Audiometric and Otologic Findings in Children and Young Adults with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and Plexiform Neurofibromas.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize otologic and audiologic manifestations in our NF1 cohort and explore the relationship between otologic and audiologic findings in a subset of patients with ear-related plexiform neurofibromas (PNs). METHODS: Audiologic and otologic clinical evaluations were conducted on 102 patients with NF1 in a natural history study (5-45 years; M = 14.4 years; Mdn = 14). Testing included pure tone and speech audiometry, middle ear function, neurodiagnostic auditory brainstem response (ABR), auditory processing, and MRIs of the head and neck region. Patients referred to this study had an overall higher incidence and burden of PNs than the overall NF1 population. RESULTS: The majority of subjects in this cohort had normal hearing sensitivity (81%) and normal middle ear function (78%). Nineteen participants had hearing loss that ranged in degree from mild to profound, with the majority in the mild range. Hearing loss was twice as likely to be conductive than sensorineural. In patients with ear-related PNs (n = 12), hearing loss was predominantly conductive (60%). Seventy-five percent of ears with PNs had atypical tympanometric tracings that could not be characterized by the classic categories. In all 20 patients with a PN in the temporal bone, the ear canal was affected, and the PNs often extended to the surrounding soft tissue regions. CONCLUSIONS: People with NF1-related PNs in the temporal bone and adjacent skull base should have audiometric and otologic monitoring. Addressing hearing concerns should be part of routine clinical evaluations in patients with NF1. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) should be performed in patients with NF1 who have hearing loss. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 Laryngoscope, 133:2770-2778, 2023.

Quality improvement in surgery: introduction of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program into New South Wales.

BACKGROUND: Quality improvement in surgery requires accurate, reliable, risk-adjusted and comparative data. The American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) takes reliable clinical data and provides risk-adjusted comparisons with more than 800 hospitals. This paper describes the early outcomes of introducing this programme into New South Wales (NSW). METHODS: Four NSW hospitals formed a collaborative. Surgical clinical reviewers were trained and data collected. Risk-adjusted reports were returned to individual hospitals and the NSW Collaborative. RESULTS: The results identified that the NSW Collaborative were outliers for the following causes of morbidity: urinary tract infections, surgical site infections, pneumonia and 30-day readmissions. CONCLUSION: We have shown that ACS-NSQIP can be adapted to Australia and there is a plan to widen the programme in NSW.