Faculty Bibliography

The head-and-neck manifestations of HIV infection in children are very different from those in the adult population. Recurrent bacterial and viral infections are common manifestations, and persistent sinusitis or otitis media should make the otolaryngologist suspicious of HIV infection if the child has been exposed to the virus. Other common problems include mucocutaneous and esophageal candidiasis, recurrent herpes I and II and zoster infections, parotid swelling, and cervical lymphadeopathy.

Concern over the rising cost of health care has created a trend toward outpatient surgery. Because adenotonsillectomy is such a frequently performed procedure, there is pressure on many otolaryngologists to do this operation on an ambulatory basis. A prospective study was undertaken to evaluate the incidence and severity of postoperative hemorrhage, protracted emesis, and fever at specified times within the first 24 hours after surgery. Over a 1-year period, 1000 tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy patients were studied. There was a 2.1% incidence of serious complications within the first 6 postoperative hours. The incidence of serious hemorrhage, fever, and protracted emesis was 0.7% each. The incidence of significant complications between the 6th and 24th postoperative hours was 1.7%. Hemorrhage occurred in 0.4% of the patients, fever in 0.7%, and protracted emesis in 0.6%. The total incidence of hemorrhage during this time period was 1.1%. There were no deaths. The greatest percentage of complications occurred within the first 6 postoperative hours. Based on this study, outpatient tonsil and adenoid surgery should be followed by at least 6 hours of postoperative observation before discharge. The choice to perform ambulatory tonsil and adenoid surgery depends on the professional judgment of the operating physician based on this and other recent studies, the sophistication of the physician's ambulatory surgery center, and the medical and social background of the patient

Twenty-four patients who were clinically suspected of having leptospirosis were subjected to 7 simple commonly available laboratory tests. The 21 patients who had 3 or more positive tests were confirmed serologically to have leptospirosis. The high frequency of acute abdominal pain (71.4%) as a major presenting symptom and the laboratory findings of raised serum amylase levels in a high percentage of patients (84.2%) were especially noteworthy

Munchausen syndrome is uncommon in otolaryngology. Self-induced otitis externa has rarely been reported, and nothing is known concerning the true incidence of feigned vertigo. We present a patient who has been hospitalized several times and who has undergone ear surgery and treatment at different institutions along the eastern seaboard. She has suffered complications of therapy, including a profound sensorineural hearing loss, and was referred to us for surgical treatment of bizarre intractable otitis externa. The infection failed to respond to medical treatment and was ultimately found to be self-inflicted. Despite psychotherapy, the patient continues to seek further treatment at still other hospitals. This entity must be considered whenever a thorough evaluation fails to yield a reasonable organic diagnosis.

We have investigated the morphology of dendritic arbors in a central auditory nucleus, the lateral superior olive, of the Mongolian gerbil. Morphometric observations were obtained directly from Golgi-impregnated material by using a microcomputer-based three-dimensional data acquisition system. In particular, measurements were made to determine the dendritic arborization across each of three axes: the tonotopic axis, the rostrocaudal axis, and the isofrequency axis (i.e., perpendicular to the tonotopic axis). The tonotopic position of each cell was computed on the basis of a topographic map that has been constructed for the gerbil LSO (Sanes et al.: J. Comp. Neurol. 279:436-444, 1989). It was found that the span of a dendritic arbor along the tonotopic axis was directly correlated with the neuron's tonotopic position: Low frequency neurons had much broader arborizations than high frequency neurons. Moreover, the distribution of frequency bandwidths to which single LSO neurons responded showed a striking similarity to dendritic arborizations across the tonotopic axis. Lower frequency neurons responded to a larger number of octaves than higher frequency neurons. There was no correlation between tonotopic position and dendritic arborization in the isofrequency or rostrocaudal axis. Nor was there any correlation between frequency and total dendritic length, number of primary dendrites, or soma area. However, there was a small but significant difference between the primary dendrite diameter of low and high frequency neurons. Low frequency neurons had significantly greater diameters. These results suggest that the frequency selectivity of central auditory neurons may employ, as one morphological substrate, the distance over which their dendrites arborize along the tonotopic axis

A study was performed to determine if patients who underwent mandibular reconstruction were functionally rehabilitated. Five parameters were evaluated: deglutition, mastication, cosmesis, diet, and the use of dentures. Deglutition was not improved in patients who had mandibular continuity restored. Problems with deglutition were related to soft tissue resection. Mastication was poorer in the reconstructed group due to scarring, loss of the muscles of mastication, and inhibition of compensatory mandibular motion. Cosmesis was improved in patients who had immediate restoration of mandibular continuity. Cosmesis was not improved in patients with delayed mandibular reconstruction due to previous scarring. Prosthetic rehabilitation was poor in both groups of patients. Reconstructed patients had a greater number of hospitalizations due to management of, or complications from reconstructive surgical procedures. The results of this study suggests that restoration of mandibular continuity does not enhance the functional rehabilitation of the majority of patients with oral-pharyngeal malignancy

Forceful manual compression of the thyroid and cricoid cartilages modifies the position, shape, and tension of the vocal folds. This is the basis of the four laryngeal manual compression tests, adjunctive examinations used as a means of preoperative assessment of patients for medialization laryngoplasty, ie, Isshiki thyroplasty types I and IV and arytenoid adduction. The laryngeal manual compression tests are simple to perform and noninvasive. Each of the four examinations yields valuable information on the effects on the voice of changes in vocal cord characteristics produced by manual compression. In this report, one of the four tests, lateral manual compression, is evaluated objectively with well-attested methods of videostroboscopic, aerodynamic, and acoustic analysis. The technique of performing lateral manual compression is described, and advantages and disadvantages are noted and compared in 10 patients. Preliminary findings in 4 patients in this group indicate that medialization laryngoplasty should be considered when test results are conclusive of effective glottic closure. Data derived in this preliminary study will be augmented as patients are added to the series