Evaluating nasal cautery techniques in epistaxis.

BACKGROUND: Silver nitrate cautery and bipolar electrocautery are commonly used in the treatment of epistaxis. Currently, there are no recommendations on optimum contact times or power for nasal cautery. ENT consultant practice in the UK has not previously been evaluated. METHODS: This study examined the burn depth associated with silver nitrate (75 per cent concentration) cautery and bipolar electrocautery on porcine septum samples, using varying contact times and power. ENT consultants completed a survey evaluating their practice. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: ENT consultant practice of nasal cautery was shown to vary widely. Silver nitrate cautery with a contact time of less than 30 seconds does not cause a full thickness burn. The findings lend some support to bilateral cauterisation with silver nitrate. Bipolar electrocautery should be set at lower than 10 W and with a contact time of less than 4 seconds to reduce the risk of complications associated with a full thickness burn.

Plasmacytoma of the atlas presenting as hoarseness: a rare cause of unilateral vocal fold palsy.

INTRODUCTION: Solitary bone plasmacytoma is a rare haematological malignancy that can present in a variety of ways. This study aimed to present a case of plasmacytoma of the atlas, as a rare cause of unilateral vocal fold palsy. METHOD: Case report. RESULTS: Following diagnosis via imaging and direct biopsy through the posterior pharyngeal wall, the patient was referred to the haematologists for further treatment of his plasmacytoma. CONCLUSION: Solitary bony plasmacytoma of the cervical spine is a rare haematological malignancy. Its presentation with a unilateral vocal fold palsy has not been previously described.

Caecal amoebic colitis mimicking a colorectal cancer.

Intestinal Entamoeba Histolytica infection in the UK is rare but it can lead to colitis, abscess formation, colonic perforation and rarely amoeboma. Although most patients are asymptomatic, it can present with a wide range of gastrointestinal symptoms depending on the phase of the infection. We present a case of amoebic colitis that caused diagnostic uncertainty by mimicking a colonic carcinoma.

Cholecystocutaneous fistula secondary to chronic calculous cholecystitis.

Spontaneous cholecystocutaneous fistula is an exceptionally unusual complication of chronic calculous cholecystitis now. The remarkable drop in incidence is probably associated with the introduction of antimicrobial therapy and early surgical management of biliary tract disease. We report a case of spontaneous cholecystocutaneous fistula in a patient who presented with an abscess in the right upper quadrant.

Rare presentation of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection.

Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare causes clinical disease mainly in immunocompromised patients with long-standing pulmonary disease, the symptoms of which are identical to those of pulmonary tuberculosis. In patients with AIDS the infection is typically disseminated. Extrapulmonary infection by M. avium-intracellulare is seen in children aged 1-5 years as cervicofacial lymphadenitis. Other extrapulmonary sites are less common and include musculoskeletal, maxillary sinus, mastoid, breast, small bowel, genitourinary tract and cornea. Such infection of the hard palate is rare. We present an unusual case of infection of the palate by M. avium-intracellulare in a 53-year-old diabetic man. To our knowledge, this infection presenting as a palatal lump in a patient without HIV or pre-existing lung disease has not been previously reported.

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the parotid salivary gland.

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is a borderline neoplasm characterized by proliferation of endothelial cells with epithelioid morphology. The tumor, in terms of histology and behavior, occupies an intermediate position between hemangioma and conventional angiosarcoma. It is encountered in a wide variety of sites, such as soft tissues and skin, visceral organs, and bone. This article describes a slowly growing, painful tumor that developed in the parotid gland of a 48-year-old white woman and was treated with a superficial parotidectomy. Microscopically, the lesion consisted of short strands, cords, or small clusters of epithelioid vacuolated cells that exhibited strong immunoreactivity for endothelial cell markers (CD 31, CD 34, and factor VIII-related antigen). Previous reports have presented epithelioid hemangioendotheliomas in the head and neck region but, to our knowledge, this is the first reported case in the parotid salivary gland.