Transcutaneous Ultrasonography for Diagnosis of Nasolabial Cyst.

Nasolabial cyst is usually diagnosed by computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Ultrasonography could be a simple, office-based diagnostic imaging tool for nasolabial cyst. The authors report a 46-year-old woman with painful swelling on the bilateral anterior nostrils. The high-frequency (13 MHz) linear array transducer of the ultrasound (Hitachi Hivision Avius with EUP-L74M, Hitachi Aloka Medical, Tokyo, Japan) was transversely placed on the upper lip to scan the anterior nasal floor. Ultrasonography showed 2 well-defined anechoic oval cystic lesions in the anterior nasal floor, which were compatible with nasolabial cysts. Magnetic resonance imaging, which was done for her nasopharyngeal carcinoma 3 years ago, showed the same cystic lesions in the anterior nostril floor. Transcutaneous ultrasonography could be a simple, first-line imaging tool for diagnosis of nasolabial cyst in an office-based clinical setting.

A web-based audiometry database system.

To establish a real-time, web-based, customized audiometry database system, we worked in cooperation with the departments of medical records, information technology, and otorhinolaryngology at our hospital. This system includes an audiometry data entry system, retrieval and display system, patient information incorporation system, audiometry data transmission program, and audiometry data integration. Compared with commercial audiometry systems and traditional hand-drawn audiometry data, this web-based system saves time and money and is convenient for statistics research.

A pulsatile mass in the retropharynx: dangerous aberrations of the cervical carotid artery.

Aberrations of the cervical internal carotid artery can be detected in the nasopharynx, oropharynx, and hypopharynx. Most previous literature reviews have focused on an analysis of the anatomic variations. However, clinical symptoms and physical examination findings have been rarely reported. Our clinical study describes a 63-year-old woman who presented with a lumpy and sore throat. We found an obvious protruding pulsatile mass in her retropharynx. Furthermore, an additional head and neck computed tomographic scan showed a variant course of the left common carotid artery and left internal carotid artery in the retropharynx and oropharynx.