Articles

Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgeon unemployment in Canada: a cross-sectional survey of graduating Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery residents

Recently graduated Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgeons (OTO-HNS) are facing an employment crisis. To date, there has been no systematic evaluation of the factors contributing to this situation, graduating ...

Authors: Michael G Brandt, Grace M Scott, Philip C Doyle and Robert H Ballagh

Factors associated with severe deep neck space infections: targeting multiple fronts

To determine factors predictive of a severe deep neck space infection (DNSI), defined as those requiring surgery and/or postoperative intensive care unit (ICU) admission. To specifically examine dental practic...

Authors: Brittany R Barber, Peter T Dziegielewski, Vincent L Biron, Andrew Ma and Hadi Seikaly

Current management of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma in Canada

The detection of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) is on the rise and its optimal management remains controversial. Our aim was to determine the current self-reported management of PTMC amongst Canadian ...

Authors: Mazin Merdad, Antoine Eskander, John De Almeida, Jeremy Freeman, Lorne Rotstein, Shereen Ezzat, Anna M Sawka and David P Goldstein

Mixed reality temporal bone surgical dissector: mechanical design

The Development of a Novel Mixed Reality (MR) Simulation.

Authors: Jordan Brent Hochman, Nariman Sepehri, Vivek Rampersad, Jay Kraut, Milad Khazraee, Justyn Pisa and Bertram Unger

Cochlea sparing effects of intensity modulated radiation therapy in head and neck cancers patients: a long-term follow-up study

Radiation to the inner ear may lead to (irreversible) sensorineural hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term effect of radiotherapy on hearing in patients treated with Intensity Mo...

Authors: Eleonoor AR Theunissen, Charlotte L Zuur, Marta Lopez Yurda, Sieberen van der Baan, Anne F Kornman, Jan Paul de Boer, Alfons JM Balm, Coen RN Rasch and Wouter A Dreschler

Physician payment methods: a focus on quality and cost control

With rising health care costs, governments must develop innovative methods to deliver efficient and equitable health care services. With physician remuneration being the third largest health care expense, the ...

Authors: Luke Rudmik, Dominika Wranik and Caroline Rudisill-Michaelsen

Metallic hairpin inhalation: a healthcare problem facing young Muslim females

To perform an epidemiological assessment of metallic hairpin inhalation in young Muslim females and highlight the need for a health education program in this population.

Authors: Nabil Rizk, Noor E Gwely, Vincent L Biron and Usama Hamza

Tonsillotomy versus tonsillectomy on young children: 2 year post surgery follow-up

To study the long-term effect of tonsillotomy and tonsillectomy in young children after two years in comparison to the results after six months.

Authors: Elisabeth Ericsson, Jonas Graf, Inger Lundeborg-Hammarstrom and Elisabeth Hultcrantz

Practice patterns in the management of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer in Ontario Canada 2000-2008

The extent of treatment for differentiated thyroid cancer remains controversial. The objective of this study was to describe the variations in practice prior to diagnosis and for the first year after diagnosis...

Authors: Stephen F Hall, Jonathan C Irish, Patti A Groome and David R Urbach

Differential expression of transforming growth factor-beta in benign vs. papillary thyroid cancer nodules; a potential diagnostic tool?

Thyroid nodules are common, but only 5% of nodules are found to be malignant. In North America, the incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing. Fine needle aspirate (FNA) biopsy is the diagnostic test of choice...

Authors: Matthew D Brace, Jun Wang, Mark Petten, Martin J Bullock, Fawaz Makki, Jonathan Trites, S Mark Taylor and Robert D Hart

Resource development in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery: an analysis on patient education resource development

There is a need for educational tools in the consenting process of otolaryngology-head and neck procedures. A development strategy for the creation of educational tools in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery,...

Authors: Jeremy Goldfarb, Vishaal Gupta, Heather Sampson and Albino Chiodo

Prevalence of voice & swallowing complaints in Pre-operative thyroidectomy patients: a prospective cohort study

Compressive symptoms are common in patients with thyroid disease and are an accepted indication for thyroidectomy. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and severity of voice and swallowin...

Authors: Theresa Holler and Jennifer Anderson

In vitro efficacy of N-acetylcysteine on bacteria associated with chronic suppurative otitis media

The safety and efficacy of Ciprodex® has been demonstrated for treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). However, symptoms fail to resolve in 9-15% of patients. The objective of this study is to ev...

