Value of pre- and intraoperative diagnostic methods in suspected glottic neoplasia.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the individual and combined ability of videostroboscopy (VS), high-speed digital imaging (HSDI), enhanced endoscopy (EE) and saline infusion (SI) to predict neoplasia, defined as glottic precursor lesion (GPL) or T1a glottic cancer, in patients suspected for glottic neoplasia. METHODS: A nationwide prospective cohort study of patients treated by cordectomy for suspected GPL or T1a glottic cancer from August 1st 2016 to October 31st 2018 was conducted in the five Danish University Departments of Head and Neck surgery. Sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values, and area under Receiver Operating Curves (AUC-ROC) were calculated with 95% confidence intervals with respect to the histological diagnosis. Logistic regression with an imputation model for missing data was applied. RESULTS: 261 patients aged 34-91 years participated; 79 (30.3%) with non-neoplasia (i.e., inflammation, papilloma, hyperkeratosis) and 182 (69.7%) neoplasia, hereof 95 (36.4%) with GPL and 87 (33.3%) with T1a glottic cancer. Data from 188 VS, 60 HSDI, 100 preoperative EE, 209 intraoperative EE, and 234 SI were analyzed. In the complete case analysis the AUC-ROC of each diagnostic test was low, but increased when the tests were combined and especially if the combination included EE. However, multinomial logistic regression with imputation showed significant association (p < 0.05) only between age, male gender, and perpendicular vasculature in intraoperative EE, and the endpoint neoplasia. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative EE was the most accurate diagnostic method in detecting neoplasia. The prediction ability of methods applied preoperatively was more limited, but improved when test modalities were combined.

Efficiency of laser treatment in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

Earlier studies have shown the effect of laser treatment on epistaxis in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). At the present time, only very few prospective trials have been performed, and many studies are based on patients' subjective assessment of the severity of epistaxis. This prospective study measures the objective effect of laser treatment in HHT patients with mild to moderate epistaxis. We introduce an objective measure to assess the severity of epistaxis: the bleeding time (BT). Before and after treatment, the quality of life, as measured by the patient, was assessed and compared to normative data. In 30 patients, we measured the BT before laser treatment 1.5 and 6.5 months after treatment. The Short form 36 (SF-36), a validated health questionnaire, was completed before and 6.5 months after treatment. Compared to preoperative value, BT was significantly reduced 1.5 and 6.5 months after laser treatment (p < 0.05) in both cases. No significant difference in quality of life, before and after treatment, was found. The quality of life of the HHT patients was reduced in five out of eight dimensions when compared with the Danish background population. Laser treatment reduces epistaxis in HHT patients with mild to moderate epistaxis for at least 6 months; this group of patients have reduced quality of life compared to the background population.

Medullary thyroid cancer: RET testing of an archival material.

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) might be sporadic (75%) or hereditary (25%). Until the mid nineties the diagnosis of hereditary MTC was based on family history, clinical evaluation, histological detection of C-cell hyperplasia and tumor multifocality. Patients and families with hereditary MTC might be missed? Today mutation analysis of the RET proto-oncogene is routinely performed on DNA. Departments of pathology often store tissue specimens from performed surgical procedures. The purpose of this study was to examine if analysis of DNA extracted from formalin fixed archival tissue might be a possible method to identify not previously known cases of hereditary MTC. In 23 cases, tissue analysis was performed, and in 2 patients (9%) a mutation was identified, but in both cases the most likely explanation was contamination with tumor tissue. The ability to detect RET mutations was confirmed by testing of non-tumor tissue from patients with known hereditary MTC. This study shows that genetic testing of archival MTC material is technically possible and might be a way of identifying patients with previously not recognized hereditary MTC.

[Etiology and diagnostic methods in vocal cord paralysis]. / Aetiologi og diagnostiske metoder ved stemmebåndsparese.

