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Carcinosarcoma is a highly malignant tumor characterized by dual malignant histologic differentiation of epithelial and mesenchymal components. The tumor is extremely rare in the sinonasal tract. We report a case of a 62-year-old man with carcinosarcoma involving the maxillary sinus.

It has been proved that co-cultivation of human neuroblastoma cells and human fibrolast cells can enhance nerve cell growth and the production of BDNF in perfusion cultivation. In batch co-cultivation, maximum cell density was increased up to 1.76×106 viable cells/mL from 9×105 viable cells/mL of only neuroblastoma cell culture. The growth of neuroblastoma cells was greatly improved by culturing both nerve and fibroblast cells in a perfusion process, maintaining 1.5×106 viable cells/mL, which was much higher than that from fed-batch cultivation. The nerve cell growth was greatly enhanced in both fed-batch and perfusion cultivations while the growth of fibroblast cells was not. It strongly implies that the factors secreted from, human fibroblast cells and/or the environments of co-culture system can enhance both cell growth and BDNF secretion. Specific BDNF production rate was not enhanced in co-cultures; however, the production period was increased as the cell growth was lengthened in the co-culture case. Competitive growth between nerve cells and fibroblast cells was not observed in all cases, showing no changes of fibroblast cell growth and only enhancement of the neuroblastoma cell growth and overall BDNF production. It was also found that the perfusion cultivation was the most appropriate process for cultivating two cell lines simultaneously in a bioreactor.

Ewing’s sarcoma is an uncommon malignancy that usually occurs in children. It most commonly involves the lower extremity, with the pelvis being the next most common site. Primary Ewing’s sarcoma that arises in the head and neck region is extremely rare, representing only 1-4% of all Ewing’s sarcoma cases. We report a case of primary Ewing’s sarcoma in the nasal cavity in a 10-year old patient with a non-specific past medical history, in which the patient received 3 trials of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, endoscopic wide excision, followed by 2 more trials of adjuvant chemotherapy. Currently, it has been 5 years since treatment and the patient did not exhibit any signs or symptoms of recurrence of the disease. � Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2012;55:586-9 Key WordsZZEwing’s sarcoma ㆍNasal cavity.

Received May 11, 2011 Revised August 2, 2011 Accepted August 5, 2011 Address for correspondence Chin-Saeng Cho, MD Department of OtorhinolaryngologyHead & Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Eulji University, 1306 Dunsan-2 dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon 302-799, Korea Tel +82-42-611-3133 Fax +82-42-611-3136 E-mail cds8922@naver.com Background and ObjectivesZZSudden deafness is not rare but its pathophysiology has not been fully determined and treatment is controversial at present. There is much debate regarding the prognostic factors in sudden deafness patients. Various studies have been done to find out factors concerned with the recovery of sudden deafness, but there are still many unknown components as the probability of recovery from sudden deafness depends on many factors. The aim of this study is to identify an expectation of recovery by regression formula. Subjects and MethodZZWe reviewed the records of 241 patients who were admitted for treatment between 2002 and 2005 under the initial diagnosis of idiopathic sudden hearing loss. The patients were treated with steroid, vasodilator and plasma expander. Improvement of hearing was measured by Siegel’s criteria and correcting rate. Prognostic factors that might be associated with the degree of hearing recovery were classified and analyzed by the optimal scale regression analysis method using SPSS ver. 12.0. ResultsZZSiegel’s criteria and correcting rate have statistical correlation with respect to age, initial hearing level, patterns of pure tone audiogram and duration of initial treatment from onset to hearing improvement after treatment. Vertigo is not associated with hearing improvement. ConclusionZZThe initial hearing level, patterns of pure tone audiogram and duration of initial treatment from onset are associated with the degree of hearing recovery. We produced a calculating model of hearing improvement based on factors affecting hearing improvement. Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg 2011;54:603-9

Background and Objectives Spectral gradient acoustic reflectometry (SGAR) determines the probability of middle ear fluid by measuring the response of the tympanic membrane to a sound. To assess the sensitivity and specificity of SGAR for the diagnosis of otitis media with effusion (OME) in the Korean population, we compared accurate diagnostic rates of OME obtained from SGAR and tympanometry. Pneumatic otoscope was used for diagnostic standard of OME. Subjects and Method SGAR and tympanometry were performed on 488 ears from May 27th, 2008 to July 30th, 2008. Exclusion criteria were the presence of tympanic membrane perforation, and/or pressure equalization tubes, noncompliance, otorrhea, external auditory canal stenosis and signs of acute inflammation such as fever or otalgia. In all cases, pneumatic otoscopic examination was conducted and diagnostic accurate rates of OME were calculated in SGAR and tympanogram. Results Using spectral gradients of 3 or higher as breakpoints for indicating OME, in the case of pediatrics under 2 years old, with the sensitivity of 58.3%, specificity of 94.7%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 77.8% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 87.8%. In the case of the pediatrics between 2 and 12 years old, it showed the sensitivity of 67.2%, specificity of 90.3%, PPV of 74.5% and NPV of 86.8%. In the case of the pediatrics over 12 years old, they showed sensitivity of 87.3%, specificity of 88.8%, PPV of 67.6% and NPV of 96.3%. Conclusion SGAR has the higher tendency of specificity and NPV, and will be a useful screeningtest with good portability and economical efficiency.