IL-13 and IL-13-induced periostin levels are specifically decreased in patients following endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 (T2) inflammation plays a pathogenic role in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The effects of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) on T2 inflammation are unknown. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare T2 inflammatory biomarkers from middle meatal (MM) mucus for distinguishing patients with CRS from CRS-free patients, identifying major phenotypes (CRS without nasal polyps [CRSsNP] and CRS with nasal polyps [CRSwNP]), assessing endotypic change, and establishing cross-sectional and longitudinal outcomes in patients undergoing ESS. METHODS: MM mucus samples were collected from patients with CRSsNP and patients with CRSwNP before and 6 to 12 months after ESS and compared with samples from CRS-free control patients. T2 biomarkers were evaluated both continuously and using threshold-based definitions of T2 endotype to identify relationships with patient-reported (based on the 22-Item Sinonasal Outcomes Test and Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patient-Reported Outcomes Measure) and clinician-reported (radiographic and endoscopic) severity. Linear mixed models were developed to analyze clinical variables associated with T2 biomarker levels. RESULTS: A total of 154 patients with CRS (89 with CRSsNP and 65 with CRSwNP) were enrolled, with a mean interval of 9 months between ESS and follow-up. An analysis of pre-ESS MM mucus samples revealed elevated levels of T2 mediators in patients with CRSwNP versus in patients with CRSsNP and CRS-free controls. Temporally stable correlations between levels of IL-13 and IL-5, levels of periostin and complement 5a, and levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and eotaxin-3 were observed. On this basis and on the basis of pathologic significance, levels of IL-13, periostin and ECP were further analyzed. After ESS, levels of IL-13 and periostin decreased significantly, whereas ECP levels remained unchanged. Across pre- and post-ESS evaluation, the T2 endotype was associated with radiographic severity but did not predict outcomes. CRSwNP status and African American race were associated with higher levels of IL-13 and periostin, whereas ECP level was higher in patients undergoing extensive surgery. CONCLUSION: ESS decreased levels of IL-13 and periostin in the middle meatus. T2 inflammation after ESS was correlated with patient- and clinician-reported severity across phenotypes. Pre-ESS T2 inflammation did not predict post-ESS outcomes.

Intra-Arterial Therapy for Acute Stroke and the Effect of Technological Advances on Recanalization: Findings in a Community Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Recent randomized controlled studies have shown improvement in recanalization outcomes when physicians use the latest intra-arterial therapy devices in patients with acute, large-vessel, intracranial occlusions. The goal of this study was to explore how new procedures affected degree of and time to recanalization at a single center over the past 12 years as technology has improved. METHODS: Patients were included in the study if they had a large or medium intracranial vessel occlusion and had undergone intra-arterial therapy for acute stroke during the period 2002-2013. Therapies were categorized as intra-arterial thrombolysis with tissue plasminogen activator (IA tPA), mechanical thrombectomy using 1st-generation devices (Merci and Penumbra), or mechanical thrombectomy using 2nd-generation devices (stent-trievers). Recanalization was defined using a modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction (TICI) scale. RESULTS: Primary treatment was IA tPA in 24 (12.4%) patients, 1st-generation devices in 128 (66.0%) patients, and 2nd-generation devices in 42 (21.6%) patients. TICI 2b was achieved in 7 (29.2%) patients treated with IA tPA, in 79 (61.7%) patients treated with 1st-generation devices, and in 38 (90.5%) patients treated with 2nd-generation devices. Compared to patients treated with IA tPA, patients treated with 2nd-generation devices were more likely to reach TICI 2b recanalization (odds ratio, 11.66; 95% CI, 1.56-87.01), and they did so in shorter times. CONCLUSION: Technological advances over 12 years in endovascular stroke treatments significantly improved the chance of and reduced time to achieving TICI 2b recanalization in our community hospital. This shows the importance of adopting new technologies in a rapidly evolving field in order to provide the best-practice standard of care for the people of our region.

Persistent discharge or edema after endoscopic sinus surgery in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis is associated with a type 1 or 3 endotype.

BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) may have persistence of polyps, discharge, or edema after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). Inflammation in CRS can be classified into three endotypes, with the presence of polyps associated with the type 2 endotype. Here, we evaluate the endotypic underpinnings of discharge or edema without polyps after ESS. METHODS: At a visit 6-12 months post ESS, patients underwent endoscopy and completed the CRS-PRO and SNOT-22. Luminex analysis of middle meatal mucus obtained at that visit was performed for IFN-γ, ECP, and IL-17a. Type 1, 2, and 3 endotypes were defined as greater than the 90th percentile expression of each marker, respectively, in controls. Wilcoxon rank-sum and chi-squared tests were used to compare cytokine levels and endotype prevalence between those with and without endoscopic findings. RESULTS: A total of 122 CRS patients completed a clinical exam (median: 8.2 months post ESS). Of the 122 patients, 107 did not have polyps on endoscopy. Of these 107 patients, 48 had discharge, 44 had edema, and 46 had neither discharge nor edema. Compared with those patients without any findings, patients with discharge or edema reported significantly worse severity as measured by CRS-PRO (10.5 vs. 7.0, p = 0.009; 12.0 vs. 7.0, p < 0.001; respectively), and had higher post-ESS IFN-γ, ECP, and IL-17a. Patients with discharge had higher prevalence of only T1 and T3 endotypes, while patients with edema had higher prevalence of only the T3 endotype. CONCLUSIONS: Post-ESS discharge or edema in the absence of polyps was associated with higher patient-reported outcome severity and was more strongly associated with type 1 or 3 inflammation.

Contralateral Sinonasal Symptoms Following Unilateral Endoscopic Sinus Surgery.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the degree to which patients undergoing unilateral endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) experience post-operative contralateral sinonasal symptoms and determine risk factors for contralateral symptomatology following unilateral ESS. METHODS: Patients who underwent unilateral surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) were contacted and asked if they felt symptomatic on the contralateral side at that point in time. Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scores were obtained based on contralateral symptomatology they recalled at the following time points: pre-ESS, 1 month post-ESS, and 3 months post-ESS. Demographics, contralateral symptomatology, and NOSE scores were compared between those with 2 or fewer sinusotomies versus 3 or more sinusotomies. RESULTS: Of the 97 patients included in this study, 24% of patients reported contralateral congestion, a median of 24 months post-ESS, and more than 10% of patients reported other contralateral symptoms including swelling, rhinorrhea, difficulty breathing, and hyposmia post-ESS. Those with 2 or fewer sinusotomies were more likely to feel that they had developed worsened sensation of contralateral sinus swelling (P = .008). The median amount of time from the participants' index surgery until the time they were interviewed was 24 months. There were no differences in long-term contralateral symptomatology between those who did and did not have septoplasty (27%). CONCLUSION: Patients who have unilateral ESS for CRS may experience long-term contralateral symptoms. Having a septoplasty did not affect contralateral symptoms.

CRS-PRO and SNOT-22 correlations with type 2 inflammatory mediators in chronic rhinosinusitis.

The 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) and 12-item Patient Reported Outcomes in Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS-PRO) instrument are validated patient-reported outcomes measures in CRS. In this study we assess the correlation of these with type 2 (T2) biomarkers before and after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). METHODS: Middle meatal mucus data were collected and the SNOT-22 and CRS-PRO were administered to 123 patients (71 CRS without nasal polyps [CRSsNP], 52 CRS with nasal polyps [CRSwNP]) with CRS before and 6 to 12 months after undergoing ESS. Interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13, and eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP) were measured using a multiplexed bead assay and enzyme-linked immunoassay. Pre- and post-ESS SNOT-22 and CRS-PRO were compared with T2 biomarkers. RESULTS: Before ESS neither PROM correlated with any biomarker. After ESS, CRS-PRO showed a correlation with 2 mediators (IL-5 and IL-13: p = 0.012 and 0.003, respectively) compared with none for the SNOT-22. For CRSwNP patients, pre-ESS CRS-PRO and SNOT-22 correlated with IL-4 (p = 0.04 for both). However, after ESS, CRS-PRO correlated with 3 biomarkers (IL-5, IL-13, and ECP: p = 0.02, 0.024, and 0.04, respectively) and SNOT-22 with 2 biomarkers (IL-5 and IL-13: p = 0.038 and 0.02, respectively). There were no significant relationships between any of the T2 biomarkers pre- or post-ESS among patients with CRSsNP. Exploratory analyses of the subdomains showed the SNOT-22 rhinologic and CRS-PRO rhinopsychologic subdomains correlated better with the T2 biomarkers. On individual item analysis, IL-13 correlated significantly post-ESS with 8 of 12 items on the CRS-PRO vs 6 of 22 items on the SNOT-22. CONCLUSION: The CRS-PRO total score showed a significant correlation with T2 biomarkers especially when assessed post-ESS and among CRSwNP patients.

Use of intraoperative frontal sinus mometasone-eluting stents decreased interleukin 5 and interleukin 13 in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.