Authors: Jane Lea, Anne Elizabeth Conlin, Inna Sekirov, Veronica Restelli, Komathi G Ayakar, LeeAnn Turnbull, Patrick Doyle, Michael Noble, Robert Rennie, William E Schreiber and Brian D Westerberg

Carcinoma of the larynx, metastatic to illeum, presents as ruptured appendicitis: case report and literature review

Metastasis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) to the intra-abdominal gastrointestinal tract is exceedingly rare. The objectives of this case report are to describe a case involving a perforated metasta...

Authors: Jordan T Glicksman, David Bottoni, Jessica Shepherd, Neil Parry and Jason H Franklin

Management of oropharyngeal cancer: a cross-sectional review of institutional practice at a large Canadian referral centre

Over the years, the treatment of oropharyngeal cancer has changed; in the past, first-line treatment consisted of surgery followed by adjuvant radiotherapy, today however, primary treatment typically involves ...

Authors: Lindsay Wilson, Danny Enepekides and Kevin Higgins

Primary squamous cell of the thyroid–an abbreviated clinical presentation

Lacking any squamous epithelium, thyroid gland with primary squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) proves to be an etiopathophysiological quandary. Two major theories do exist, though few cases have been documented to...

Authors: Justin T Lui, Moosa N Khalil and Shamir P Chandarana

Identification alone versus intraoperative neuromonitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery: experience of 2034 consecutive patients

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of intraoperative neuromonitoring in reducing the postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy rate by a comparison between patients submitted to thyroidectom...

Authors: Pietro Giorgio Calò, Giuseppe Pisano, Fabio Medas, Maria Rita Pittau, Luca Gordini, Roberto Demontis and Angelo Nicolosi

Age related changes to the dynamics of contralateral DPOAE suppression in human subjects

The two ears are linked with a neural pathway such that stimulation of one ear has a modulating effect on the contralateral cochlea. This is mediated by cochlear afferent neurons connecting with olivo-cochlear...

Authors: Ujimoto Konomi, Sohit Kanotra, Adrian L James and Robert V Harrison

Women in Otolaryngology

Authors: Jonas T Johnson

Validation of pharyngeal findings on sleep nasopharyngoscopy in children with snoring/sleep disordered breathing

To validate the pharyngeal findings in sleep nasopharyngoscopy (SNP) of children with snoring - sleep disordered breathing (S-SDB).

Authors: Maleka Ramji, Vincent L Biron, Caroline C Jeffery, David WJ Côté and Hamdy El-Hakim

Development of an ototoxicity model in the adult CBA/CaJ mouse and determination of a golden window of corticosteroid intervention for otoprotection

To investigate the effect of timing of dexamethasone administration on auditory hair cell survival following an ototoxic insult with kanamycin and furosemide.

Authors: Vinay T Fernandes and Vincent YW Lin

Measurement tools for the diagnosis of nasal septal deviation: a systematic review

To perform a systematic review of measurement tools utilized for the diagnosis of nasal septal deviation (NSD).

Authors: Tehnia Aziz, Vincent L Biron, Kal Ansari and Carlos Flores-Mir

Role of season, temperature and humidity on the incidence of epistaxis in Alberta, Canada

Classical dogma holds that epistaxis is more common in winter months but there is significant variability reported in the literature. No study has yet examined the effect of season, humidity and temperature on...

Authors: Leigh J Sowerby, Joshua J DeSerres, Luke Rudmik and Erin D Wright

Fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing to assess swallowing outcomes as a function of head position in a normal population

Head position practice has been shown to influence pill-swallowing ability, but the impact of head position on measures of swallowing outcomes has not yet been studied with fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation of...

Authors: Lucas A Badenduck, T Wayne Matthews, Alanna McDonough, Joseph C Dort, Kristin Wiens, Rachelle Kettner, Susan Crawford and Bonnie J Kaplan

The effect of topically applied tissue expanders on radial forearm skin pliability: a prospective self-controlled study

The use of pre-operatively applied topical tissue expansion tapes have previously demonstrated increased rates of primary closure of radial forearm free flap donor sites. This is associated with a reduced cost...

Authors: Jeffson Chung, James P Bonaparte, Michael Odell and Martin Corsten

High definition video teaching module for learning neck dissection

Video teaching modules are proven effective tools for enhancing student competencies and technical skills in the operating room. Integration into post-graduate surgical curricula, however, continues to pose a ...

