Faculty Bibliography

The diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma of the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, and nasopharynx was made in 15 patients over a 7 year period (nasopharynx, 9; nasal cavity, 3; maxillary sinus, 2; frontal sinus, 1). A wide variety of head and neck symptoms, often characteristic of benign disease, was reported ranging from 2 weeks to 4 months prior to presentation. Of the 15 cases, the original diagnosis was inconclusive in 6; 4 of the 6 required rebiopsy, while the diagnosis in the other 2 was confirmed on further pathologic consultation. Tissue marker studies, which have recently become available, were performed in 7 cases and were crucial in the diagnosis of 2. B-cell lymphoma was diagnosed in the 7 patients who had tissue marker studies. Five patients had palpable cervical nodes, and none had distant adenopathy or masses. With further staging, 4 of the 15 patients were found to have disseminated disease. The paper emphasizes the need for early biopsy of suspicious lesions presenting in areas in which physical examination is limited. Recommendations are made for handling the biopsy specimen when malignant lymphoma is suspected, as well as for the evaluation of local and distant sites. The role of surgery is primarily diagnostic in patients with malignant lymphoma

When a laryngologist treats a patient with a voice disorder it is often important to evaluate the sound of the voice over a long period of time and to demonstrate to the patient changes due to therapy. This may be vital to patient management especially when the results fail to correspond with the patient's expectations or when the voice is used professionally. Visualization of the vocal folds by the use of a mirror may be adequate for the diagnostic needs of the laryngologist, but a permanent record of laryngological features permits the sharing of objective information with referring physician, consultant, therapist, and, most importantly, with the patient. The illustrations can also be extremely useful in teaching.

A retrospective analysis of direct laryngoscopies performed at our institution in 1978 was undertaken utilizing computer technology. The population which consisted of 54% males and 46% females had an average age of 50.4 years. The most common symptom was hoarseness (83.6%). The most frequent benign and malignant diagnoses were vocal cord polyp and squamous cell carcinoma, respectively. Males predominated in all disease entities except vocal cord polyps. Benign disease entities presented most frequently with one or two symptoms, while malignant pathology presented with a varied array and number of symptoms. The indications: 'tumor' seen on indirect laryngoscopy, sore throat, dysphagia, otalgia, upper respiratory tract obstruction, hemoptysis, cough and leukoplakia were most frequently associated with malignancy. Voice abuse occupations were most commonly associated with vocal cord polyps and tobacco and alcohol use was most frequently associated with laryngeal cancer. Eighty-five percent of direct laryngoscopies were done under general anesthesia with two-thirds utilizing direct suspension microlaryngoscopy

Neonatal mice were reared in an acoustic environment that repetitively entrained activity in a large proportion of primary auditory afferents during the period when the frequency tuning of auditory neurons normally develops. The tuning curves obtained from these mice were significantly broader than those of normally reared mice of the same age. This suggests that the normal frequency tuning of neurons was prevented or delayed by synchronizing the pattern of activity imposed on the auditory pathway

The extrapharyngeal approach to the anterior cervical spine is a safe, rapid surgical exposure. Other surgical exposures such as the posterior, lateral, and intraoral (transpharyngeal) have inherent limitations that this approach avoids. By going anterior to the sternocleidomastoid muscle and great vessels, the surgical exposure of the anterior cervical spine is wide and the vital structures of the neck are visualized and not injured. We have used this extrapharyngeal approach to treat various disease states of the anterior cervical spine, such as trauma, osteomyelitis, neoplasia, and degenerative disease. Major complications have been neural injury, and pharyngeal fistula

CSF rhinorrhea can have many causes: traumatic, neoplastic, and iatrogenic origins are common. Most traumatic rhinorrhea ceases after a trial of conservative management. While obvious erosion or traumatic destruction of vital structures may be the underlying cause, other pathophysiologic mechanisms may be working in the formation of CSF rhinorrhea, which may require the combined skills of the otolaryngologist and the neurosurgeon. Leakage of CSF is seen in 'high-pressure rhinorrhea,' a pathophysiologic state wherein the underlying problem is poor CSF resorption. The result is increased intracranial pressure and eventual rhinorrhea or otorrhea. Areas of CSF leakage correspond to sites of congenital weakness in the cribriform plate region, the parasellar region, or the temporal bone. Weak areas in old base-of-skull fracture sites may leak with increased intracranial pressure. The initial management should stress correction of the deranged pathophysiology, namely shunting. Surgical repair is secondary to controlling the abnormal CSF dynamics

A multiinstitutional study to define the impact of total treatment programs involving radical neck dissection (RND) and modified neck dissection (MND) on patients' permanent disability was undertaken. A total of 243 patient responses were included in the study. Comparative analyses between the treatment groups show no advantage of one surgical operation over the other in returning patients to their pretreatment employment status. Radiation therapy was identified as adding significantly to the patient's permanent disability.

Twenty-two patients with a diagnosis of spastic dysphonia were treated by laryngeal nerve crush. All patients had initial improvement. Success at 3-year follow-up was 13%. Laryngeal nerve crush is no longer advocated as treatment for spastic dysphonia.