Search

There is growing otologic interest in treating inner ear disorders, such as sudden sensorineural hearing loss and acute or unremitting Meniere's disease, with intratympanic dexamethasone (IT-DEX). Although anecdotally reported, there are no scientific clinical papers and few prior laboratory research publications on the subject. This study compares perilymph dexamethasone concentrations after systemic and intratympanic administration and assesses the role of 3 potential transport facilitators of IT-DEX into perilymph. Forty guinea pigs (79 ears) were randomly separated into 5 groups. Dexamethasone levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. IT-DEX resulted in higher perilymph steroid levels than intravenous dexamethasone (P < 0.05). Histamine facilitator resulted in significantly higher perilymph steroid levels than IT-DEX alone (P < 0.05). Neither hyaluronic acid nor dimethylsulfoxide was a potent facilitator. This study demonstrates that IT-DEX administration results in superior perilymph levels within 1 hour of administration and does not result in systemic absorption. Histamine is a potent facilitating agent. The clinical implications are considerable.

Cutaneous metastatic disease is a prognostically important diagnosis. We report the case of a 64-year-old man who had an uncommon histologic type of lung cancer--a large cell undifferentiated carcinoma, which was metastatic to the skin of the nose. The relative frequency of cutaneous metastasis is similar to that of primary cancers. Cutaneous disease as the first sign of metastasis is most often seen in cancer of the lung. However, its appearance as a large tumor on the nose, which was observed in this case, is unusual.

There is a 10% to 48% reported incidence of clinically significant gustatory sweating after parotid surgery or injury. Various medical and surgical treatments have been used in the attempt to treat this socially embarrassing condition. These treatments are not always effective and often have unwanted risks and adverse effects. They also do not address the post-parotidectomy defect. Prevention of Frey syndrome and correction of the postoperative contour deformity after parotidectomy have recently been achieved by interposition of temporoparietal fascia flap between the parotid gland and the cheek skin flap at the time of parotidectomy. This article presents the first report (to our knowledge) of an established case of Frey syndrome being treated with temporoparietal fascia flap interposition.