Tympanic Perforations in Children: When to Propose Surgical Closure?

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyze the impact of age and other prognostic factors on the success of myringoplasty. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective case series. SETTINGS: Pediatric ENT department of a tertiary academic center. PATIENTS: Two hundred forty-one children (318 ears) aged 3 to 17 years with tympanic perforation. INTERVENTION: Myringoplasty performed between 2009 and 2019. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: The rate of tympanic closure, perforation recurrence, revision surgery, and audiometric gain were collected. The impact of age and anatomical and surgical factors was analyzed for each procedure. RESULTS: With a mean follow-up time of 1 year, the tympanic closure rate was 87.7%, the perforation recurrence rate was 18.6%, and 16.7% of ears required reoperation. The mean air-bone gap decreased from 21 dB preoperatively to 12 dB postoperatively ( p < 0.0001). We did not find different anatomical and audiometric results for our three groups of patients classified according to age. Audiometric results were associated with the location of the perforation, intraoperative inflammation of the middle ear mucosa, and the surgical technique performed. CONCLUSION: Myringoplasty in children is associated with excellent anatomical and functional results, even in the youngest patients. It can be proposed whatever the child's age if the patients are well selected before giving the indication.

Obstructive Sleep-Disordered Breathing in Infants with Normal Awake Clinical Examination: Contribution of Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the cause of obstructive sleep-disordered breathing using drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) in infants without co-morbidities and with normal clinical examination. METHODS: This prospective study was conducted between December 2019 and June 2022 (31 mo). All infants referred for obstructive sleep-disordered breathing with normal clinical examination and flexible laryngoscopy were included and underwent DISE. The location of the obstructive sites was scored similarly according to the NAVOTEL scoring system, previously established and validated by authors' team. RESULTS: Thirty-two infants were included. DISE identified an obstructive site in 94% of cases. The mean age was 16.4 mo, and the median was 16.7 mo. The obstructive sites found were isolated sleep laryngomalacia (37.4%), adenotonsillar hypertrophy (21.8%), isolated adenoidal hypertrophy (6.3%), adenotonsillar hypertrophy associated with sleep laryngomalacia (6.3%), circumferential upper airway narrowing (6.3%), glossoptosis (6.3%), isolated inferior turbinate hypertrophy (3.1%), adenoidal and tongue base hypertrophy (3.1%), and adenoidal hypertrophy with sleep laryngomalacia (3.1%). No obstructive causes could be found in 2 cases (6.3%). DISE identified an obstructive site in 30/32 patients (93.8%) and guided the surgical management in 26/32 cases (81.3%) during the same general anesthesia. The infants without surgical obstacles were referred for medical treatment. CONCLUSIONS: DISE is an excellent diagnostic and pre-therapeutic tool in infants with no apparent cause at the awake examination to identify the obstructive sites and guide the treatment.

International Pediatric Otolaryngology group (IPOG) consensus on the diagnosis and management of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

OBJECTIVE: To develop an expert-based consensus of recommendations for the diagnosis and management of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea. METHODS: A two-iterative Delphi method questionnaire was used to formulate expert recommendations by the members of the International Pediatric Otolaryngology Group (IPOG). RESULTS: Twenty-six members completed the survey. Consensus recommendations (>90% agreement) are formulated for 15 different items related to the clinical evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, postoperative management and follow-up of children with OSA. CONCLUSION: The recommendations formulated in this IPOG consensus statement may be used along with existing clinical practice guidelines to improve the quality of care and to reduce variation in care for children with OSA.

Psoriasiform Diaper Rash Possibly Induced by Oral Propranolol in an 18-Month-Old Girl with Infantile Hemangioma.

Propranolol, a nonselective blocker of ß-adrenergic receptors, has become the first-line treatment for complicated infantile hemangiomas. Therefore, its use in the pediatric population has expanded in recent years. In adults, ß-blockers have been reported to be the most common causative agents for drug-induced psoriasis. In infants treated with propranolol for infantile hemangioma, the onset of psoriasiform diaper rash has not yet been reported. Here, to the best of our knowledge, we report the first case of psoriasiform diaper rash possibly induced by oral propranolol in an 18-month-old girl with no family history of psoriasis.

Rhabdomyosarcoma of Stensen's duct in children.

OBJECTIVES: Stensen's duct is a very uncommon location for rhabdomyosarcoma. The purpose of this article was to review the clinical history of 2 patients who had rhabdomyosarcoma of Stensen's duct. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical history, imaging studies, histologic analysis, and treatment of 2 patients with rhabdomyosarcoma of Stensen's duct. RESULTS: An 8-year-old boy (case 1) and a 17-year-old boy (case 2) presented with nonspecific facial swelling. In both patients, imaging studies showed a tumor at Stensen's duct, and biopsy showed embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Both patients were treated with preoperative chemotherapy, parotidectomy, and resection of Stensen's duct and postoperative chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Follow-up at 9 years (case 1) and 2 years (case 2) after surgery showed that the patients were free of disease. CONCLUSIONS: Stensen's duct rhabdomyosarcoma is rare and may have a better prognosis than rhabdomyosarcoma in other locations in the head and neck.