Faculty Bibliography

We sought to determine the extent of the frontal sinus by intraoperative transillumination through the superomedial orbital wall in a subcranial approach to the anterior skull base. After raising a bicoronal flap, the frontal sinus was transilluminated through the superomedial orbital wall with a fiber-optic light source, delineating the extent of the frontal sinus. The frontal sinus boundary was marked with a marker pen. A frontal sinus anterior wall osteotomy was performed with a sagittal saw, staying within the confines of the frontal sinus marking. A bone flap was removed, and the posterior wall was drilled out. The remaining procedure was performed in a standard fashion. At the end of the procedure, the bone flap was fixed with a titanium plate. A total of 58 patients had undergone craniofacial resection from January 2004 to December 2007. In 13 patients, a subcranial approach was employed using the transillumination technique. Transillumination was successful in delineating the frontal sinus periphery in all 13 patients. Intraoperative transillumination of the frontal sinus through the superomedial orbital wall is a simple and effective method to delineate the frontal sinus periphery in a subcranial approach to the anterior skull base.

BACKGROUND: Human papilloma virus (HPV) is an important risk factor for head and neck cancer, specifically oropharyngeal cancer, but its association with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is uncertain. The objectives were to determine the HPV16 prevalence in oral tongue SCCs, its integration status and to correlate the expression of oncogenic proteins with targets. METHODS: In this case-control study with oral tongue SCC cases (n=60) and normal oral mucosa (n=46), HPV positivity was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using consensus and HPV 16 type specific primers and p16 immunohistochemistry (IHC). The viral integration status was determined with primers specific to the E2 gene and in situ hybridization (ISH). Immunohistochemical analysis of HPV oncogenic proteins (E6, E7) and their target proteins (p53, pRb, cyclinD1, p16, Notch-1, EGFR) proteins was carried out in HPV positive cases. The data was analyzed with SPSS software (v 11.0). Survival analysis was carried out by the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: HPV16 was detected in 48% (n=29) of the cases and none of the controls by PCR assay (p<0.001) while p16 IHC, as a surrogate HPV marker, detected 33% (n=18) of the cases; 18% (n=10) were detected by both the methods. Integration was observed in 83% (n=24) by E2-PCR and 67% (n=18) by ISH. The E6-p53 pathway was active in 33% of the cases; E7-pRb in 52% and both in 11%. HPV positivity was associated with well-differentiated cancers (p=0.041) and low recurrence rate (p=0.014). CONCLUSION: Our study confirms a positive correlation of HPV infection with oral tongue cancer.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to determine the relative efficacy of different methods of pathologic evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes. METHODS: In this prospective study, sentinel nodes were evaluated for occult metastasis using frozen section, imprint-cytology, hematoxylin-eosin staining, serial step sectioning (SSS) with hematoxylin-eosin, and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Metastases were classified into macrometastasis (>2.0 mm), micrometastasis (0.2 mm-2.0 mm), isolated tumor cells (<0.2 mm). RESULTS: Occult metastasis was detected in 20 of 80 patients. Frozen section and imprint cytology identified metastasis in 10 of 20 patients, hematoxylin-eosin stain in 13 patients; SSS upstaged the disease in a further 7 patients (9%). Frozen section detected macrometastasis in 7 of 8 cases but failed to detect smaller metastases (missed micrometastasis in 4 of 7 and isolated tumor cells in 5 of 5). SSS upstaged the disease by 10%, and sensitivity and negative predictive value of SSS with hematoxylin-eosin stain were 90% and 97%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Frozen section and imprint cytology are not effective in identifying occult metastasis. IHC and SSS are required to identify micrometastasis and isolated tumor cells.

The basic principle of anterior skull base surgery is to provide adequate exposure to enable three dimensional resection of skull base tumors. Negative surgical margins, which is within the control of surgeon, is the principle prognostic factor in anterior skull base tumors. Open skull base approaches is the standard of care for malignant anterior skull base tumors. Benign lesions may be resected by alternate minimally invasive approaches. Advances in anterior skull base surgery, in particular the facial translocation approaches allows wide exposure of the tumors with minimal retraction of the brain. The outcome of anterior skull base tumors have steadily increased over the years with disease free survival comparable to other malignant neoplasm of the head and neck region. This review described various surgical approaches and pertaining anatomy and pathology of anterior skull base tumors.