BACKGROUND: Mometasone-eluting stents (MES) have demonstrated improvement in short-term endoscopic outcomes and reduce short- to medium-term rescue interventions. Their effect on the local inflammatory environment, longer-term patient-reported outcomes, and radiographic severity have not been studied. METHODS: Middle meatal mucus and validated measures of disease severity were collected before and 6 to 12 months after endoscopic surgery in 52 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNPs). Operative findings, type 2 mediator concentrations, intraoperative variables, and disease severity measures were compared between those who did and those who did not receive intraoperative frontal MES. RESULTS: A total of 52 patients with CRSwNPs were studied; 33 received frontal MES and were compared with 19 who did not. Pre-endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) middle meatus (MM) interleukin (IL) 13 and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) were higher in the stented group (p < 0.05), but pre-ESS clinical measures of disease severity were similar as were surgical extent and post-ESS medical management. Intraoperative eosinophilic mucin was more frequent in the stented group (58% vs 11%, p = 0.001). IL-5 (p < 0.05) and IL-13 (p < 0.001) decreased post-ESS in the stented group, but this was not observed in the nonstented group. Post-ESS IL-4 and IL-13 were higher in the nonstented vs stented group (p < 0.05 for both). CONCLUSION: Although patients who received intraoperative frontal MES had significantly higher pre-ESS MM IL-13 and ECP, patients who received frontal MES had lower concentrations of IL-4 and IL-13 than those who did not at a median of 8 months post-ESS. However, these changes did not correspond to significantly different measures of symptomatic or radiographic disease severity.

Targetable pathogenic mechanisms in nasal polyposis.

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) represents a challenging disease entity with significant rates of recurrence following appropriate medical and surgical therapy. Recent approval of targeted biologics in CRSwNP compels deeper understanding of underlying disease pathophysiology. Both of the approved biologics for CRSwNP modulate the type 2 inflammatory pathway, and the majority of drugs in the clinical trials pathway are similarly targeted. However, there remain multiple other pathogenic mechanisms relevant to CRSwNP for which targeted therapeutics already exist in other inflammatory diseases that have not been studied directly. In this article we summarize pathogenic mechanisms of interest in CRSwNP and discuss the results of ongoing clinical studies of targeted therapeutics in CRSwNP and other related human inflammatory diseases.

In-Office Corticosteroid Placement in the Management of Chronic Rhinosinusitis.

OBJECTIVES: Corticosteroids represent one of the mainstays of medical management of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) in both locally acting topical and systemic derivations. The application of topical corticosteroids is limited by a variety of factors including patient compliance, positioning, and nasal anatomy. Systemic corticosteroids confer a risk of medical complication that restricts their ability to be used repeatedly. The objective of this publication is to review the evolution of the in-office intranasal placement of corticosteroids in the management of CRS. The efficacy, outcomes, and safety of a variety of corticosteroid-containing devices meant to be placed in an office setting are reviewed. METHODS: Pertinent literature was reviewed and summarized beginning with the earliest reports of direct intralesional injection of corticosteroids up through manufactured modern-day bioresorbable implants that contain corticosteroids. RESULTS: The utilization of in-office placement of corticosteroid-containing material and implants has rapidly evolved since the concept was introduced, particularly in the last decade. Modern-day corticosteroid-eluting implants are reliably placed in the office, yield results across a range of objective and subjective outcomes, may decrease the need for revision endoscopic sinus surgery, and have a favorable safety profile. CONCLUSIONS: In-office placement of corticosteroid-containing stents are a viable treatment option for select patients, particularly those wishing to avoid revision surgery, and should be considered an important adjunct for treatment of refractory CRS in an otolaryngologist's armamentarium.

Recurrent macroglossia requiring tracheostomy after haemorrhagic basal ganglia stroke.

A 50-year-old African American woman with hypertension, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease and prior cerebral vascular accident was transferred from an outside hospital after being found unresponsive and subsequently intubated for severe orolingual swelling. Imaging showed left thalamic haemorrhagic stroke, and the lingual swelling was clinically concerning for angio-oedema, with which a lingual biopsy was consistent. Work-up was negative for hereditary or acquired angio-oedema, and imaging was negative for structural causes. Of note, the patient had an episode of severe orolingual swelling 3 months prior to this presentation after suffering left thalamic haemorrhage which self-resolved after approximately 2 months. In both episodes lingual swelling predated receipt of tissue plasminogen activator and she had discontinued ACE inhibitor therapy since her first episode of tongue swelling. Despite medical and supportive management, tongue swelling progressed during admission and the decision was made to allow the patient's tongue swelling to self-resolve.

Patient factors associated with NPO violations in a tertiary care pediatric otolaryngology practice.

