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Two hundred patients with chronic sinusitis were operated on using functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) techniques. These patients were followed closely over 3 years. Patency of the endoscopic middle meatotomy was recorded using actuarial life-table methods. The overall patency rate of the endoscopic middle meatotomy was 93.55%, and the actuarial patency rate at 36 months was 87.47%. The presence of seasonal allergy with nasal polyps was the most important variable in predicting closure. Middle turbinectomy was the most important variable in predicting patency. Symptoms were evaluated by questionnaire at 1 year. Questionnaire data indicate that 96% of these patients are improved or asymptomatic.

Endoscopic sinus surgery has gained acceptance in the otolaryngologic community as an effective and safe method of treating inflammatory disease of the paranasal sinuses. At our institution, partial endoscopic middle turbinectomy has become a standard component of the procedure and our experience is reported. Middle turbinectomy enhances surgical exposure, specific anatomic anomalies are more completely corrected, and subpopulations of patients at risk for failure because of their underlying disease enjoy decreased rates of synechiae formation and closure of the middle meatus antrostomy when followed over time. Photodocumentation of the surgical technique and a discussion regarding the impact of middle turbinectomy on normal nasal physiology are presented. It is reported that the procedure is safe, and no complications directly attributable to middle turbinectomy (including atrophic rhinitis) are reported in a series of 298 patients.

Although anaphylactic reactions resulting from immunotherapy rarely occur, when they do occur they can be life-threatening. The literature reveals more than 30 deaths attributed to immunotherapy but numerous reports of anaphylaxis. We reviewed a 5-year experience of immunotherapy in a University practice and their experience with systemic reactions is presented. More than 125,000 injections were given in this time period. Of the 550 patients receiving immunotherapy, 14% experienced anaphylactic reactions, the majority of which were mild.

Successful treatment of mandibular fractures involves proper fracture reduction and immobilization for an adequate length of time. A simple wire fixation technique that can be used in many situations involves suspension wiring from the base of the anterior nasal spine to a pair of circummandibular wires. The technique may be used alone or adjunctively with other methods of fixation. It offers several advantages over other methods, particularly in the treatment of pediatric mandibular fractures.

Twenty-nine consecutive patients with cystic fibrosis were offered functional endoscopic sinus surgery. Twenty-six of these patients underwent surgery. A symptom questionnaire was obtained from the patient or parent before surgery. At the end of the study this symptom questionnaire was again administered to the same individual, and 21 completed it. There were 14 male and 7 female patients, with a mean age of 12.3 years and a median age of 8.7 years. Mean follow-up was 34.3 months. Results for the following symptoms were significant: nasal airway obstruction was improved (p< 0.0002), olfactory function was improved (p< 0.0037), purulent nasal discharge was decreased (p< 0.001), and activity level was increased (p< 0.001). Other parameters are also reported in the text. In summary, this study prospectively studies the effects of functional endoscopic sinus surgery on symptoms in patients with cystic fibrosis. The study points out several significant areas of symptom improvement and supports the selective use of functional endoscopic sinus surgery in patients with cystic fibrosis. Indications for surgery are provided.

We report the first prospective study of the effect of partial middle turbinectomy on nasal airflow and resistance as measured objectively by active anterior rhinomanometry. Our study group consisted of 31 consecutive patients who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery with simultaneous partial middle turbinate resections. We found that all patients had significant improvement in nasal airflow (p< 0.001) and significant decrease in nasal resistance (p< 0.001). Thus we found no deleterious effect on nasal function. Additionally, we reviewed the literature on retrospective series in which patients had received partial middle turbinectomies and found no evidence that nasal function was impaired after surgery. We conclude that partial middle turbinectomy may be performed without adversely altering nasal function, as measured by active anterior rhinomanometry.

