Outcome Analysis of Microlaryngeal Surgery for Benign Lesions of Vocal Cord Using Videostroboscopy and Voice Handicap Index

Abstract

Benign vocal cord mass lesions are common causes of dysphonia which are often surgically correctable. They include lesions like vocal polyps, vocal cysts, vocal nodules and Reinke's edema. A prospective study of 30 patients was carried out at SMS medical college and hospital between April 2014 to November 2015 after institutional ethical committee clearance. The purpose of our study was to evaluate outcome of microlaryngeal surgery for benign lesions of vocal cord using videostroboscopy and voice handicap index. All cases between the age group 15–60 years with clinical evidence of benign lesions of vocal cord were included in study. Preoperative amplitude, mucosal wave, glottic closure was seen by videostroboscopy and subjective assessment of severity of handicap in voice was assessed by set of questionnaire using voice handicap index (Jacobson et al. in Am J Speech Lang Pathol 6: 66–70, 1997). Postoperative follow up was done at 3rd week and 10th week, and outcome of microlaryngeal surgery was assessed using videostroboscope and voice handicap index. At the end of study data was compiled systemically and analysed using paired 't' test and Chi square test. Our study observed statistically significant improvement in amplitude and mucosal wave and glottic closure. Subjective improvement in perception of severity of handicap in voice was analysed by voice handicap index which shows statistically significant data. Overall our study conclude microlaryngeal surgery as an effective way for improvement in speech parameters, that can be assessed by use of videostroboscopy and voice handicap index.

http://ift.tt/2FWtzMw

Outcome Analysis of Microlaryngeal Surgery for Benign Lesions of Vocal Cord Using Videostroboscopy and Voice Handicap Index

Abstract

Benign vocal cord mass lesions are common causes of dysphonia which are often surgically correctable. They include lesions like vocal polyps, vocal cysts, vocal nodules and Reinke's edema. A prospective study of 30 patients was carried out at SMS medical college and hospital between April 2014 to November 2015 after institutional ethical committee clearance. The purpose of our study was to evaluate outcome of microlaryngeal surgery for benign lesions of vocal cord using videostroboscopy and voice handicap index. All cases between the age group 15–60 years with clinical evidence of benign lesions of vocal cord were included in study. Preoperative amplitude, mucosal wave, glottic closure was seen by videostroboscopy and subjective assessment of severity of handicap in voice was assessed by set of questionnaire using voice handicap index (Jacobson et al. in Am J Speech Lang Pathol 6: 66–70, 1997). Postoperative follow up was done at 3rd week and 10th week, and outcome of microlaryngeal surgery was assessed using videostroboscope and voice handicap index. At the end of study data was compiled systemically and analysed using paired 't' test and Chi square test. Our study observed statistically significant improvement in amplitude and mucosal wave and glottic closure. Subjective improvement in perception of severity of handicap in voice was analysed by voice handicap index which shows statistically significant data. Overall our study conclude microlaryngeal surgery as an effective way for improvement in speech parameters, that can be assessed by use of videostroboscopy and voice handicap index.

http://ift.tt/2FWtzMw

Aortic stent graft injury over active blood flow: over the fence

Description

A 72-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of chest pain at rest. She underwent thoracic endovascular repair (TER) using three stent grafts (GORE TAG 34x150, 34x200 and 26x200 mm; W. L. Gore & Associates, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA) with type B aortic dissection 5 years earlier (figure 1A). Coronary CT angiography (CTA) findings were inconclusive because of remarkable massive calcification in all coronary arteries. As a low-density area suspected of mural thrombus inside the second stent graft was detected (figure 1B), non-obstructive angioscopy was performed to evaluate graft failure besides invasive coronary angiography.1 No significant stenosis was found using invasive coronary angiography; however, suspicious blood flow through the graft was observed at the aneurysmal descending aorta in the middle of the second graft (figure 2 and video 1). Being uninfluenced by aortic blood flow, it was thought to exist...

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Book Review—Diagnostic Pathology: Lymph Nodes and Extranodal Lymphomas, 2nd Edition

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Clinical Thyroidology®for the Public – Highlighted Article

From Clinical Thyroidology^® for the Public:  In 1–2% of PET scans performed for the diagnosis or staging of non-thyroid cancers, incidental uptake of a thyroid lesion is detected. Read More….

