Determining Invasion Depth in Superficial Pharyngeal Carcinoma by Transoral Ultrasonography.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the clinical usefulness of transoral ultrasonography (US) in determining the invasion depth of superficial pharyngeal carcinoma (SPC). Determining the invasion depth of SPC is crucial for transoral surgery including determining treatment strategy. This study aimed to examine the usefulness of transoral US in determining the invasion depth of SPC. METHODS: Forty-six patients with 51 lesions who underwent both magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (ME-NBI) and transoral US were included. The primary outcomes were the sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV), and negative predictive values (NPV) of ME-NBI and transoral US findings for pathological tumor depth in SPCs. RESULTS: The accuracy (82.4%), sensitivity (85.2%), PPV (82.1%), and NPV (82.6%) rates of US for subepithelial propria (SEP) were higher than those of ME-NBI and macroscopic classification, indicating that transoral US is superior to ME-NBI in determining the invasion depth. All cases where the SEP was clearly invaded (SEP deep) could be diagnosed as SEP by transoral US. CONCLUSIONS: Transoral US may be useful in determining the invasion depth of SPCs. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 Laryngoscope, 133:2192-2197, 2023.

Swallowing function after transoral surgery for laryngopharyngeal cancer.

Transoral surgery (TOS) has been widely used to treat laryngopharyngeal cancers. Although TOS is a minimally invasive procedure, postoperative complications, such as postoperative dysphagia, may occur, which can lead to a poor quality of life for patients undergoing TOS. This study aimed to investigate factors that may affect swallowing function in patients who underwent TOS for laryngopharyngeal cancers. Swallowing function of 84 patients who underwent endoscopic resection for oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, and supraglottic lesions was evaluated by the Functional Outcome Swallowing Scale, and predictors for postoperative dysphagia were identified. Multivariate analysis identified the following factors as independent predictors for postoperative dysphagia: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG PS, p = 0.008), prior neck radiation therapy (p = 0.008), and operative time (p = 0.021). This study suggests that patients with poor ECOG PS or those who received prior neck radiation therapy should be fully assessed for preoperative swallowing function. In the future, we would like to clarify the criteria for preoperative swallowing evaluation to create a system that can identify patients suitable for TOS.

The role of nasal fractional exhaled nitric oxide as an objective parameter independent of nasal airflow resistance in the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) show augmented activity of nitric oxide (NO) metabolism, similar to those in bronchial asthma (BA). We hypothesized that measurements of nasal fractional exhaled NO (FeNO) could be used as an objective marker to detect the presence of AR. Our objective was to clarify the influence of nasal airflow resistance (NAR) on nasal FeNO levels through an exhalation maneuver in symptomatic AR patients. We also examined the diagnostic test validity of the mean nasal FeNO level for disease discrimination by means of a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. METHODS: Fifty-nine untreated perennial AR patients without BA and 60 healthy controls were enrolled in this retrospective cross-sectional study. The subjective symptoms were recorded and the disease severity was classified according to the Japanese guideline for AR. The oral and nasal FeNO measurements were carried out using a handheld electrochemical analyzer according to the ATS/ERS guidelines. NAR was measured using a rhinomanometer by the anterior method. RESULTS: The patients in the moderate-to-most severe AR group showed significantly higher levels of oral FeNO compared to the controls. The AR patients in both the mild (n=25) and the moderate-to-most severe (n=34) groups showed significantly higher levels of nasal FeNO compared to the controls (44.1ppb, 54.5ppb, and 26.5ppb, respectively). There was no significant difference in total NAR between the AR patients and the controls. The results of our comparison of nasal FeNO and NAR values of the ipsilateral nasal cavity for each individual indicated no significant correlation between the two-paired parameters. The optimal cut-off point of the mean nasal FeNO level was calculated as 38.5ppb (with 71% sensitivity and 86% specificity) to discriminate the presence of AR. CONCLUSION: Nasal FeNO measurements can be an objective parameter for the diagnosis and classification of perennial AR in Japanese individuals. Nasal FeNO and NAR appear to be two independent measures that can be used to objectively evaluate nasal functions.