OBJECTIVES: To determine demographic and patient variables associated with nothing by mouth (NPO) violations prior to surgery in a tertiary care pediatric hospital. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients <18 years of age undergoing elective surgery at a tertiary care children's hospital from 1/1/16 to 4/30/19 who violated their NPO guidelines was performed. Variables associated with a higher rate of NPO violations were analyzed among the different surgical sub-specialties. Additional analyses were performed comparing those with NPO violations to the total group of patients undergoing surgery in the study period. RESULTS: Of the 42 495 children who underwent elective surgical procedures in the study period, 625 (1.5%) committed NPO violations. The median age for those committing a violation was 3 years, and the majority (n = 421, 67.4%) were between 0 and 6 years of age. Otolaryngology patients committing NPO violations had a longer time between scheduling surgery and operative date than other surgical services (P < .0001), but a similar time as the urology service. Otolaryngology patients had the highest number of NPO violations (n = 245, 39.2%) compared to the other surgical services, despite doing 32.4% of the total surgical cases (P < .001). Children from Spanish-speaking homes accounted for 137 (21.9%) NPO violations, despite accounting for only 11.2% of total surgeries performed. Patients with Medicaid insurance (n = 438, 63.0%) had a higher rate of NPO violations, despite making up 43.6% of total patients. CONCLUSIONS: NPO violations occurred in 1.5% of patients during the study period, particularly among the youngest age range of the children analyzed, and they were most prevalent in the otolaryngology patients. Spanish speaking families, and those with Medicaid insurance had higher rates of NPO violations despite making up a smaller percentage of those being operated on overall. This highlighted the need for improvement in communication of fasting guidelines to caregivers. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

Probable neurosarcoidosis presenting as acute on chronic otorrhoea: a difficult diagnosis.

An elderly African American woman presented to our clinic following 9 months of right-sided unilateral headache, otorrhoea and progressive hearing loss. Despite treatment with topical and oral antibiotics, her clinical condition worsened, and imaging showed mastoid coalescence with an associated subgaleal abscess. She underwent right mastoidectomy and was discharged 3 days later on broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics despite negative operative cultures. Six weeks later, she was hospitalised with diplopia secondary to a right lateral rectus palsy. Imaging showed abscess resolution but progressive bony remodelling and enhancement of the lateral extending into anterior skull base. Chest CT demonstrated upper lobe predominant pulmonary micronodules, and mastoid biopsy on revision surgery was notable for non-caseating granulomas. Further extensive work-up could not identify an alternative cause, and a presumptive diagnosis of neurosarcoidosis was made. The patient was initiated on intravenous steroids, experienced symptomatic improvement and was thereafter transitioned to oral steroid taper on discharge.

Factors Associated With Intubation and Prolonged Intubation in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors associated with intubation and time to extubation in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective observational study. SETTING: Ten hospitals in the Chicago metropolitan area. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 admitted between March 1 and April 8, 2020, were included. We evaluated sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with intubation and prolonged intubation for acute respiratory failure secondary to COVID-19 infection. RESULTS: Of the 486 hospitalized patients included in the study, the median age was 59 years (interquartile range, 47-69); 271 (55.8%) were male; and the median body mass index was 30.6 (interquartile range, 26.5-35.6). During the hospitalization, 138 (28.4%) patients were intubated; 78 (56.5%) were eventually extubated; 21 (15.2%) died; and 39 (28.3%) remained intubated at a mean ± SD follow-up of 19.6 ± 6.7 days. Intubated patients had a significantly higher median age (65 vs 57 years, P < .001) and rate of diabetes (56 [40.6%] vs 104 [29.9%], P = .031) as compared with nonintubated patients. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified age, sex, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, history of diabetes, and shortness of breath as factors predictive of intubation. Age and body mass index were the only factors independently associated with time to extubation. CONCLUSION: In addition to clinical signs of respiratory distress, patients with COVID-19 who are older, male, or diabetic are at higher risk of requiring intubation. Among intubated patients, older and more obese patients are at higher risk for prolonged intubation. Otolaryngologists consulted for airway management should consider these factors in their decision making.

Publicly Available Databases in Otolaryngology Quality Improvement.

The historical context for quality improvement is provided. Important differences are described between the two overarching types of databases: clinical registries and administrative databases. The pros and cons of each are provided as are examples of their utilization in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.

Cosmetic Otoplasty.

Otoplasty for prominent ears is a rewarding yet exacting surgery that demands the precise application of anatomic knowledge, anthropometric norms, and surgical creativity. The practitioner must be able to use a variety of different techniques to provide durable and acceptable cosmetic results to patients. This article provides an in-depth description of normal and abnormal auricular anatomy, the historical context for modern otoplasty, and describes in detail the common otoplastic procedures currently performed.