Authors: Adrian Mendez, Hadi Seikaly, Kal Ansari, Russell Murphy and David Cote

Reviewer acknowledgement 2013

The Editors of Journal of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery would like to thank all our reviewers who have contributed to the journal in Volume 42 (2013).

Authors: Hadi Seikaly and Erin Wright

CO₂ laser versus cold steel margin analysis following endoscopic excision of glottic cancer

To compare the suitability of CO₂ laser with steel instruments for margin excision in transoral laser microsurgery.

Authors: Fawaz M Makki, Matthew H Rigby, Martin Bullock, Timothy Brown, Robert D Hart, Jonathan Trites, Michael L Hinni and S Mark Taylor

Validation of 1-hour post-thyroidectomy parathyroid hormone level in predicting hypocalcemia

Prior work by our group suggested that a single one hour post-thyroidectomy parathyroid hormone (1 hr PTH) level could accurately stratify patients into high and low risk groups for the development of hypocalc...

Authors: Trung N Le, Paul D Kerr, Donna E Sutherland and Pascal Lambert

Management of locally advanced laryngeal cancer

Management of advanced laryngeal cancer is complex and ideal strategy is yet to be defined. This study evaluates the experience of a single head and neck oncologic centre in the management of T4 laryngeal cancer.

Authors: Alexander D Karatzanis, Georgios Psychogios, Frank Waldfahrer, Markus Kapsreiter, Johannes Zenk, George A Velegrakis and Heinrich Iro

The relationship between survival and socio-economic status for head and neck cancer in Canada

Human papilloma virus (HPV) is emerging as the primary cause for some head and neck cancers. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between head and neck cancer (HNC) survival and socio...

Authors: James Ted McDonald, Stephanie Johnson-Obaseki, Euna Hwang, Chris Connell and Martin Corsten

Long-term functional donor site morbidity of the free radial forearm flap in head and neck cancer survivors

To assess the functional donor site morbidity of the forearm free flap in patients surviving at least 2 years after ablative head and neck cancer surgery in a tertiary care centre.

Authors: Jason R Orlik, Peter Horwich, Clark Bartlett, Jonathan Trites, Robert Hart and S Mark Taylor

FOCUS harmonic scalpel compared to conventional hemostasis in open total thyroidectomy - a prospective randomized study

Hemostasis in thyroid surgery is of utmost importance for a successful surgery and an uneventful postoperative course. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the FOCUS Harmonic Scalpel in patients underg...

Authors: Yun-fei Duan, Wei Xue, Feng Zhu and Dong-lin Sun

Rates of thyroid malignancy by FNA diagnostic category

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) of thyroid nodules is a cornerstone of surgical decision making in thyroid cancer. The most widely utilized system for reporting thyroid FNA results is the Bethesda System, which i...

Authors: Blair A Williams, Martin J Bullock, Jonathan R Trites, S Mark Taylor and Robert D Hart

The role of neural precursor cells and self assembling peptides in nerve regeneration

Cranial nerve injury involves loss of central neural cells in the brain stem and surrounding support matrix, leading to severe functional impairment. Therapeutically targeting cellular replacement and enhancin...

Authors: Xiao Zhao, Gordon S Yao, Yang Liu, Jian Wang, Kajana Satkunendrarajah and Michael Fehlings

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a postoperative clinical care pathway in head and neck surgery with microvascular reconstruction

The objective of this study is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a postoperative clinical care pathway for patients undergoing major head and neck oncologic surgery with microvascular reconstruction.

Authors: Jonathan F Dautremont, Luke R Rudmik, Justin Yeung, Tiffany Asante, Steve C Nakoneshny, Monica Hoy, Amanda Lui, Shamir P Chandarana, Thomas W Matthews, Christiaan Schrag and Joseph C Dort

Association between allergic rhinitis and asthma in a Northern Alberta cohort

Many published epidemiologic studies confirm a marked increase in the prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis. The link between allergic rhinitis and asthma has been extensively studied and approximately 75...

Authors: Caroline C Jeffery, Mohit Bhutani, Harissios Vliagoftis, Erin D Wright, Hadi Seikaly and David WJ Côté

Prognostic utility of basaloid differentiation in oropharyngeal cancer

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is recognized as the key risk factor for a distinct subset of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. P16 is a reliable, sensitive surrogate marker for HPV and confers a positive prog...

Authors: Timothy Cooper, Vincent Biron, Ben Adam, Alexander C Klimowicz, Lakshmi Puttagunta and Hadi Seikaly

Intraoperative parathyroid hormone level in parathyroidectomy: which patients benefit from it?

