Subcutaneous emphysema to the head and neck resulting from a dental crown preparation.

CASE REPORT: A 59-year-old African-American female presents with subcutaneous emphysema to thehead and neck region resulting from routine dental treatment with a high speed air-driven handpiece. The patient had a chief complaint of generalized edema, dysphagia and pain to her face and neck. The patient subsequently was admitted to the intensive care unit for airway monitoring. PURPOSE: To alert the dental community about the incidence of iatrogenic subcutaneous emphysema from a routine dental procedure, and how to recognize and manage its occurrence,

Subcutaneous emphysema to the head and neck resulting from a dental crown preparation.

CASE REPORT: A 59-year-old African-American female presents with subcutaneous emphysema to the head and neck region resulting from routine dental treatment with a high speed air-driven handpiece. The patient had a chief complaint of generalized edema, dysphagia and pain to her face and neck. The patient subsequently was admitted to the intensive care unit for airway monitoring. PURPOSE: To alert the dental community about the incidence of iatrogenic subcutaneous emphysema from a routine dental procedure, and how to recognize and manage its occurrence.

Pediatric Odontogenic Tumors.

Pediatric odontogenic tumors are rare, and are often associated with impacted teeth. Although they can develop anywhere in the jaws, odontogenic tumors mainly occur in the posterior mandible. This article discusses the diagnosis and treatment of the most common pediatric odontogenic tumors, such as ameloblastoma, keratocystic odontogenic tumor, odontoma, and cementoblastoma.

Rapid-onset postchemoradiotherapy rhabdomyosarcoma of the maxillofacial region.

Radiation-induced sarcomas of the head and neck are rare and tend to occur decades after treatment. We report a case of rapid-onset postchemoradiotherapy rhabdomyosarcoma of the maxillofacial region and briefly review the literature.

Modulation of human beta-defensin-1 (hBD-1) in plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC), monocytes, and epithelial cells by influenza virus, Herpes simplex virus, and Sendai virus and its possible role in innate immunity.

hBD comprise a family of antimicrobial peptides that plays a role in bridging the innate and adaptive immune responses to infection. The expression of hBD-2 increases upon stimulation of numerous cell types with LPS and proinflammatory cytokines. In contrast, hBD-1 remains constitutively expressed in most cells in spite of cytokine or LPS stimulation; however, its presence in human PDC suggests it plays a role in viral host defense. To examine this, we characterized the expression of hBD-1 in innate immune cells in response to viral challenge. PDC and monocytes increased production of hBD-1 peptide and mRNA as early as 2 h following infection of purified cells and PBMCs with PR8, HSV-1, and Sendai virus. However, treatment of primary NHBE cells with influenza resulted in a 50% decrease in hBD-1 mRNA levels, as measured by qRT-PCR at 3 h following infection. A similar inhibition occurred with HSV-1 challenge of human gingival epithelial cells. Studies with HSV-1 showed that replication occurred in epithelial cells but not in PDC. Together, these results suggest that hBD-1 may play a role in preventing viral replication in immune cells. To test this, we infected C57BL/6 WT mice and mBD-1((-/-)) mice with mouse-adapted HK18 (300 PFU/mouse). mBD-1((-/-)) mice lost weight earlier and died sooner than WT mice (P=0.0276), suggesting that BD-1 plays a role in early innate immune responses against influenza in vivo. However, lung virus titers were equal between the two mouse strains. Histopathology showed a greater inflammatory influx in the lungs of mBD-1((-/-)) mice at Day 3 postinfection compared with WT C57BL/6 mice. The results suggest that BD-1 protects mice from influenza pathogenesis with a mechanism other than inhibition of viral replication.