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Background: Implantable hypoglossal nerve upper airway stimulation (HNS) is a novel strategy approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the management of moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients with continuous positive airway pressure therapy intolerance or failure. Because of the proximity of a cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) to this stimulator, interaction between these devices is theoretically possible.Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess interactions between an implantable HNS device and a CIED.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 14 ad hoc patients with continuous positive airway pressure-intolerant, moderate-to-severe OSA and pre-existing transvenous CIEDs undergoing HNS implantation (Inspire II, Inspire Medical Systems). We assessed these devices for their pre and postimplant OSA outcomes and for possible device-device interaction. All patients were followed up for 1 year.Results: Of the 14 patients, 9 had a pacemaker (8 dual-chamber, 1 single-chamber), 4 had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (2 dual-chamber, 1 single-chamber), and 1 had a cardiac resynchronization therapy device. All the HNS devices were implanted on the opposite side of the CIED. All CIEDs were programmed bipolar. HNS were programmed either unipolar or bipolar. During implant, intraoperative testing was performed to confirm that bipolar and unipolar HNS stimulation did not impact CIED sensing. During the follow-up period, no oversensing episodes were noted on the CIEDs.Conclusion: In this early experience, simultaneous use of a novel hypoglossal nerve upper airway stimulation device with transvenous CIEDs seems to be safe, effective, and without any device-device interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context.—: Tumor contaminants were incidentally noted in frozen section margins of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma., Objective.—: To estimate the frequency of tumor contaminants in frozen section slides of patients who underwent surgery for pharyngeal cancer, and to characterize the surgical and pathologic context of these incidents., Design.—: A retrospective search was conducted to identify pharyngeal resections from 2016 to 2022. Surgical pathology, operative reports, and frozen section slides were reviewed. Preanalytical phase tumor contaminants were defined as tumor contaminants that occurred in frozen section slides with or without occurrence in permanent slides., Results.—: Eighty-one pharyngeal resections with intraoperative tumor bed margins for squamous cell carcinoma were identified. These included 308 tumor bed margins represented in 641 slides. Preanalytical contaminants occurred among 9 patients (11.1% of all and 21.4% of robotic surgeries) and in 3.8% of the 308 intraoperative tumor bed margins. A statistically significant association was found between contaminants and larger tumor size (Student t test, P = .04) and surgical approach (robotic versus open oropharyngectomy: Fisher exact test, P < .001). All patients with contaminants had intraoperative tumor disruption. Two frozen section deferrals (0.6%) and 2 discrepancies with final diagnosis (0.6%) attributed to contaminants were identified; however, clinical or surgical management was not affected in any patient., Conclusions.—: Preanalytical contaminants may cause confusion in intraoperative margin assessment. They are more likely to occur in margins of nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinoma resected by transoral robotic surgery if there is intraoperative tumor disruption. Rarely, preanalytical contaminants lead to frozen section deferral or discrepancy with final diagnosis., (© 2024 College of American Pathologists.)

Parathyromatosis is an uncommon cause of hypercalcemia. We describe a case of parathyromatosis and hypercalcemia in a 38-year-old man with a history of end-stage renal disease and subtotal parathyroidectomy in which a previous parathyroid operation was implicated. The results of fine-needle aspiration and histologic examination demonstrated a neck mass consistent with parathyromatosis. We discuss parathyromatosis as a rare cause of recurrent hypercalcemia in patients with end-stage renal disease and in those who have undergone previous parathyroid operations. We also characterize the iatrogenic and the embryologic pathogenetic factors involved.