In the measurement of hearing, a masking dilemma is a situation in which it is not possible to use masking to determine if the signal is crossing the head and activating the opposite cochlea. A nonmasking procedure, called the earplug procedure, was developed to rule out crossover for air-conducted signals in patients with a masking dilemma. In the procedure, an earplug is inserted in the suspect ear in an attempt to increase the loss in that ear. If the loss is Increased significantly, then thresholds were obtained from the test ear and crossover is ruled out. If there was no significant threshold shift with the earplug, crossover is not ruled out and the uncertainty remains. Threshold shift criteria were developed for five test frequencies and for single test frequencies. The procedure correctly rules out crossover for a majority of unmaskable ears.

Several investigations have suggested that a sterile inflammatory reaction in a skin flap enhances flap survival. A chemical peel produces a mild chemical burn, which is one form of nonbacterial inflammatory response. Some authors advocate the concomitant use of face lift and chemical peel, while others caution that the peel might jeopardize the facial flaps. To determine whether the reaction caused by a chemical peel enhances or impairs skin flap survival, a study using miniature pigs was undertaken. Survival length of flaps treated with a chemical peel was compared to that of untreated flaps. A total of 36 dorsally based random flaps were used on three miniature pigs. Six identical 14 × 4 cm flaps were designed on each side of the pigs. A chemical peel was applied to the area of 18 of the proposed flaps 2 days prior to elevation. Alternate flaps on each side of the pigs were treated. As the flaps were elevated, the tips were examined to document the inflammatory response histologically. After 14 days, the surviving length of the flaps was measured. As determined by the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test, there was no significant difference between the treated and untreated groups. Our study shows that a nonbacterial inflammatory response produced by a chemical peel does not improve skin flap survival, at least not in pigs.

Although the majority of patients receiving erythromycin experience no hearing loss, certain patients are susceptible. Erythromycin ototoxicity data were analyzed on 20 patients from 13 reports in the English language literature as well as on two patients from the University of Missouri–Columbia. Patients were classified with respect to age, sex, premorbid diagnosis, renal/hepatic function, type of erythromycin used, dosage, duration of therapy, and route of administration. The following auditory effects were considered: onset of symptoms, degree and configuration of hearing loss, and recovery of hearing. The factors which, when combined with the use of high-dose erythromycin (≥2 gm/day), might place patients at risk for erythromycin ototoxicity are preexisting renal or hepatic disease, age (elderly), and perhaps being female. With knowledge of the predisposing factors and auditory effects, the clinician can more easily recognize hearing loss caused by erythromycin and properly counsel referring physicians and affected patients.

Damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve is a frequently teen complication in head and neck surgery. A system for intraoperative monitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve is presented. The key to this system lies in the use of a microlaryngeal electrode and inserter. Application of this system to various situations is described.

A total of 283 consecutive patients with chronic sinusitis underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery. There were 72 allergic patients and 211 nonallergic patients. Data were collected on the effect of immunotherapy on middle meatotomy patency, synechiae formation, and recurrent polyps in allergic patients. Data supported the following conclusions: (1) Immunotherapy given either before or after surgery does not statistically influence middle meatotomy patency, synechiae formation, orrecurrence of polyps after functional endoscopic sinus surgery. However, the data do suggest, for all three outcome parameters, that allergic patients who undergo immunotherapy do better than those who do not undergo immunotherapy and, with the exception of recurrent polyps, do as well as nonallergic patients. (2) The prevalence of preoperative polyps is the same for allergic and nonallergic patients in this study, but polyp recurrence is higher in allergic patients. (3) Approximately 40% of allergic patients who began preoperative immunotherapy stopped immunotherapy after surgery because their allergic symptoms resolved or were minimal. A comment regarding this observation is provided.

