Efficacity of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for necrotizing fasciitis in the maxillofacial region: The review of the literature.

Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a rare, dangerous, potentially fatal infectious disease of soft tissue. The treatment consists of antibiotic therapy, surgical debridement and subsequent reconstruction. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy has been applied in NF patients recently, so our aim was to gather the findings and outcomes for HBO therapy. A PubMed and Google Scholar literature search was conducted regarding the effect of HBO therapy in patients with NF following key words: 'necrotizing fasciitis' AND 'maxillofacial region' OR 'head and neck' AND 'hyperbaric oxygen' OR 'HBO'. A total of 3333 studies have been identified, of which only 16 articles met the inclusion criteria of this review. A conclusion was made, that aggressive combinations of antibiotics and surgical debridement followed by incorporation of HBO therapy, as an adjuvant treatment, in patients with NF and in company by immunoglobulin therapy are showing promising results. In addition, multi-centric studies should be in consideration for further research.

Masticatory muscles activity in patients with mandibular angle fractures: A literature review on which procedure to use to reverse the best masticatory muscles functionality.

Introduction: Mandible is the first or the second most fractured bone of facial skeleton. Fractures of the angle account for 23-43% of all mandibular fractures. Soft and hard tissue are affected in a traumatized mandible. Bite forces are an essential factor in masticatory muscles activity. An improved function is a result of improvement in the bite force. Aim: The objective of this research was to conduct a systematic review of all available literature regarding the masticatory muscles' activity and bite forces in patients with mandibular angle fractures. Methods: PubMed, and Google Scholar databases have been searched with the following keywords: "mandibular angle fractures" AND "bite forces "OR "masticatory muscles activity". Results: This research methodology provided 402 articles. Of which 33 were selected for analysis if they were pertinent to the topic. Then only 10 results have been identified and included in this review. Conclusions: We can conclude that bite force decreased significantly after trauma, specifically during the first month after injury, and then increases gradually over time. More randomized clinical trial studies and the incorporation of more methods such as electromyography (EMG) for measuring the electrical activity of muscles and bite force recorder could be considered in the future.

Epidermoid Cyst of Mandible Ramus: Case Report.

INTRODUCTION: An epidermoid cyst is a benign cyst usually found on the skin. Bone cysts are very rare and if they appear in bone they usually appear in the distal phalanges of the fingers. Epidermoid cysts of the jaws are uncommon. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case, of a 41 year-old female patient admitted to our department because of pain and swelling in the parotid and masseteric region-left side. There was no trismus, pathological findings in skin, high body temperature level, infra-alveolar nerves anesthesia or lymphadenopathy present. The orthopantomography revealed a cystic lesion and a unilocular lesion that included mandibular ramus on the left side with 3 cm in diameter. Under total anesthesia, a cyst had been reached and was enucleated. Histopathologic findings showed that the pathologic lesion was an epidermoid cyst. DISCUSSION: Epidermoid and dermoid cysts are rare, benign lesions found throughout the body. Only a few cases in literature describe an intraossesus epidermoid cyst. CONCLUSION: Our case is an epidermoid cyst with a rare location in the region of the mandibular ramus. It is not associated with any trauma in this region except medical history reveals there was an operative removal of a wisdom tooth 12 years ago in the same side. These cysts are interesting from the etiological point of view. They should be considered in the differential diagnosis of other radiolucent lesions of the jaws. Surgically they have a very good prognosis, and are non-aggressive lesions.

Left and right ventricular diastolic function in hemodialysis patients.

The aim of this prospective study was the assessment of left ventricular and right ventricular diastolic function in patients on hemodialysis (HD) and the correlation of this function with the duration of HD. The study included 42 patients (22 females and 20 males) with chronic renal failure (CRF), treated with HD, and 40 healthy subjects (24 females and 16 males) with no history of cardiovascular disease and with normal renal function, who constituted the control group. The groups were matched for age and sex. All study patients and control subjects underwent detailed history taking and physical examination. They also underwent electrocardiogram, echocardiography and biochemical and hematological blood analyses. Significant differences were noted between the two groups in the two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiography findings concerning aortic root dimension, transverse diameter of the left atrium, thickness of the interventricular septum, thickness of the left ventricular posterior wall, left ventricular diastolic diameter, left ventricular systolic diameter, shortening fraction, ejection fraction as well as findings from the pulse Doppler study, including E wave, A wave, E/A ratio, deceleration time of E wave (DT-E), acceleration time of E wave (AT-E), tricuspid E and A waves (E tr and A tr ) and E tr /A tr , ratio. There were significant changes in HD patients without arterial hypertension as well in the control group subjects. Our study suggests that the left ventricular and left atrial dimensions as well as the left ventricular wall thickness are augmented in patients with CRF treated with HD compared with the control group. Additionally, the left and right ventricular diastolic function is also reduced in these patients. These differences were also noted in patients with CRF without arterial hypertension. Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction had no correlation with the duration of HD.