Bone reconstruction using CAD/CAM technology in head and neck surgical oncology. A narrative review of state of the art and aesthetic-functional outcomes.

Bone defects following resections for head and neck tumours can cause significant functional and aesthetic defects. The choice of the optimal reconstructive method depends on several factors such as the size of the defect, location of the tumour, patient's health and surgeon's experience. The reconstructive gold standard is today represented by revascularised osteo-myocutaneous or osteomuscular flaps with osteosynthesis using titanium plates. Commonly used donor sites are the fibula, iliac crest, and lateral scapula/scapular angle. In recent years, computer-aided design (CAD)/computer assisted manufacturing (CAM) systems have revolutionised the reconstructive field, with the introduction of stereolithographic models, followed by virtual planning software and 3D printing of plates and prostheses. This technology has demonstrated excellent reliability in terms of accuracy, precision and predictability, leading to better operative outcomes, reduced surgical times and decreased complication rates. Among the disadvantages are high costs, implementation times and poor planning adaptability. These problems are finding a partial solution in the development of "in house" laboratories for planning and 3D printing. Strong indications for the use of CAD/CAM technologies today are the reconstruction of total or subtotal mandibular or maxillary defects and secondary bone reconstructions.

Cranio-Maxillofacial Injuries in Mixed Martial Arts.

PURPOSE: To describe a case of a maxillofacial trauma that occurred during a mixed martial arts (MMA) match and to perform a literature review of maxillofacial injuries related to MMA match to determine whether preventive models are applicable. METHODS: The authors described a maxillofacial injury with orbital and optic nerve involvement that happened during a professional MMA match. A literature review on maxillofacial trauma in MMA was conducted on Scopus and Pubmed with specific keywords. RESULTS: Open reduction and internal fixation of the maxillofacial complex fractures with right eye optic neuropathy following an MMA match is described. Six articles were selected for the description of trauma in the maxillofacial complex associated with MMA fights. DISCUSSION: Literature has paid little attention to injuries during MMA matches. The most common injury locations that emerged from the literature review were the head, face, and neck. Middle facial third injuries were the most common type. Frequently the injury involved the ophthalmic area. CONCLUSIONS: The timing of maxillofacial trauma in MMA is critical. Protective devices should be strongly promoted to prevent catastrophic consequences.

Current concepts in targeted therapies for benign tumors of the jaw - A review of the literature.

The aim of our study was to review current concepts in targeted therapies for benign tumors of the jaw. Benign odontogenic and maxillofacial bone tumors often require radical surgery, with consequent morbidity that impacts patients' postsurgical quality of life. Currently, targeted therapies and novel nonsurgical therapeutics are being explored for management of non-resectable tumors, with the aim of avoiding surgery or minimizing surgical scope. However, data on clinical applications of targeted therapies for benign tumors of the jaw remain sparse. Therefore, a literature review was conducted, based on the PubMed database, which included in vivo human clinical studies describing clinical application of targeted therapy for benign tumor of the jaw. The review assessed the outcomes of BRAF and MEK inhibitors for treatment of ameloblastoma, RANKL monoclonal antibody for treatment of giant cell tumor, cherubism, aneurysmal bone cyst, and fibrous dysplasia, and tyrosine kinase inhibitor for treatment of odontogenic myxoma and cherubism. Targeted therapies decreased tumor size, slowed down tumor progression, and reduced bone pain. Surgery remains the gold standard, but targeted therapies are promising adjuvant or alternative treatment options for reducing tumor progression and morbidity of tumor surgery.

It is time to improve the diagnostic workup of oropharyngeal cancer with circulating tumor HPV DNA: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

The possibility of detecting circulating tumor HPV DNA (ctHPVDNA) in plasma in patients with oropharyngeal cancer has been demonstrated in several reports. However, these data are from small cohorts and available tests for detection of ctHPVDNA are not fully validated. The aim is to evaluate sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of ctHPVDNA by ddPCR to define its efficacy in the clinical setting for the diagnosis of HPV + OPSCC. A comprehensive search of three different databases: MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases. A total of 998 patients were evaluated from the 13 studies. OPSSC p16+ were 729, while controls p16- were 269. The meta-analytic study estimated the diagnostic performance of ctHPVDNA as follows: pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.90 (95% CI: 0.82-0.94) and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.85-0.98), respectively; positive and negative likelihood ratios of 12.6 (95% CI: 4.9-32.1) and 0.05 (95% CI: 0.02-0.13), respectively. ddPCR for ctHPVDNA has good accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for diagnosis of HPV + OPSCC. ctHPVDNA kinetic represents a great reliable opportunity to improve diagnostic and therapeutic management of cancer patients and could open new perspectives for understanding tumor biology.