Intraoperative parathyroid hormone level (IOPTH) is withdrawn during parathyroidectomy to confirm the success of the procedure. Recently, the importance of IOPTH has been put to question. The purpose of this s...

Authors: Faisal Zawawi, Alex M Mlynarek, Arielle Cantor, Rickul Varshney, Martin J Black, Michael P Hier, Louise Rochon and Richard J Payne

Neurotology symptoms at referral to vestibular evaluation

Dizziness-vertigo is common in adults, but clinical providers may rarely diagnose vestibular impairment and referral could be delayed. To assess neurotology symptoms (including triggers) reported by patients w...

Authors: Kathrine Jáuregui-Renaud, Aralia Gutierrez-Marquez, Leticia Viveros-Rentería, Verónica Ramos-Toledo and Fátima Gómez-Alvarez

HPV positive tonsillar cancer in two laser surgeons: case reports

A 53 year-old male gynecologist presented with human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 positive tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma. He had no identifiable risk factors with the exception of long term occupational exposur...

Authors: Margo Rioux, Andrea Garland, Duncan Webster and Edward Reardon

Molecular predictors of locoregional and distant metastases in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

The incidence of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is increasing due to fundamental changes in oncogenesis related to effects of the human papilomavirus (HPV). Virally-mediated tumours behave and r...

Authors: Brittany R Barber, Vincent L Biron, Alexander C Klimowicz, Lakshmi Puttagunta, David WJ Côté and Hadi Seikaly

Corrosion casting of the subglottis following endotracheal tube intubation injury: a pilot study in Yorkshire piglets

Subglottic stenosis can result from endotracheal tube injury. The mechanism by which this occurs, however, is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of angiogenesis, hypoxia and...

Authors: Lukas H Kus, Michael C Sklar, Jaina Negandhi, Marvin Estrada, Antoine Eskander, Robert V Harrison, Paolo Campisi, Vito Forte and Evan J Propst

Can a multisensory teaching approach impart the necessary knowledge, skills, and confidence in final year medical students to manage epistaxis?

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a multisensory teaching approach in imparting the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage epistaxis in a cohort of fourth year medical students.

Authors: George Kurien, Vincent L Biron, Chase Campbell, David WJ Cote and Kal Ansari

Quantifying respiratory complications post-adenotonsillectomy in patients with normal or inconclusive overnight oximetry

Children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) are at risk of developing post-operative respiratory complications following adenotonsillectomy (T&A). Our goal was to describe and quantify these complications f...

Authors: Terence TN Lee, Claire E Lefebvre, Nathalie E Gans and Sam J Daniel

Mastoidectomy and mastoid obliteration with autologous bone graft: a quality of life study

A mastoid cavity resulting from a canal wall down mastoidectomy can result in major morbidity for patients due to chronic otorrhea and infection, difficulty with hearing aids and vertigo with temperature chang...

Authors: George Kurien, Kate Greeff, Nahla Gomaa and Allan Ho

Frozen section analysis and sentinel lymph node biopsy in well differentiated thyroid cancer

The aim of this study is to prospectively review the role of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy in the management of well differentiated thyroid carcinoma (WDTC), and to determine the efficacy of intraoperative ...

Authors: Yelda Jozaghi, Keith Richardson, Sumeet Anand, Alex Mlynarek, Michael P Hier, Véronique-Isabelle Forest, Eyal Sela, Michael Tamilia, Derin Caglar and Richard J Payne

Expectantly waiting: a survey of thyroid surgery wait times among Canadian Otolaryngologists

Our objective is to highlight discrepancies between actual wait times and perceived appropriate wait times for various thyroid pathologies among Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgeons in Canada; and to identif...

Authors: Maria Brake, Paige Moore, S Mark Taylor, Jonathan Trites, Scott Murray and Rob Hart

Osteoradionecrosis of the mandible: a case series at a single institution

Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) defines exposed irradiated bone, which fails to heal over a period of 3–6 months without evidence of residual or recurrent tumor. In the previous decades, a staging and treatment proto...

Authors: Artur Gevorgyan, Kevin Wong, Ian Poon, Nick Blanas, Danny J Enepekides and Kevin M Higgins

Is fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography useful for the thyroid nodules with indeterminate fine needle aspiration biopsy? a meta-analysis of the literature

The indeterminate fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) results present a clinical dilemma for physicians. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positro...

Authors: Ningjian Wang, Hualing Zhai and Yingli Lu