You searched for "radiotherapy"
Robotic surgery for squamous cell cancer: the new frontiers
Although the da Vinci platform was FDA approved for early-stage oropharyngeal cancers, the indications have expanded. In this article, John Hardman explains how surgeons, with greater understanding of the strengths and limitations of robotic surgery, have systematically set out to...
Prophylactic gastrostomy tubes in advance of chemoradiotherapy for advanced head and neck malignancies – are they worthwhile?
It is well recognised that radical chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for head and neck cancers can significantly affect swallowing, especially if radiotherapy is delivered to the hypopharynx and/or both sides of the neck. As such, prophylactic gastrostomy tubes are often advocated in...
Practical Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery
The introduction describes this text as being useful for a wide readership including the medical student, physician assistant, nurse practitioner and physical therapist dealing with dizziness. I would be of the opinion as indicated in the preface that this is...
Reconstruction of the Head and Neck: A Defect-Oriented Approach
This is the second Thieme book on head and neck cancer by this author that follows on from Head and Neck Cancer: an Evidence-Based Team Approach four years ago. It is a well-structured, up-to-date book in a readable layout with...
Pomegranate juice as an otoprotective agent
Chemotherapeutic agents such as cisplatin, given alongside irradiation, offer a survival advantage in head and neck cancer. Some patients often complain bitterly about side-effects of their treatment, one of which is ototoxicity. In this paper, the authors propose the use...
Which factors affect the postoperative CSF leak following endoscopic skull base surgery?
Endoscopic skull base surgery is being increasingly performed worldwide for skull base tumours. Common indications include pituitary tumours, rathke cleft cysts, chordomas, craniopharyngiomas and olfactory neuroblastomas. The most common and important complication following endoscopic skull base surgery is postoperative CSF...
An advance in imaging for sinonasal tumours?
Benign sinonasal growths are incredibly common, and malignant sinonasal growths thankfully rare. We know that malignant tumours often present late, and the imaging can sometimes be misleading, so the authors here compare using diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), dynamic contrast enhanced...
How do objective ratings of swallowing compare with patient-reported dysphagia QOL measures in the head and neck cancer population?
Swallowing may be assessed by a comprehensive battery of tools including instrumental/objective assessments, clinician-rated measures and patient-reported measures. The authors of this paper use secondary analysis to explore concordance between videofluoroscopy and a patient-reported dysphagia quality of life (QOL) measure....
Reducing the risk of Frey’s syndrome after parotidectomy – which methods are best?
Gustatory sweating or Frey’s syndrome is a well-recognised complication of parotid surgery. The reported incidence is highly variable, from 4% to 96%, with around 30% of patients reporting symptoms. A number of intraoperative techniques can be used to reduce the...
Extracapsular dissection alone for low-grade malignancies of the parotid gland – oncologically sound?
The general treatment strategy advocated for a primary carcinoma of the parotid gland is surgical resection +/- adjuvant radiotherapy. A selective neck dissection is usually recommended in all cases of parotid malignancies, except for small, low-grade tumours. In this paper,...
How to improve olfaction and enhance quality of life after laryngectomy
Total laryngectomy diverts airflow away from the nose and, hence, olfaction is greatly impaired. Undoubtedly, this affects quality of life in terms of loss of taste and flavour. Surgery and devices to re-establish airflow into the nose can be difficult...