Second primary carcinoma arising on a flap: a new primary or a relapse?

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Free flaps or pedicle flaps are the mainstay of cancer surgery in the head and neck area. However, their long-term sequelae are still poorly understood. Among these, the development of a secondary primary tumor on a flap is a rare and uncertain reported event.   Methods: A computer-aided systematic literature search was performed by using the PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases. A systematic review of the literature, following the PRISMA checklist, was carried out with the aim of analyzing all the citations reporting this second primary, with attention to risk factors, behavior, etiological causes.   Results: Overall, 27 cases of second primary squamous cell carcinoma arising on a pedicle or free flap were identified. In addition, other three cases were discussed.   Conclusions: Persistent exposure to oral stimuli such saliva, oral microbiome, smoke or a colonization by the adjacent mucosa were considered as a possible cause of second primary carcinoma. Although rare, a new neoplasm onset should know and considered as a new concept in the follow-up of patients undergoing reconstruction with free or pedicle flaps.

Submandibular gland involvement in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma: a retrospective multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: The submandibular gland (SMG) is routinely excised during neck dissection. Given the importance of the SMG in saliva production, it is important to understand its involvement rate by cancer tissue and the feasibility of its preservation. METHODS: Retrospective data were collected from five academic centers in Europe. The study involved adult patients affected by primary oral cavity carcinoma (OCC) undergoing tumor excision and neck dissection. The main outcome analyzed was the SMG involvement rate. A systematic review and a meta-analysis were also conducted to provide an updated synthesis of the topic. RESULTS: A total of 642 patients were enrolled. The SMG involvement rate was 12/642 (1.9%; 95% CI 1.0-3.2) when considered per patient, and 12/852 (1.4%; 95% CI 0.6-2.1) when considered per gland. All the glands involved were ipsilateral to the tumor. Statistical analysis showed that predictive factors for gland invasion were: advanced pT status, advanced nodal involvement, presence of extracapsular spread and perivascular invasion. The involvement of level I lymph nodes was associated with gland invasion in 9 out of 12 cases. pN0 cases were correlated with a reduced risk of SMG involvement. The review of the literature and the meta-analysis confirmed the rare involvement of the SMG: on the 4458 patients and 5037 glands analyzed, the involvement rate was 1.8% (99% CI 1.1-2.7) and 1.6% (99% CI 1.0-2.4), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of SMG involvement in primary OCC is rare. Therefore, exploring gland preservation as an option in selected cases would be reasonable. Future prospective studies are needed to investigate the oncological safety and the real impact on quality of life of SMG preservation.

Machine learning in laryngeal cancer: A pilot study to predict oncological outcomes and the role of adverse features.

BACKGROUND: Laryngeal carcinoma (LC) remains a significant economic and emotional problem to the healthcare system and severe social morbidity. New tools as Machine Learning could allow clinicians to develop accurate and reproducible treatments. METHODS: This study aims to evaluate the performance of a ML-algorithm in predicting 1- and 3-year overall survival (OS) in a cohort of patients surgical treated for LC. Moreover, the impact of different adverse features on prognosis will be investigated. Data was collected on oncological FU of 132 patients. A retrospective review was performed to create a dataset of 23 variables for each patient. RESULTS: The decision-tree algorithm is highly effective in predicting the prognosis, with a 95% accuracy in predicting the 1-year survival and 82.5% in 3-year survival; The measured AUC area is 0.886 at 1-year Test and 0.871 at 3-years Test. The measured AUC area is 0.917 at 1-year Training set and 0.964 at 3-years Training set. Factors that affected 1yOS are: LNR, type of surgery, and subsite. The most significant variables at 3yOS are: number of metastasis, perineural invasion and Grading. CONCLUSIONS: The integration of ML in medical practices could revolutionize our approach on cancer pathology.

