whether the human papillomavirus (HPV) status of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) can be reliably predicted based on sociodemographic and disease characteristics alone. DESIGN A retrospective medical chart review of clinical and pathologic features.

Setting: Tertiary academic medical center.

Immunological modulation by 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Prior studies showing that treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients with 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1,25(OH)(2)D(3)] stimulated intratumoral immune infiltration were extended to analysis of cytokine profiles in the periphery and in oral tissues. Most prominent was the disparity between cytokine levels in plasma and in either pathologically normal oral tissue or HNSCC tissue from patients that were untreated or treated with 1,25(OH)(2)D(3). Levels of IL-6 and IL-10, but not IL-2, IFN-γ or TNF-α, tended to be increased in the plasma of HNSCC patients and 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) further increased plasma levels of all of these cytokines.

Current knowledge and management of vascular anomalies, II: malformations.

Objective: To present current information on the diagnosis, pathogenesis, natural history, and treatment of vascular malformations.

Method: Literature review.

Results: Vascular malformations are a heterogeneous group of congenital lesions resulting from aberrations of vascular embryogenesis.

Current knowledge and management of vascular anomalies: I. Hemangiomas.

Objective: To present current information on the diagnosis, pathogenesis, natural history, and treatment of infantile hemangiomas.

Methods: Literature review.

Results: Infantile hemangiomas are the most common vascular tumors of childhood.

Cetuximab therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review of the data.

Objective: To review the current state of the data on the use of cetuximab in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Data Sources: The National Center for Biotechnology Information's PubMed and the Cochrane collection.

Review Methods: Search terms included cetuximab and head and neck cancer.

A cost-effectiveness analysis of alternative HIV retesting strategies in sub-saharan Africa.

Background: Guidelines in sub-Saharan Africa on when HIV-seronegative persons should retest range from never to annually for lower-risk populations and from annually to every 3 months for high-risk populations.

Methods: We designed a mathematical model to compare the cost-effectiveness of alternative HIV retesting frequencies. Cost of HIV counseling and testing, linkage to care, treatment costs, disease progression, and mortality, and HIV transmission are modeled for three hypothetical cohorts with posited annual HIV incidence of 0.