Eighteen patients were operated on by functional endoscopic sinus surgery who had no ostiomeatal unit obstruction on computed tomography scan and had unremarkable paranasal sinuses. These patients also had no apparent ostiomeatal unit obstruction on diagnostic nasal endoscopy. Data were collected on these patients regarding the impact of very limited functional endoscopic sinus surgery on their principal complaint of recurrent sinusitis with facial pain/headache thought to be of sinogenic origin. Sixteen patients (88.9%) had a reduction in the number of sinus infections requiring antibiotic therapy. This reduction was significant at p< 0.0001. Twelve of 14 patients whose facial pain/headache was believed to be of sinogenic origin had a significant reduction in severity (95% confidence interval, 49.2% to 95.3%). We discuss the role of reversible nasal mucosal disease in the pathophysiology of recurrent rhinosinusifts in this patient population. This was a very small, select group of patients who had specific complaints and had had medical treatment failures. This therapy Is not recommended for every patient, but only a select few with classic complaints of sinus headaches or recurrent sinusitis and negative computed tomography scans.

Twenty asthma patients who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic sinusitis were studied. Medical records and questionnaire data for these 20 patients were studied regarding the Impact of sinus disease and functional endoscopic sinus surgery on their asthma. We found that 95% reported that their asthma was worsened by their sinus disease (95% confidence interval, 0.74 to 0.99+), and 85% reported that functional endoscopic sinus surgery improved their asthma (0.60 to 0.97). Of the 13 patients who used both inhalers and systemic medication, 53.8% were able to eliminate some of their medication (0.21 to 0.79). Furthermore, 61.5% of these patients had a concomitant reduction in their inhaler use (0.28 to 0.85). All patients (six) who used only inhalers experienced a reduction in their inhaler use (0.54 to 1.00), and two patients were able to eliminate their inhalers completely. One of two patients who were steroid dependent was able to discontinue steroids after surgery. Of patients who used steroids intermittently (13), 53.8% were able to eliminate the use of steroids after surgery (0.21 to 0.79). Patients who required preoperative hospital admissions (4) and emergency room or urgent physician office visits (18) had a 75.0% and 81.3% (p< 0.001) reduction in visits, respectively, after surgery. Because 43% of the cost of asthma is the result of hospitalizations and emergency department/urgent physician office visits, a significant Impact on health care costs can be realized with functional endoscopic sinus surgery in this patient population.

Anaphylaxis may be defined as a systemic, Immunoglobulin E-mediated (Gell-Coombs type I) hypersensitivity reaction triggered by exposure to an antigen in a previously sensitized patient. Anaphylaxis may occur in a varlety of circumstances: however, when it occurs as the result of Immunotherapy, it is of great concern to the practicing allergist. When describing or reporting anaphylaxis relating to Immunotherapy, most allergists speak in terms of the types of reactions, local vs. systemic. Germane to this discussion is the use of the term systemic reaction, which can mean anything from mild allergy symptoms resulting from an allergy injection to bradycardia and hypotension (shock). In this article we report serious or significant systemic reactions, which are characterized by any of the following symptoms: urticaria, sneezing or nasal obstruction, throat tightness or congestion, wheezing, and shock (bradycardta or hypotension). There were no fatalities reported from the survey group. The overall reaction rate was 0.3%.

Magnetic stimulation may allow noninvasive study of the entire course of the facial nerve. Our goal was to determine if evoked muscle action potentials can be obtained in facial musculature using electric direct cortical and noninvasive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the canine motor cortex. Thirty-four dogs were studied with electric direct cortical stimulation through a craniotomy and magnetic transcranial stimulation of the facial motor cortex. Facial nerve stimulation in the cerebellopontine angle allowed comparison to cortical responses. Latencies of 6.08 and 9.52 msec for orbicularis oculi and levator nasolabial, respectively, were determined with magnetic transcranial stimulation, compared with 4.22 and 5.78 msec with electric direct cortical stimulation. In conclusion, magnetic stimulation of the facial motor cortex is possible in dogs, with longer central conduction times than with electric direct stimulation.

Most American clinicians have been reluctant to utilize aspiration biopsy due to poor interpretive skills by the pathologists in the past and a fear of tumor spread by the needle. Voluminous European series and recent American series have proved aspiration to be safe and reliable. In our series of 78 cases, both thin-needle aspiration and conventional tissue biopsies were made. The diagnoses were compared and the overall agreement rate was 90%.