Oral cavity carcinoma in patients with and without a history of lichen planus: A comparative analysis.

BACKGROUND: Oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) are associated with the risk of malignant transformation (MT) into oral cavity carcinoma (OCC). Oral lichen planus (OLP) is one of the most common OPMDs in western countries. Although there is a substantial amount of research on progression to cancer, a specific analysis of the clinical characteristics and prognosis of cancer developed in patients with a history of OLP versus patients without a history of OLP has not been investigated so far. METHODS: Retrospective evaluation of 82 patients treated for OCC with a known history of OLP compared to a representative sample of 82 patients treated for OCC without a known history of LP. Comparative analyses were performed on age at presentation, sex, TNM staging, clinical characteristics, pathology characteristics, 2- and 5-year overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: It was shown that patients with a history of LP were significantly younger at first presentation than patients without a history of LP (mean age difference 6.7 years, 95% CI 3.1-10.3, p < 0.05). Also, patients with a history of OLP were in higher proportion females. The main pathological stage at presentation was significantly lower in the OLP group (p < 0.05). The 2-year survival analysis showed that DFS and OS were significantly lower in patients without a known history of OLP, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 3.1 (95% CI 1.4-6.8) and HR of 2.6 (95% CI 1.3-5.3), respectively. The 5-year survival analysis showed that DFS and OS were significantly lower in patients without a known history of OLP, with a hazard ratio of 3.1 (95% CI 1.6-6.2) and of 2.9 (95% CI 1.5-5.6), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer arising from OLP has peculiar characteristics compared to cancer in naïve patients. It most commonly affects younger patients, women, and nonsmokers. It is usually diagnosed at earlier stages and appears to have less aggressive behavior at presentation. Moreover, when 2- and 5-year survival is analyzed, it appears that patients in OLP group have an overall and a disease-free survival advantage. These results suggest that cancer from OLP is less aggressive and thus has a potential biological difference with cancer arising in non-OLP patients. Further clinical and basic investigations are needed to confirm the results of this study.

Treatment of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: Is swallowing quality better after TORS or RT?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To answer an important question regarding the long-term morbidity of two oncological equivalent treatment for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), namely a comparison of swallowing function results between patients treated with trans-oral robotic surgery (TORS) versus patients treated with radiotherapy (RT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Studies included patients with OPSCC treated with TORS or RT. Articles reporting complete data on MD Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) and comparing the two treatments (TORS vs RT) were included in the meta-analysis. Swallowing assessed with MDADI was the primary outcome, the evaluation with instrumental methods was the secondary aim. RESULTS: Included studies provided a total of 196 OPSCC primarily treated with TORS vs 283 OPSCC primarily treated with RT. The mean difference in MDADI score at the longest follow-up was not significantly different between TORS and RT group (mean difference [MD] -0.52; 95% CI -4.53-3.48; p = 0.80). After treatment, mean composite MDADI scores demonstrated a slight impairment in both groups without reaching a statistical difference compared to the baseline status. DIGEST score and Yale score showed a significantly worse function in both treatment groups at 12-month follow-up compared to baseline status. CONCLUSION: The meta-analysis demonstrates that up-front TORS (+- adjuvant therapy) and up-front RT (+- CT) appear to be equivalent treatments in functional outcomes in T1-T2, N0-2 OPSCC, however, both treatments cause impaired swallowing ability. Clinicians should have a holistic approach and work with patients to develop an individualized nutrition plan and swallowing rehabilitation protocol from diagnosis to post-treatment surveillance.

Myomucosal island flap in the reconstruction of oral cavity defects: Description of the surgical technique.

Multiple options are available for the reconstruction of the defects of the oral cavity. Among these, the facial artery myomucosal island flap (FAMMIF) is a pedicled flap composed by cheek mucosa, submucosa, and part of the buccinator muscle. The FAMMIF is ideal for the reconstruction of small-to-moderate defects of the oral cavity and the oropharynx. This is due to low operating time, low morbidity, and good functional and aesthetic results. A step-by-step description of the flap harvesting is presented, with particular attention to flap design, identification of the vessels, harvesting of the myomucosal island, tunnel preparation for its passage in the neck and back to the oral cavity, and closure of the cheek donor site with the buccal fat pad.