Cervical oesophageal perforation secondary to food consumption in a well-appearing patient.

A 71-year-old woman presented to the emergency department 8 days after ingesting fish with mild neck pain but otherwise demonstrated no signs of infection. X-rays were negative but CT imaging demonstrated a curvilinear radiodense object extending from the posterior cervical oesophagus through the right thyroid lobe terminating in the neck just a few millimetres from the external carotid artery. Rigid oesophagoscopy and direct laryngoscopy were negative and the neck was explored for the foreign body, which ultimately was encountered after a painstaking dissection of the right neck that included skeletonisation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Her postoperative recovery was uneventful and after a 3-day course of intravenous antibiotics she was discharged on oral antibiotics, in good condition and tolerating a soft diet.

ACS NSQIP Risk Calculator: An Accurate Predictor of Complications in Major Head and Neck Surgery?

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) calculator is meant to provide an estimation of perioperative risk. Our goal was to determine the clinical applicability of the calculator in major head and neck surgery. A retrospective chart review was completed for major head and neck operations performed at 1 institution from 2013 to 2014. The calculated perioperative complication risks from the ACS NSQIP calculator were compared with observed complication rates. Overall, the ACS NSQIP calculator had little predictive value for pneumonia, surgical site infection, 30-day return to operating room, or length of stay within this cohort (P > .05). The calculator appears to have some value predicting total numbers of complications but has poor performance predicting an individual's risk of suffering a perioperative complication. In conclusion, in our small cohort of patients, the ACS NSQIP calculator was a poor predictor of perioperative complications following major head and neck operations.

Ability of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Risk Calculator to Predict Complications Following Total Laryngectomy.

Importance: The accuracy of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) risk calculator has been assessed in multiple surgical subspecialties; however, there have been no publications doing the same in the head and neck surgery literature. Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of the calculator's predictions in a single institution's total laryngectomy (TL) population. Design, Setting, and Participants: Total laryngectomies performed between 2013 and 2014 at a tertiary referral academic center were evaluated using the risk calculator. Predicted 30-day outcomes were compared with observed outcomes for return to operating room, surgical site infection, postoperative pneumonia, length of stay, and venous thromboembolism. Main Outcomes and Measures: Comparison of the NSQIP risk calculator's predicted postoperative complication rates and length of stay to what occurred in this patient cohort using percent error, Brier scores, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, and Pearson correlation analysis. Results: Of 49 patients undergoing TL, the mean (SD) age at operation was 59 (9.3) years, with 67% male. The risk calculator had limited efficacy predicting perioperative complications in this group of patients undergoing TL with or without free tissue reconstruction or preoperative chemoradiation or radiation therapy with a few exceptions. The calculator overestimated the occurrence of pneumonia by 165%, but underestimated surgical site infection by 7%, return to operating room by 24%, and length of stay by 13%. The calculator had good sensitivity and specificity of predicting surgical site infection for patients undergoing TL with free flap reconstruction (area under the curve, 0.83). For all other subgroups, however, the calculator had poor sensitivity and specificity for predicting complications. Conclusions and Relevance: The risk calculator has limited utility for predicting perioperative complications in patients undergoing TL. This is likely due to the complexity of the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer and factors not taken into account when calculating a patient's risk.

Physiological responses to acute psychological stress are reduced by the PPARγ agonist rosiglitazone.

Physiological reactions to psychological stress are positively associated with several important chronic conditions including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases and are linked to increased mortality. As such, the identification of cellular and molecular pathways that act to reduce stress responding may represent important targets for therapeutic intervention. Here we report that acute treatment with the peroxisome-proliferator activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) agonist rosiglitazone (RSG) blunts systemic responses to acute psychological stress in rats. Rats that had previously received oral RSG for 5 d exhibited a 40% reduction in the initial heart rate response to an acute restraint stress, compared with vehicle-treated controls, suggesting that increased PPARγ signaling blunts the acute autonomic response to stress. Rats previously treated with RSG likewise had a blunted hormonal response to this stressor, exhibiting a 30% reduction in peak corticosterone levels compared with controls. Moreover, stress-induced expression of c-Fos, a marker of early neuronal activation, was similarly reduced in the paraventricular hypothalamus, a key site for brain stress integration, facilitating both autonomic and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical responses to stress. Taken as a whole, these data suggest that PPARγ stimulation potently inhibits physiological responses to psychological stress, prescribing a novel role for PPARγ signaling in the regulation of brain stress integration.