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Cochlear implants in developing countries: practical and ethical considerations

No abstract available

http://ift.tt/2IwTPyU

Overcoming developing-world challenges in cochlear implantation: a South American perspective

Purpose of review Effective hearing rehabilitation with cochlear implantation is challenging in developing countries, and this review focuses on strategies for childhood profound sensorineural hearing loss care in South America. Recent findings Most global hearing loss exists in developing countries; optimal cost-effective management strategies are essential in these environments. This review aims to assess and discuss the challenges of cochlear implantation effectiveness in South America. The authors searched electronic databases, bibliographies, and references for published and unpublished studies. Sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of device cost, professional salaries, annual number of implants, and failure rate. Costs were obtained from experts in South America using known costs and estimations whenever necessary. Recent studies reported several challenges in unilateral or bilateral cochlear implants: cochlear implant costs, deaf education costs, increasing need for cochlear implant capacity, and training and increasing longevity. Summary Cochlear implantation was very cost-effective in all South American countries. Despite inconsistencies in the quality of available evidence, the robustness of systematic review methods substantiates the positive findings of the included studies, demonstrating that unilateral cochlear implantation is clinically effective and likely to be cost-effective in developing countries. Correspondence to Sady S. Da Costa, MD, PhD, Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2350 - Bairro Santa Cecília Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90035-903, Brazil. E-mail: selaimen@gmail.com Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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A comparison of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and traditional therapy, versus traditional therapy in patients with longstanding dysphagia

Purpose of review Dysphagia in adults arises from a range of causes including acquired neurological disorders and some cancers. Previous research has suggested that treatment using neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) when used in conjunction with conventional therapy is effective. This review describes the recent literature and a small prospective case series carried out in the United Kingdom. This study contributed to support National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance for clinicians who wish to include NMES in a rehabilitation programme for dysphagic patients, specifically with reference to safety and the impact on swallowing function of this intervention. Recent findings In 2014, the UK NICE issued guidelines enabling UK therapists to trial the use of NMES, but the guidelines also sought additional evidence on the impact on swallowing function of NMES and the incidence of side effects. This small prospective case series investigated both of these aspects with a group of patients with dysphagia of neurological origin who had not achieved adequate swallowing function with traditional therapy alone. This study recruited 10 adult patients with dysphagia of neurological origin. All had previously received traditional swallowing therapy for at least 6 months but only achieved a Functional Oral Intake Scale of 4 or less (a scale for amounts and types of oral intake). The total study period was 10 weeks for each subject comprising 5 weeks of traditional therapy delivered three times a week followed by 5 weeks of NMES concurrent with traditional therapy (NMES + traditional therapy) delivered three times a week using the VitalStim stimulator (VitalStim Therapy, UK). In addition, the Quality of Life in Swallowing and Eating Assessment Tool 10 (quality of life scales) were determined to allow comparison between studies. Nine subjects achieved an improvement in swallowing function after NMES + traditional therapy was measured using the Functional Oral Intake Scale, giving a statistically significant improvement (P 

http://ift.tt/2Iv1JJ3

Cochlear implants in developing countries: practical and ethical considerations

No abstract available

http://ift.tt/2IwTPyU

Overcoming developing-world challenges in cochlear implantation: a South American perspective

Purpose of review Effective hearing rehabilitation with cochlear implantation is challenging in developing countries, and this review focuses on strategies for childhood profound sensorineural hearing loss care in South America. Recent findings Most global hearing loss exists in developing countries; optimal cost-effective management strategies are essential in these environments. This review aims to assess and discuss the challenges of cochlear implantation effectiveness in South America. The authors searched electronic databases, bibliographies, and references for published and unpublished studies. Sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of device cost, professional salaries, annual number of implants, and failure rate. Costs were obtained from experts in South America using known costs and estimations whenever necessary. Recent studies reported several challenges in unilateral or bilateral cochlear implants: cochlear implant costs, deaf education costs, increasing need for cochlear implant capacity, and training and increasing longevity. Summary Cochlear implantation was very cost-effective in all South American countries. Despite inconsistencies in the quality of available evidence, the robustness of systematic review methods substantiates the positive findings of the included studies, demonstrating that unilateral cochlear implantation is clinically effective and likely to be cost-effective in developing countries. Correspondence to Sady S. Da Costa, MD, PhD, Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2350 - Bairro Santa Cecília Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90035-903, Brazil. E-mail: selaimen@gmail.com Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://ift.tt/2pqBqv8

A comparison of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and traditional therapy, versus traditional therapy in patients with longstanding dysphagia

Purpose of review Dysphagia in adults arises from a range of causes including acquired neurological disorders and some cancers. Previous research has suggested that treatment using neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) when used in conjunction with conventional therapy is effective. This review describes the recent literature and a small prospective case series carried out in the United Kingdom. This study contributed to support National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance for clinicians who wish to include NMES in a rehabilitation programme for dysphagic patients, specifically with reference to safety and the impact on swallowing function of this intervention. Recent findings In 2014, the UK NICE issued guidelines enabling UK therapists to trial the use of NMES, but the guidelines also sought additional evidence on the impact on swallowing function of NMES and the incidence of side effects. This small prospective case series investigated both of these aspects with a group of patients with dysphagia of neurological origin who had not achieved adequate swallowing function with traditional therapy alone. This study recruited 10 adult patients with dysphagia of neurological origin. All had previously received traditional swallowing therapy for at least 6 months but only achieved a Functional Oral Intake Scale of 4 or less (a scale for amounts and types of oral intake). The total study period was 10 weeks for each subject comprising 5 weeks of traditional therapy delivered three times a week followed by 5 weeks of NMES concurrent with traditional therapy (NMES + traditional therapy) delivered three times a week using the VitalStim stimulator (VitalStim Therapy, UK). In addition, the Quality of Life in Swallowing and Eating Assessment Tool 10 (quality of life scales) were determined to allow comparison between studies. Nine subjects achieved an improvement in swallowing function after NMES + traditional therapy was measured using the Functional Oral Intake Scale, giving a statistically significant improvement (P 

http://ift.tt/2Iv1JJ3

An atypical autistic phenotype associated with a 2q13 microdeletion: a case report

Autism spectrum disorders are serious neurodevelopmental disorders that affect approximately 1% of the population. These disorders are substantially influenced by genetics. Several recent linkage analyses have...