Occult Neck Metastases in Head and Neck Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (AdCC) is a rare tumor whose clinical course is burdened by local recurrence and distant dissemination. Lymph node metastasis is not believed to be common and its clinical impact is controversial. The aim of this study was to determine: (1) the prevalence of occult metastasis at diagnosis in cN0 head and neck AdCC, (2) its prognostic role, and (3) the consequent need to perform elective neck dissection (END). Material and Methods: A systematic review and meta-analyses following PRISMA guidelines was performed. PubMed, Embase, and Central databases were questioned up to July 2021 to identify studies reporting on the prevalence of occult neck metastases in head and neck AdCC. A single-arm meta-analysis was then performed to determine the pooled prevalence of occult lymph node metastases among the retained studies. Results: Of the initial 6317 studies identified, 16 fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and they were included in the meta-analysis. Of a population of 7534 patients, 2530 cN0 patients were treated with END, which revealed 290/2530 cases of occult metastases (pN+/cN0). Meta-analysis of the results of END in the 16 studies estimated an overall prevalence of occult metastases at diagnosis of 17%. No further subgroup analysis was possible to identify factors influencing lymph node involvement and the prognostic role of END. Conclusions: Taking 20% as an historically proposed cut off, a 17% prevalence of occult metastases represents a borderline percentage to get a definitive conclusion about the indication to END for head and neck AdCC. A more advanced UICC stage, an oropharyngeal minor salivary glands origin, and a high-grade transformation are factors to be considered in a comprehensive patient's tailored therapeutic strategy. Multicenter prospective studies are the key to finding stronger recommendations on this topic.

World Oral and Maxillofacial Trauma (WORMAT) project: A multicenter prospective analysis of epidemiology and patterns of maxillofacial trauma around the world.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The World Oral Maxillofacial Trauma (WORMAT) project was performed to analyze the causes and characteristics of maxillofacial fractures managed in 14 maxillofacial surgery divisions over a 1-year period. METHODS: The following data were collected: age, sex, cause and mechanism of maxillofacial fracture, alcohol and/or drug abuse at the time of trauma, fracture site, Facial Injury Severity Scale score (FISS), associated injury, day of trauma, timing and type of treatment, and length of hospitalization. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. RESULTS: Between 30 September 2019 and 4 October 2020, 2,387 patients (1,825 males and 562 females [ratio 3.2:1], 47.6% aged 20-39 years [mean age 37.2 years, median 33.0 years]) were hospitalised. The main cause of maxillofacial fracture was road traffic accidents (RTA), which were statistically associated with male adults as like as assault, sport, and work (p<0,05). Half of the fractures involved the middle third of the face, statistically associated with fall and assault (p<0.05). Trauma in multiple locations was significantly associated with longer hospital stay (p<0.05). The mean length of hospitalization was 3.9 days (95% Confidence Interval 3.7-4.2). CONCLUSIONS: This prospective, multicenter epidemiological study confirmed that young adult males were the ones most commonly affected by maxillofacial fracture. RTAs and assaults are statistically associated with the adult population, while falls are associated with females and older population.

Does Tumor Volume Have a Prognostic Role in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of tumor volume in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). The study was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. A total of 1417 patients with a median age of 59.3 years (IQR 57.5−60) were included. The combined Hazard Ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) were 1.02 (95% CI, 0.99−1.05; p = 0.21) for primary tumor volume (pTV) and 1.01 (95% CI, 1.00−1.02; p = 0.15) for nodal tumor volume (nTV). Regarding locoregional control (LRC), the pooled HRs were 1.07 (95% CI, 0.99−1.17; p = 0.10) for pTV and 1.02 (95% CI, 1.01−1.03; p < 0.05) for nTV. Finally, the pooled HRs for disease-free survival (DFS) were 1.01 (95% CI, 1.00−1.03; p < 0.05) for pTV and 1.02 (95% CI, 1.01−1.03; p < 0.05) for nTV. In conclusion, pTV and nTV seem not to behave as reliable prognostic factors in OPSCC.

