Scoping review of chronic rhinosinusitis proteomics.

BACKGROUND: Progressive advances in proteomic technology has improved our understanding of the chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) pathogenesis and endotypes. This scoping review aims to present a comprehensive and descriptive analysis of nasal mucosa and mucus proteome of CRS patients. METHODOLOGY: Studies investigating the proteome of nasal mucosa and mucus from healthy and CRS patients via mass spectrometry were included. Critical appraisal of methodological quality was conducted with extraction of protein lists. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed on studies including CRS patients. RESULTS: 2962 proteins were identified in the 21 studies included in this review. Eleven studies investigated the nasal mucus proteome and ten studies investigated the nasal mucosa proteome. Studies demonstrated heterogeneity in patients, sampling and mass spectrometry methodology. Samples from CRS patients suggested a trend in enrichment of immune system and programmed cell death pathways. Increased expression of proteins involved in cellular components including the cytoskeleton and adherens junctions was also present in CRS. CONCLUSIONS: Alterations in the healthy sinonasal proteome may lead to the increased immunological, metabolic and tissue remodeling processes observed in CRS. However, it is difficult to draw significant conclusions from the GSEA due to the heterogeneity present in the limited literature available. These findings allow us to direct further research to better understand CRS pathogenesis and its endotypes.

A systematic review of validated sinus surgery simulators.

BACKGROUND: Simulation provides a safe and effective opportunity to develop surgical skills. A variety of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) simulators has been described in the literature. Validation of these simulators allows for effective utilisation in training. OBJECTIVE OF REVIEW: To conduct a systematic review of the published literature to analyse the evidence for validated ESS simulation. SEARCH STRATEGY: Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane and Cinahl were searched from inception of the databases to 11 January 2017. EVALUATION METHOD: Twelve thousand five hundred and sixteen articles were retrieved of which 10 112 were screened following the removal of duplicates. Thirty-eight full-text articles were reviewed after meeting search criteria. Evidence of face, content, construct, discriminant and predictive validity was extracted. RESULTS: Twenty articles were included in the analysis describing 12 ESS simulators. Eleven of these simulators had undergone validation: 3 virtual reality, 7 physical bench models and 1 cadaveric simulator. Seven of the simulators were shown to have face validity, 7 had construct validity and 1 had predictive validity. None of the simulators demonstrated discriminate validity. CONCLUSION: This systematic review demonstrates that a number of ESS simulators have been comprehensively validated. Many of the validation processes, however, lack standardisation in outcome reporting, thus limiting a meta-analysis comparison between simulators.

Reviewing indications for panendoscopy in the investigation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The role of panendoscopy in the modern investigation of head and neck cancer is changing with the development of improved radiological techniques, in-office biopsy capabilities and the low rate of synchronous primary tumours. This study aimed to review the indications for panendoscopy in the investigation of newly diagnosed head and neck cancer. METHOD: A retrospective review was conducted of 186 patients with newly diagnosed head and neck cancer, between January 2014 and December 2015, at two tertiary centres. RESULTS: Obtaining a tissue diagnosis was the most common indication for panendoscopy (65 per cent), followed by surgical planning including transoral robotic surgery suitability assessment (22.6 per cent), and the investigation of carcinoma of an unknown primary (11.3 per cent). Two synchronous primary tumours were identified, generating a yield of 1.1 per cent. CONCLUSION: Panendoscopy remains integral in the assessment of transoral robotic surgery suitability. Refining indications for modern panendoscopy could reduce the need for this procedure in this cohort of patients.