Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is an inflammatory disease of the paranasal sinuses. It is defined as the presence of a minimum of two out of four main symptoms such as hyposmia, facial pain, nasal blockage, and discharge, which last for 8–12 weeks. CRS significantly impairs a patient’s quality of life. It needs special treatment mainly focusing on preventing local infection/inflammation with corticosteroid sprays or improving sinus drainage using nasal saline irrigation. When other treatments fail, endoscopic sinus surgery is considered an effective option. According to the state-of-the-art knowledge of CRS, there is more evidence suggesting that it is more of an inflammatory disease than an infectious one. This condition is also treated as a multifactorial inflammatory disorder as it may be triggered by various factors, such as bacterial or fungal infections, airborne irritants, defects in innate immunity, or the presence of concomitant diseases. Due to the incomplete understanding of the pathological processes of CRS, there is a continuous search for new indicators that are directly related to the pathogenesis of this disease—e.g., in the field of systems biology. The studies adopting systems biology search for possible factors responsible for the disease at genetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic levels. The analyses of the changes in the genome, transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome may reveal the dysfunctional pathways of inflammatory regulation and provide a clear insight into the pathogenesis of this disease. Therefore, in the present paper, we have summarized the state-of-the-art knowledge of the application of systems biology in the pathology and development of CRS.
Perforation is a defect of nasal septum manifested by the disruption of mucosa in the cartillaginous or bone part of nasal septum or in both of the parts at the same time.As a result, disruption of air transport through the nose and impaired nasal physiology occur. Crusting, epistaxis, and wheezing arise. Perforations are classified according to their size, type, and localization. There are many causes for nasal septum perforation: trauma, surgery, tumors, coexistence of inflammatory, infectious, degenerative, and autoimmune diseases, and cocaine abuse. The assessment of a patient with nasal septum perforation includes detailed medical history, physical examination, diagnostic and laboratory tests. Treating the underlying disease is of primary importance. The second step involves closing the perforation. Perforations can be treated conservatively (pharmacologically) or surgically. The choice of approach depends on the etiology, size, and location of the perforation. Surgical approach is the most effective. Surgical closure of nasal septal perforation is a difficult procedure associated with many complications. All surgical approaches are based on two main principles: creating mucosal, mucoperichondrial, and/or mucoperiosteal flaps or transplant. Prosthetic treatment is another solution. Literature data shows that highest success rate is achieved after surgical procedures with the use of mucosal flaps and temporal fascia transplants, as well as acellular human dermal allografts.
Introduction. The patency of the lower part of the upper respiratory tract depends on the muscle tone of pharynx, soft palate and tongue muscles. The consequence of the lowered tone of these muscles is recurrent total or partial narrowing of the airways. In this case, the turbulent airflow causes soft tissue vibration, which is heard as snoring. Material and Methods. The study included 34 patients: 27 men and 7 women. Carbon dioxide diode laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty was employed. The diode laser with a wavelength of 810 mm, power of 5 W, and pulse length of 4 seconds was used. Before the procedure, all the patients underwent laryngological assessment. Medical history of the patients was also collected. In addition, the patients completed 2 questionnaires: a sleep disorder screening questionnaire and Ephworth Sleepiness Scale. Moreover, a 3D CT scan and acoustic rhinometry were performed. All the tests were repeated 3 months after the procedure. Results. The procedure was performed in 34 patients. Complete clinical response was observed in 21 cases, and a partial response was seen in 13 cases. There were no patients in the study group who had not experienced at least a partial improvement of symptoms. None of the patients reported any complications. Conclusions. Good clinical outcome was obtained in all the patients after obtaining palatal stiffening, which contributed to the resolution of symptoms. The advantages of diode laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty using palisade technique include the safety of the procedure, minimal invasiveness, short healing time, and a low risk of complications. The procedure is performed on an out-patient basis under local anesthesia.
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