Various case reports have described sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) in patients with the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome ...coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Our aim was to determine the incidence of COVID-19 in patients with SSNHL.
All consecutive patients with audiometric confirmed SSNHL between November 2020 and March 2021 in a Dutch large inner city teaching hospital were included. All patients were tested for COVID-19 by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) and awaited the results in quarantine.
Out of 25 patients, zero (0%) tested positive for COVID-19. Two patients had previously tested positive for COVID-19: at three and eight months prior to the onset of hearing loss.
This is the largest series to date investigating COVID-19 in SSNHL patients. In this series there is no apparent relationship between SSNHL and COVID-19.
Summary The mainstay treatments for head and neck carcinomas are surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. These treatment options may be associated with considerable complications. Radical ...radiotherapy and chemotherapy can generally be employed only once, which presents difficulties in cases of recurrent disease or second primaries within the irradiated field. Salvage surgery at the same site is often difficult, due to progressive tissue loss. In this respect photodynamic therapy (PDT) seems to be a good alternative treatment option for small, localized tumors; with a good outcome and with excellent functional and cosmetic results. Selected patients with advanced cancer of the head and neck, who have exhausted other treatment options, can also achieve improvement in quality of life with PDT. The advantages of PDT compared with surgery or radiotherapy are reduced long-term morbidity and the fact that PDT does not compromise future treatment options for recurrent, residual or second primary disease.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
To determine the efficacy of Photodynamic therapy of patients with recurrent Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma we reviewed all available literature. Since the treatment options for recurrent or persistent ...Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma are limited, the survival rates poor and the complications severe; there is definitely a place for alternative treatment modalities with more efficacy and less morbidity. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has the potential to be a very effective local treatment modality for recurrent or persistent nasopharyngeal cancer, without the severe side effects seen with re-irradiation. This review shows all reported results of Photodynamic therapy in the treatment for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.
Background
To compare cholesteatoma care internationally and to evaluate outcomes, ear surgeons must use the same terminology. However, a clear universal definition on how to describe the extension, ...destruction and accompanying morbidity caused by the cholesteatoma is lacking. The practical applicability by means of interrater agreement is assessed for the STAMCO and the ChOLE classification.
Methods
A total of 134 adult patients derived from the nationwide multicentre study in the Netherlands, entitled Dutch Cholesteatoma Data (DCD) were included. Retrospective analysis of 134 surgical reports according to the STAMCO and ChOLE classification for localisation/extension of the cholesteatoma, complication status and ossicular chain status. Both the percentage agreement and the interrater agreement were determined for each item of the classifications and interrater agreement was compared between the classifications as a whole.
Results
Differences in interrater agreement were found for both the localisation/extension of the cholesteatoma and ossicular chain status. STAMCO classification derived from the surgical report scored better on the localisation/extension of the cholesteatoma, whereas the ChOLE classification derived from the surgical report scored better on the status of the ossicular chain. In both classifications, complication status had a low agreement level but was also poorly registered in the surgical reports.
Conclusion
Both STAMCO and ChOLE will be beneficial in uniform registration of cholesteatoma pathology in practice. Modifications proposed for both classifications may make them even more practical applicable in the future. A common denominator obtained from these two classifications may be incorporated in a standardised surgical report to facilitate evaluation which make outcomes transferable towards both classifications.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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