Comparison of Early-period Results of Nasal Splint and Merocel Nasal Packs in Septoplasty.

OBJECTIVE: Several types of nasal packs are used postoperatively in septoplasty. In this study, we compared two commonly used nasal packing materials, the intranasal septal splint with airway and Merocel tampon, in terms of pain, bleeding, nasal obstruction, eating difficulties, discomfort in sleep, and pain and bleeding during removal of packing in the early period. METHODS: The study group included 60 patients undergoing septoplasty. Patients were divided into two groups (n=30 in each group). An intranasal splint with airway was used for the patients in the first group after septoplasty, while Merocel nasal packing was used for the second group. Patients were investigated in terms of seven different factors - pain, bleeding while the tampon was in place, nasal obstruction, eating difficulties, night sleep, pain during removal of the nasal packing, and bleeding after removal of packing. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of pain 24 hours after operation (p=0.05), while visual analog scale (VAS) scores for nasal obstruction, night sleep, eating difficulties, and pain during packing removal were lower in the nasal splint group with a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of postoperative bleeding (p=0.23). Significantly less bleeding occurred during removal of the packing in the nasal splint group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that the nasal splint was more comfortable and effective in terms of causing lesser bleeding and pain during removal of packing.

Lymphoepithelial Cyst in the Palatine Tonsil.

Lymphoepithelial cyst (LEC) is the most commonly encountered congenital neck pathology in the lateral part of the neck. A 66-year-old woman presented to the ENT clinic due to difficulty in swallowing persisting for approximately 1 year. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cystic mass at right tonsil. Surgery was performed due to this unilateral tonsillar mass, which was excised together with the right tonsil. LEC was diagnosed at histopathological examination. LEC in the palatine tonsil is rare, and only a few cases have been reported in the literature. We report a rare case of LEC in the palatine tonsil.

Synthesis of Methotrexate Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles and in vitro Evaluation of the Potential in Treatment of Prostate Cancer.

The objective of the study was to investigate the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of Methotrexate (MTX)-loaded chitosan (CS) on LNCaP prostate cancer cell line in vitro. For this purpose, CS nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized through ionic gelation method and MTX was loaded into the carrier with encapsulation. SEM images of the CS NPs have revealed that they have size of about 85 nm in mono-disperse manner. Drug loading yield was found to be 95.7 % with 470 µg drug/mg NP loading capacity. In vitro drug release study showed that MTX was released in a controlled manner. Cell viability was detected by using trypan blue dye exclusion test and WST-1 cell proliferation assay was performed to show cytotoxic effects of the CS, the MTX and the MTX-loaded NP. IC50 values of CS, MTX and MTX-loaded NPs were assigned from the cell survival plot and were determined as 67.18 µM, 20.21 µM and 2.94 µM at the 72nd hour, respectively. As for apoptosis analysis results, following to MTX-loaded CS treatment of LNCAP cells, apoptotic cell percent was detected as 39.3 % at the 72nd hour, that is, MTX-loaded CS induces 1.85-fold increase in apoptotic cell percent in comparison with that of MTX- induced apoptosis.

Estimation of the efficacy of chemo-radiotherapy on tumor regression in the patients with laryngeal cancer via computerized tomography using the Cavalieri method.

CONCLUSION: Calculating tumor volume using the Cavalieri method in laryngeal tumors before and after treatment may be useful to optimize the treatment and to minimize the side-effects of radiotherapy. PURPOSE: This study aimed to estimate the pre-treatment and post-treatment tumor volumes of the patients to whom radiotherapy or radio-chemotherapy was applied as a treatment using Cavalieri's Principle as a stereological method and to assess tumor regression rates in the patients with Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (LSCC) statistically. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Sixteen patients (eight patients with stage T3 and eight patients with stage T4) diagnosed with LCCC bearing the appropriate characteristics to criteria in the otorhinolaryngology clinic were included. Patients had computerized tomography (CT) scans in the axial plane before treatment and 2 months after the treatment. Pre-treatment and post-treatment tumor volumes on CT images were calculated using Cavalieri's principle as a stereological method and then compared. FINDINGS: Average tumor volumes in patients with stage T3 before and after treatment were 10.12 ± 3.58 cm(3) and 1.33 ± 1.74 cm(3), respectively (p = 0.008). These volumes were 11.92 ± 4.61 cm(3) and 2.17 ± 2.34 cm(3) (p = 0.008) for patients with stage T4, respectively. Post-treatment tumor volumes were statistically reduced compared to pre-treatment volumes in all stages.