Orofacial Pain and Snoring/Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Individuals with Head and Neck Cancer: A Critical Review.

AIMS: (1) To summarize current knowledge on the prevalence, intensity, and descriptors of orofacial pain and snoring/obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) before and after head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment; and (2) to propose future directions for research. METHODS: The median prevalence for each condition was estimated from the most recent systematic reviews (SRs) and updated with new findings retrieved from the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane databases up to December 2021. RESULTS: The prevalence of HNC pain seems relatively stable over time, with a median of 31% before treatment in three studies to a median of 39% at 1 month to 16 years after treatment in six studies. HNC pain intensity remains mild to moderate. There was a threefold increase in temporomandibular pain prevalence after surgery (median 7.25% before to 21.3% after). The data for snoring prevalence are unreliable. The OSA/HNC prevalence seems relatively stable over time, with a median of 72% before treatment in three studies to 77% after treatment in 14 studies. CONCLUSION: With the exception of temporomandibular pain, the prevalence of HNC pain and OSA seems to be stable over time. Future studies should: (1) compare the trajectory of change over time according to each treatment; (2) compare individuals with HNC to healthy subjects; (3) use a standardized and comparable method of data collection; and (4) assess tolerance to oral or breathing devices, since HNC individuals may have mucosal sensitivity or pain.

Platelet-rich fibrin as a treatment option for osteoradionecrosis: A literature review.

The aim of this review is to establish the usefulness and effectiveness of using platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) in the treatment of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) lesions. A review of the literature was performed using keywords through the PubMed-Medline and Cochrane Library search engine. Inclusion criteria were: (1) original publication in either the French or the English language, (2) studies conducted in humans, (3) presence of ORN lesions following head and neck radiotherapy (RT), (4) use of PRF or derivates in the treatment of ORN lesions, (5) clinical variables and outcomes mentioned in the study. Overall, four case reports were retained. Two publications were removed from the initial seven results after application of the inclusion criteria. A recent randomised clinical trial was not considered since the group analysed the effectiveness of leukocyte-enriched Plasmas-Rich-Fibrin (LPRF) in preventing ORN, but not in treating it. Therefore, four publications were retained for analysis. Results suggest that using PRF as an adjunct to surgical therapy is beneficial in treating ORN lesions although no controlled studies were found. Therefore, additional controlled clinical studies are warranted to better define the effectiveness and recommendation of this approach.

Diagnostic Reliability of Leptomeningeal Disease Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Brain metastases are seen in 20%-50% of patients with metastatic solid tumors. On the other hand, leptomeningeal disease (LMD) occurs more rarely. The gold standard for the diagnosis of LMD is serial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analyses, although in daily practice, the diagnosis of LMD is often made by neuroimaging. Leptomeningeal metastases (LM) have been a relative contra-indication to radiosurgery. It can be noted that focal LMD can be difficult to distinguish from a superficially located/cortical-based brain metastasis which is not a contra-indication for radiosurgery. Hence, justifying the need of a reliable diagnosis method. The goal of this study was to determine the inter-observer reliability of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (gdMRI) in the differentiation of focal cortical-based metastases from leptomeningeal spread. This is a retrospective review of a prospectively collected database of patients with brain metastases. A total of 42 cases with superficial lesions were selected for review. Additionally, eight control cases demonstrating deep and/or white-matter based lesions were included in the study. Three neuroradiologists and three radiation oncologists were asked to review each study and score the presence of LM. Inter-observer agreement was calculated using group-derived agreement coefficients (Gwet's AC1 and Gwet's AC2). Pair-wise inter-observer agreement coefficients never reached substantial values for trichotomized outcomes (LMD, non-LMD or indeterminate) but did reach a substantial value in a minority of cases for dichotomised outcomes (LMD or non-LMD). The control subgroup analysis revealed substantial agreement between most pairs for both trichotomized and dichotomised outcomes. We observed low inter-observer agreement amongst specialists for the diagnosis of focal LMD by gdMRI. Neuroimaging should not be relied upon to make treatment decisions, notably to deny patients radiosurgery.