A multicentric prospective analysis of maxillofacial trauma in the elderly population.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The growth of the global elderly population will lead to an increase in traumatic injuries in this group, including those affecting the maxillofacial area, with a heavier load on health systems. The aim of this multicentric prospective study was to understand and evaluate the incidences, causes and patterns of oral and maxillofacial injuries in patients aged over 60 years admitted to 14 maxillofacial surgical departments around the world. METHODS: The following data were collected: gender, cause and mechanism of maxillofacial fracture, alcohol and drug abuse at the time of trauma, fracture site, Facial Injury Severity Scale score, associated injury, day of trauma, timing and type of treatment and length of hospitalization. Statistical analyses were performed using non-parametric and association tests, as well as linear regression. RESULTS: Between 30 September 2019 and 4 October 2020, 348 out of 2387 patients (14.6%), 197 men and 151 women (ratio 1.3:1; mean age 72.7 years), were hospitalized. The main causes of the maxillofacial fractures were falls (66.4%), followed by road traffic accidents (21.5%) and assaults (5.2%). Of the 472 maxillofacial fractures, 69.7% were in the middle third of the face, 28% in the lower third and 2.3% in the upper third. Patients with middle third fractures were on average 4.2 years older than patients with lower third fractures (95% CI 1.2-7.2). Statistical analysis showed that women were more involved in fall-related trauma compared with males (p < .001). It was also shown that road traffic accidents cause more fractures in the lower third (p < .001) and in the middle third-lower third complex compared with upper third (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Maxillofacial fractures in the elderly were more frequent in European and Australian centres and affected men slightly more than women. Falls were the leading cause of fractures, especially among women. The middle third of the face was most often affected, and conservative treatment was the most common choice for the management of such patients.

Antibiotic prophylaxis in head and neck cancer surgery: Systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis.

Postoperative surgical site infections (SSI) are worrisome complications after head and neck cancer surgery. Due to the lack of direct comparisons, it is difficult to indicate the best antibiotic in the setting of SSI prophylaxis for patients with head and neck cancer. For this reason, we decided to conduct a Bayesian network meta-analysis of clinical studies evaluating various antibiotic classes for SSI prophylaxis; thus, we directly and indirectly compared all the available antibiotics in the setting of head and neck oncological surgery. We performed a systematic review and a network meta-analysis according to the PRISMA-NMA checklist. Regarding inclusion criteria, we included articles with retrospective or prospective design recruiting adult participants with head and neck neoplasm of any subsite that compared different antibiotics or that compared different antibiotic treatment duration with sample sizes of more than 10 patients. Overall, 310 citations were identified by the search on all databases. Of these, 250 were excluded based on title and abstract, leaving 60 publications for full text examination. Finally, 20 papers were included for data extraction and analysis. In total, 8627 patients were evaluated across the included studies. Results of the Bayesian network meta-analysis showed that when compared to clindamycin short course, the antibiotics effective in preventing SSI were ampicillin/sulbactam or other penicillin short course (OR: 0.37, 95%CrI: 0.19-0.72), cefazolin/metronidazole short course (OR: 0.26, 95%CrI: 0.06-0.93), cefazolin (OR: 0.36, 95%CrI: 0.17-0.79), ampicillin/sulbactam long course (OR: 0.20, 95%CrI: 0.04-0.91), cefazolin/metronidazole long course (OR: 0.27, 95%CrI: 0.09-0.64), cefoperazone (OR: 0.05, 95%CrI: 0.002-0.89), cefotaxime (OR: 0.04, 95%CrI: 0.002-0.85). There was no significant difference between clindamycin and no antibiotic (OR: 2.3, 95%CrI: 0.59-9.9). Clindamycin plus aminoglycoside seemed to give a slight protection from SSI compared to clindamycin alone (OR: 0.30, 95%CrI: 0.09-0.99) or no antibiotic (OR: 0.13, 95%CrI: 0.02-067). Antibiotic prophylaxis is important in preventing SSI in head and neck cancer setting. Current evidence suggests that penicillins and cephalosporins are the best choice. Moreover, long duration course does not give any advantage compared to short course prophylaxis. Finally, it is important to implement appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis in patients that are labeled as penicillin allergic, in this regard clindamycin seems to be ineffective and, for this reason, further research is needed to provide a better care for this subset of patients.