INTRODUCTION: The etiology of vocal cord paralysis (VCP) is varied. There is lack of consensus regarding the choice of investigations to be used in the evaluation of VCP. The aim of this study was to establish the etiology, assess the diagnostic methods used in the evaluation, and outline an algorithm for future evaluation of unilateral vocal cord paralysis (UVCP). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Charts of all patients (n = 94) with the diagnostic code of VCP were reviewed, and reexaminations were performed of patients in whom no etiology was found after the initial symptoms. RESULTS: The etiology of UVCP was neoplasm in 34%, surgical trauma in 12%, and miscellaneous causes in 54%. The etiology of bilateral vocal cord paralysis (BVCP) was neoplasm in 24%, surgical trauma in 24%, and miscellaneous causes in 52%. The reexaminations did not reveal any cancer diseases in the patients concerned. The most effective diagnostic method was CT-scanning while the least effective was thyroid scanning. DISCUSSION: Because cancer is a common cause of VCP a thorough evaluation is necessary. For UVCP we recommend history and physical examination, X-ray of the chest, ultrasonography of the neck, and CT-scanning of the superior mediastinum. If these prove negative, panendoscopy should be performed. Workup of patients with idiopathic VCP should include examination, X-ray of the chest at 6-month intervals, and annual CT-scanning for two years.

Hearing 25 years after surgical treatment of otitis media with effusion in early childhood.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the long-term hearing following surgical treatment of chronic OME in early childhood (myringotomy or ventilation tube) and to determine the impact of the occurrence and the extension of specific eardrum pathology on the hearing level. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In 1977-1978, 224 consecutive children (91 girls and 133 boys) with chronic bilateral OME were enrolled and treated by adenoidectomy, bilateral myringotomy and insertion of a ventilation tube on the right side only. In 2002, a follow-up examination included otomicroscopy and audiometry. Hearing thresholds were compared to an age- and gender-matched normative data set. For the determination of the impact of specific eardrum pathology on the hearing, multiple linear regression modelling was used in adjustment for age and concomitant eardrum pathologies. RESULTS: Long-term hearing after chronic OME and associated treatment is not different from age and gender-matched normal hearing. Treatment modality (myringotomy or ventilation tube) has no impact on the long-term hearing level. The regression analyses showed that the presence of myringosclerosis is associated with an overall hearing loss in myringotomised ears (4-5 dB), but not in tubed ears, for which only high frequencies were affected. Conversely, tensa atrophy is associated with an overall hearing loss in tubed ears (3-4 dB), but not in myringotomised ears, for which only high frequencies were affected. CONCLUSIONS: Hearing 25 years after surgical treatment of chronic OME is not different from age and gender matched normal hearing. In addition, treatment modality (myringotomy or ventilation tube) has no impact on the long-term hearing level. However, atrophy is associated with a hearing loss in tubed ears, whereas myringosclerosis is associated with a hearing loss in myringotomised ears. The hearing loss associated with pathology is of limited magnitude (up to about 5 dB PTA). Even though pathology does occur more frequently and more extensively in tubed ears, the effect on the hearing at the group level is too small to have an impact. It is important to note, that this may be due to a type 2-error (number of patients too small to show an effect).

Myringotomy versus ventilation tubes in secretory otitis media: eardrum pathology, hearing, and eustachian tube function 25 years after treatment.

OBJECTIVE: This report documents the dynamics of eardrum pathology, hearing acuity, and eustachian tube function during 25 years after treatment of bilateral secretory otitis media. The included children were treated by myringotomy on the left ear and ventilation tube insertion on the right ear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred twenty-four children with bilateral secretory otitis media were treated by bilateral myringotomy and insertion of a ventilation tube on the right side only. The children were reexamined by otomicroscopy, tympanometry, and pure tone audiometry after 3, 7, and 25 years. At the last evaluation, the eustachian tube function was evaluated by the 9-step test. RESULTS: 1) Myringosclerosis and late atrophy were more prevalent in tube ears. 2) Prevalence of eardrum retraction decreased over time, whereas that of sclerosis remained unchanged in tube ears and increased in myringotomy ears. 3) Prevalence of atrophy increased over time in tube ears. 4) Extension of myringosclerosis increased, whereas that of atrophy and tensa retraction decreased over time, regardless of treatment. 5) Hearing was better in the tube ear during, but not after treatment. 6) Tympanometric findings were not related to treatment. 7) Eustachian tube function at 25 years was not related to treatment. CONCLUSION: The insertion of a ventilation tube after myringotomy leads not only to better hearing until extrusion but also to an increased prevalence of long-term pathologic changes of the eardrum, that is, myringosclerosis and late atrophy. The temporary hearing improvement may reduce the risk of detrimental effects on speech and language development. The prevalence and extension of the various subtypes of pathology change over the years after treatment, which implies the existence of intrinsic repair mechanisms, but also continuing progression of disease and/or treatment sequelae many years after treatment. However, these changes do not seem to affect the hearing acuity in the long term. The treatment modality has no impact on late eustachian tube function.