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Objectives: Data on the association between Bell's palsy (BP) and pregnancy is scarce and there is an ongoing debate regarding the association of BP and pregnancy. Main Outcome Measures: We aimed to investigate the prevalence of BP among pregnant patients and determine the frequency of pregnant women in BP cohorts and vice versa, assess which term of the pregnancy and peripartum bears a higher risk for BP occurrence, and determine the prevalence of maternal comorbidities associated with BP during pregnancy. Design: Meta analysis. Settings: Screening standard articles and extracting data from Ovid MEDLINE (1960–2021), Embase (1960–2021), and Web of Science (1960–2021). All study types were included except for case reports. Measures: Data were pooled by means of both fixed and random‐effects models. Results: The search strategy identified 147 records. Twenty‐five of the studies that met our inclusion criteria described 809 pregnant patients with BP in a total of 11,813 BP patients and they were included in the meta‐analysis. The incidence of BP among the pregnant patients was 0.05%; The incidence of pregnant patients among all BP patients was 6.62%. Most of the BP occurrences were during the third trimester (68.82%). The pooled incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus; hypertension; pre‐eclampsia/eclampsia and fetal complications among the pregnant patients with BP was 6.3%, 13.97%, 9.54%, and 6.74%, respectively. Conclusions: This meta‐analysis revealed a low incidence of BP during pregnancy. A Higher proportion occurred during the third trimester. The association of BP and pregnancy warrants further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective  Despite its technical feasibility, anterior skull base surgery still carries the risk of severe postoperative complications, morbidity, and mortality. The reported rate of complications has diminished over the past two decades, but they continue to pose various challenges. This study aims to report late complications in a relatively large series of patients who underwent open anterior skull base surgery, and to propose methods for averting such complications. Methods  Retrospective chart review of all patients who underwent anterior open skull base surgery between 2000 and 2016 in a university-affiliated tertiary referral cancer center. Results  There were 301 operations, of which 198 (65.8%) were for benign disease and 103 (34.2%) were for malignant tumors. The male-to-female ratio was 1.4:1, and the mean age was 44.8 years. Delayed complications occurred in 85 patients (28.2%): 31 (10.3%) involved wounds, 18 (13.9%) involved the central nervous system, and 14 (4.6%) involved the orbit. Multivariate analysis found malignant pathology, intracranial extension, and previous radiochemotherapy as predictors for the development of a delayed complication. The patients who were operated in the later study period (after 2007) had lower rates of all three types of complications compared with the earlier study period. Conclusion  Delayed complications following skull base surgery are in decline. This is mainly due to the advancement in imaging studies, surgical techniques, development of sophisticated reconstructive procedures, and the cooperation of multidisciplinary teams. We attribute the reduction in our department to our revised treatment protocol which is presented herein, with emphasis on averting the occurrence of these complications. Level of Evidence  The level of evidence is 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The endoscopic endonasal approach is being increasingly used for the resection and reconstruction of anterior skull base (ASB) lesions. Vascularized nasoseptal flaps (NSF) have become the workhorse for the reconstruction of ASB defects, resulting in a significant decrease in the incidence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of NSF in children. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of the medical records of all patients under the age of 18 years who underwent endoscopic repair of ASB lesions with the use of NSF at our tertiary medical center between 1/2011 and 8/2016. Results: Twelve children underwent ASB defect repair for both benign and malignant neoplasms using the endoscopic endonasal NSF technique. Four children had previously undergone ASB surgery. The male-to-female ratio was 1:1, the average age was 12.3 years, the average hospitalization time was 8.3 days, and the maximum follow-up period was 24months, during which craniofacial growth appeared to be unimpaired. A lumbar drain was used postoperatively in six cases. Crust formation and synechia were observed in two cases. There was one case of a major long-term complication (a CSF leak followed by meningitis). Conclusions: Endoscopic endonasal NSF was both an effective and a safe technique for ASB defect reconstruction in 12 children for both benign and malignant neoplasms. It had a high success rate and a low complication rate. No apparent negative influence on craniofacial growth was observed in our series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction  The steady increase in average life expectancy has led to a rise in the number of referrals of elderly patients for major operations. It is not clear whether age itself is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality after skull base operations. We investigated a possible link among a cohort of patients older than 80 years of age who underwent those surgeries in our department. Methods  We conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent skull base surgery at the TASMC (Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center) between 2000 and 2016. Results  A total of 369 patients underwent open skull base surgeries in our institution, and 13 were patients older than 80 years. The median age of the octogenarians was 83.4 (range 80-89), and the male-to-female ratio was 7:6. Twelve patients had major systemic comorbidities. Four patients had major complications associated with surgery: three had early wound complications, and one each had early central nervous system complications, early and late systemic complications, and late orbital complications. This complication rate is comparable to that of our younger group of 356 patients. The overall survival rate was measured for 30 days, 1 year, and 3 years, and it was not significantly different between the octogenarians and that of the younger patients. Further comparison of the elderly group with 13 matched younger patients revealed no difference of morbidity and mortality between the two groups. Conclusions  Despite their systemic comorbidities, the morbidity and mortality rates associated with skull base surgery in octogenarians appear to be comparable to that of younger patients undergoing the same procedures.