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Severe abdominal pain and diarrhea – unusual multiple myeloma presentation with a severe prognosis: a case report

Multiple myeloma is a hematologic disease with high mortality rates all over the world. The diagnosis has always been challenging since the first case was reported in 1844. For that reason the diagnostic crite...

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Comparing Simultaneous Liver-Kidney Transplant Strategies: A Modified Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Background The proportion of patients with kidney failure at time of liver transplantation is at an historic high in the United States. The optimal timing of kidney transplantation with respect to the liver transplant is unknown. Methods We used a modified cost-effectiveness analysis to compare four strategies: the old system ("pre-OPTN"), the new Organ Procurement Transplant Network (OPTN) system since August 10, 2017 ("OPTN"), and two strategies which restrict simultaneous liver-kidney transplants ("safety net" and "stringent"). We measured "cost" by deployment of deceased donor kidneys (DDKs) to liver transplant recipients and effectiveness by life years (LYs) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in liver transplant recipients. We validated our model against Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients data. Results The OPTN, safety net and stringent strategies were on the efficient frontier. By rank order, OPTN > safety net > stringent strategy in terms of LY, QALY and DDK deployment. The pre-OPTN system was dominated, or outperformed, by all alternative strategies. The incremental LY per DDK between the strategies ranged from 1.30 to 1.85. The incremental QALY per DDK ranged from 1.11 to 2.03. Conclusion These estimates quantify the "organ"-effectiveness of various kidney allocation strategies for liver transplant candidates. The OPTN system will likely deliver better liver transplant outcomes at the expense of more frequent deployment of DDKs to liver transplant recipients. Corresponding Authors: Jane C. Tan, 750 Welch Rd, Suite 200, MC 5785, Palo Alto CA 94304, 650-725-9891. janetan@stanford.edu; W. Ray Kim, 300 Pasteur Drive, Always M211, Stanford CA 94305, 650-725-6511. wrkim@stanford.edu Authorship: X.S.C.: Research design, data acquisition, data analysis, results interpretation, paper writing. W.R.K.: Research design, results interpretation, paper writing. J.C.T.: Research design, data acquisition, results interpretation, paper writing. G.M.C.: Research design, results interpretation, paper writing. J.G.: Research design, data analysis, results interpretation, paper writing. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Research reported here was supported by the John M. Sobrato Gift Fund (J.C.T.) and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under award number K24DK092336 (W.R.K.) and K24 DK085446 (G.M.C.). Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Real-Time Ultrasound-Assisted Thoracic Epidural Placement: A Feasibility Study of a Novel Technique

The placement of thoracic epidural catheters is complicated by the layering of the vertebral lamina. Therefore, traditional blind palpation techniques require insertion of an epidural needle with likely contact of lamina with redirections into the epidural space. We discuss a safe and consistent technique using true real-time ultrasound visualization of the needle with a paramedian sagittal oblique view to improve the consistency of placing an epidural in the thoracic spine for postoperative analgesia. Successful epidural placement was achieved in every patient. All catheters were found to be effective for use in the postoperative phase. Accepted for publication November 20, 2017. Address correspondence to: Amitabh Gulati, MD, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave, New York, NY 10065 (e-mail: gulatia@mskcc.org). The authors have no sources of funding to declare for this article. This work was presented in part as an abstract at the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine's 42nd Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting; April 6 to 8, 2017; San Francisco, CA. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Copyright © 2018 by American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.

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Use of Global Risk Score for Cardiovascular Evaluation of Rural Workers in Southern Brazil

The objectives of the present study were to classify the cardiovascular evaluation of rural workers through the Global Risk Score and analyze the intensity of the relationship between the classification and the variables of the score. A descriptive study was developed with 38 rural workers from the extreme southern Brazil. Data collection was performed through an interview and verification of anthropometric measurements and arterial blood pressure. Data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using the Spearman correlation test. The overall 10-year cardiovascular risk classification using the Framingham global score showed a predominance of low risk (; 57.9%); however, 11 rural workers (28.9%) had a high cardiovascular risk. Spearman's correlation analysis showed significance between the Global Risk Score and gender (rho = 0.623, ), age (rho = 0.783, ), systolic blood pressure (rho = 0.545, ), and smoking (rho = 0.483, ). These results show that rural workers need attention with regard to components that may put them at risk for cardiovascular disease. This study may help in the early diagnosis and more effective actions on the risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

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