Cell-Free Human Papillomavirus-DNA for Monitoring Treatment Response of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to assess the value of cell-free human papillomavirus-DNA (cfHPV-DNA) as a diagnostic test for the post-treatment surveillance of patients with HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) through a systematic review and meta-analysis. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: A literature search was conducted in three databases (MEDLINE, Embase, and Scopus) in January 2021. The population included patients with HPV-positive HNSCC. The intervention was the use of the repeated liquid biopsy with circulating HPV-DNA detection during follow-up. The outcome was to establish the value of cfHPV-DNA as a diagnostic test for the post-treatment surveillance of patients with HPV-positive HNSCC. RESULTS: Ten studies included in the meta-analysis provided a total of 457 patients with HPV-positive HNSCC. The meta-analytic study estimated the diagnostic performance of cfHPV-DNA as follows: pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.40-0.84) and 0.99 (99% CI: 0.96-0.99), respectively; positive and negative likelihood ratios of 62.5 (99% CI: 22.9-170.2) and 0.05 (99% CI: 0.013-0.24), respectively; and pooled diagnostic odds ratio of 371.66 (99% CI: 60.4-2286.7). CONCLUSION: Currently, the follow-up protocol for HNSCC patients includes routine clinical evaluation and radiological imaging. Biomarkers to monitor this disease are not established. Considering its high specificity, cfHPV-DNA represents a potential confirmatory test in the case of positive positron emission tomography and computed tomography. In the near future, cfHPV-DNA could be used as a biomarker for monitoring the treatment response during the clinical trials of de-escalation therapy or immunotherapy. Larger sample sizes and the homologation of study protocols and methodology are needed to better establish its utility in the clinical practice. Laryngoscope, 132:560-568, 2022.

Elective neck dissection in primary parotid carcinomas: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: To estimate the rate of occult cervical lymph node metastases in cN0 patients affected by primary parotid carcinomas and to scrutinize the evidence on the indication and extent of elective neck dissection in these neoplasms. METHODS: Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Scopus were searched until August 31, 2020, to identify studies reporting the use of elective neck dissection in the management of malignant parotid tumours. The PRISMA checklist was used. A single arm meta-analysis was then made to determine the pooled rate of occult lymph node metastases. Risk of bias of the included studies was assessed through the ROBINS-E tool. RESULTS: The initial search returned 20 541 articles, of which twelve met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. They comprised 1310 patients with parotid carcinoma, of whom 542 cN0 underwent elective neck dissection, which led to the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis (pN+/cN0) in 113 cases. Meta-analysis of the results of elective neck dissection showed an overall rate of occult metastases of 0.22 (99% CI: 0.14-0.30). Locally advanced or high-grade tumours were the commonest indications for elective neck dissection in the included studies. The most dissected lymph node levels were I-II-III, and level II was the commonest site of occult nodal metastases. CONCLUSIONS: An occult metastasis rate of 0.22 (99% CI: 0.14-0.30) represents a not negligible percentage value, which should encourage further research to outline the most appropriate elective neck management in cN0 patients with parotid carcinomas.

Endoscopic nasopharyngoscopy and ENT specialist safety in the COVID 19 era: the back endoscopy approach to the patient.

PURPOSE: To propose a way to safely perform endoscopic nasopharyngoscopy in ENT outpatient clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This manuscript highlights the importance of endoscopy in daily ENT clinical practice, which is a pivotal procedure in the diagnosis of many head and neck pathologies. However, since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the authors have witnessed a drastic reduction (91%) in the use of endoscopic nasopharyngoscopy at their institutions. In fact, it is considered at risk of contamination for healthcare professionals, as any upper airway manipulation procedure. RESULTS: In the "Back approach to the patient" for endoscopic nasopharyngoscopy, the operator positions himself behind the patient and faces the monitor. The endoscopist, not being positioned in front of the patient, should, therefore, be less exposed to airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus. CONCLUSION: This simple variation of the physician's position during endoscopic nasopharyngoscopy could potentially reduce the risk of contagion since the operator is not in the trajectory of droplets and/or aerosols.

Literature in the time of COVID-19: The "phase two".

The sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has put a strain on the whole scientific world. We assisted to a tremendous effort by researchers with the final goal of achieving a better management of COVID-19 patients. The world of otorhinolaryngology, likewise, has not been exempt from this commitment to research. In this commentary we perform a bibliometric review of the available academic literature about COVID-19 in the top 20-ranked ENT journal, with the goal of providing an overview of what has been published to date and encouraging a shift towards quantitative research.