Tensor Fascia Lata muscle and musculocutaneous flap has been used in the past for reconstruction of trunk defects and also as a free flap for soft tissue reconstruction elsewhere in the body. Transferring the iliac crest along with the muscle as a free flap has been described earlier, reported for bridging calcaneal defect and small mandibular defects. The use of this flap as a source of free vascularised bone has not been widely practised since these initial few reports. Anatomical studies were carried out to assess the feasibility of using this flap for reconstructing maxillary and other head and neck defects, following which it was successfully used for these indications. The preliminary report describes the flap anatomy, method of harvest and its potential uses in head and neck reconstruction.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the awareness of oral cancer, its risk factors and to estimate the prevalence of risk factors in a high-risk semi-urban population in India. METHODS: A questionnaire-based survey was carried out by house-to-house interview on a single day by 120 health volunteers. The data were analyzed using SPSS 11.0 software for links between prevalence of risk factors and oral cancer awareness, as well as other confounding variables. RESULTS: A total of 1885 persons participated in the survey. Of the surveyed population, 86% had heard about oral cancer and 32% knew someone with oral cancer. Sixty-two percent of the subjects correctly identified the causes; this included 77% of the subjects who identifying smoking, 64% alcohol and 79% pan chewing as a cause of oral cancer. More than 42% believed that poor oral health could lead to oral cancer and 53% thought that oral cancer is an incurable disease. Forty percent of males and 14% females had one or more high-risk habits. It was observed that the awareness was proportional to the education level (p<0.001) and inversely proportional to the prevalence of risk factor habits (p<0.001). Eighty-two percent of the smokers, 75% of the tobacco chewers and 66% of those who consumed alcohol were aware that their habits could lead to oral cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the awareness of oral cancer in this high-risk population was satisfactory, though certain gaps exist, pointing to a need for targeted health education and risk factor cessation counseling.

The tongue is the most commonly involved structure in cancer of the oral cavity. For locally advanced tumours, adequate resection necessitates near total or total glossectomy. Such patients pose a unique surgical challenge because of the potential for severe speech and swallowing disruption and life-threatening aspiration. These patients also undergo radiotherapy, leading to xerostomia with associated poor quality of life. Present day techniques use dynamic muscles or musculocutaneous flaps for reconstruction of such defects which, although providing adequate glossopalatal contact and tongue movements, are still far from achieving normal tongue appearance and have no intrinsic secretory capability. We have tried to circumvent this problem by using two different free flaps simultaneously, the gracilis muscle to work as functional motor unit for providing tongue movements and elevation together with free stomach, turned inside-out, as an added source of secretion for dry mouth and attached omentum for providing adequate bulk. This technique has been used in two patients over the last 18 months with satisfactory functional and aesthetic results.

INTRODUCTION: Secondary tracheoesophageal puncture is sometimes difficult and has a higher complication rate. In the irradiated neck, where neck extension is difficult, the traditional tracheoesophageal puncture method of insertion with a rigid endoscope is not possible. We describe a simple, safe and effective alternative method of tracheoesophageal puncture using curved forceps (Kocher's curved intestinal clamp forceps or Mixter forceps). SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: The procedure is performed under local or general anaesthesia with equal ease. Maximum neck extension is achieved. The curved intestinal forceps are passed through the mouth into the oesophageal lumen. The instrument tip can easily be seen or felt at the posterior wall of the tracheostoma. A small incision is made in the mucosa to allow the forceps tip to emerge, and a guide wire is passed through this incision out of the mouth. The prosthesis can be guided over the guide wire, in retrograde fashion, to fit the puncture hole. RESULTS: Secondary tracheoesophageal puncture was performed in five cases with severe neck fibrosis. In all cases, valve insertion was easily achieved after secondary tracheoesophageal puncture, without any peri-operative complications. CONCLUSION: This is a safe, simple and effective method for secondary tracheoesophageal puncture. It can be performed easily in any setting and is not associated with any complications.

En bloc resection of maxillary sinus tumors that extend through the posterior wall necessitates resection of maxilla along with pterygopalatine and infratemporal fossae contents. This cannot be readily performed by conventional anterior maxillectomy approaches. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of transmandibular approach for the excision of maxillary sinus tumors extending to pterygopalatine and infratemporal fossae. This is a retrospective review of 15 consecutive patients who underwent maxillectomy with transmandibular approach for tumors with posterior extension, between January 2004 and February 2008. The principal outcome parameter was the margin status on final histopathology report. In addition, evaluable patients were reviewed to assess the morbidity of the procedure using pre-defined parameters. All the patients had negative margins at the infratemporal fossa region. Varying degree of trismus was present in all patients. The cosmetic outcome of the procedure was excellent. Other anterior and transcranial approaches could be combined with this procedure when indicated. We conclude that transmandibular approach is an effective technique for resection of maxillary tumors with posterior extension to the pterygopalatine and infratemporal fossae. The procedure has acceptable morbidity and the aesthetic and functional results are satisfactory.

We report a case of vascularised fibula osteocutaneous flap used for composite cervical spinal and posterior pharyngeal wall reconstruction, in a patient with recurrent skull base chordoma, resected by an anterior approach via median labio-mandibular glossotomy approach. Bone stability and pharyngeal wall integrity were simultaneously restored.