Background: Infections with human papillomavirus (HPV) are highly prevalent among sexually active young women in India. However, not much is known about the incidence of type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and their patterns of persistence, especially in the Indian context. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the rate of acquisition and persistence of HPV types in young women. Methods: Women residing in an urban slum in Delhi (n=1300) were followed for 24 months at 6 monthly intervals. Exfoliated cervical cells collected at each visit were tested for the presence of HPV DNA. Genotyping was performed using the reverse line blot assay. Results: The incidence rate for any HPV type was calculated to be 5 per 1000 women-months. Among high risk HPV types, HPV16 had the highest incidence rate followed by HPV59, HPV52 and HPV18, i.e., 3.0, 0.58, 0.41 and 0.35 women per 1000 women-months respectively. The persistence rate was higher for high-risk than low-risk HPV types. Among low-risk types, HPV42, HPV62, HPV84 and HPV89 were found to persist. Whereas almost all high risk types showed persistence, the highest rate was found in women with HPV types 16, 45, 67, 31, 51 and 59. The persistence rate for HPV16 infection was 45 per 1000 women-months. Conclusion: Incident HPV infections and high risk HPV type-specific persistence were found to be high in our study population of young married women. Understanding the patterns of HPV infection may help plan appropriate strategies for prevention programs including vaccination and screening.

Objectives During the COVID-19 pandemic, maintenance of safe and timely oncologic care has been challenging. The goal of this study is to compare presenting symptoms, staging, and treatment of head and neck mucosal squamous cell carcinoma during the pandemic with an analogous timeframe one year prior. Materials and methods Retrospective cohort study at a single tertiary academic center of new adult patients evaluated in a head and neck surgical oncology clinic from March -July 2019 (pre-pandemic control) and March - July 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic). Results During the pandemic, the proportion of patients with newly diagnosed malignancies increased by 5%, while the overall number of new patients decreased ( n = 575) compared to the control year ( n = 776). For patients with mucosal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), median time from referral to initial clinic visit decreased from 11 days (2019) to 8 days (2020) ( p = 0.0031). There was no significant difference in total number ( p = 0.914) or duration ( p = 0.872) of symptoms. During the pandemic, patients were more likely to present with regional nodal metastases (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.846, 95% CI 1.072-3.219, p = 0.028) and more advanced clinical nodal (N) staging ( p = 0.011). No significant difference was seen for clinical tumor (T) ( p = 0.502) or metastasis (M) staging ( p = 0.278). No significant difference in pathologic T ( p = 0.665), or N staging ( p = 0.907) was found between the two periods. Conclusion Head and neck mucosal SCC patients presented with more advanced clinical nodal disease during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic despite no change in presenting symptoms.

Objectives/Hypothesis: Adjuvant medications including proton pump inhibitors (PPI), antibiotics (trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole [TMP-SMX]), and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) may be prescribed for patients with idiopathic subglottic stenosis (iSGS). We describe medication use with endoscopic dilation (ED) or endoscopic resection with medical treatment (ERMT) and evaluate impact on outcomes.Study Design: International, prospective, 3-year multicenter cohort study of 810 patients with untreated, newly diagnosed, or previously treated iSGS.Methods: Post hoc secondary analysis of prospectively collected North American Airway Collaborative data on outcomes linked with adjuvant medication utilization. Primary outcome was time to recurrent operation, evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analysis. Secondary outcomes of change in peak expiratory flow (PEF) and clinical chronic obstructive pulmonary disease questionnaire (CCQ) score over 12 months were compared.Results: Sixty-one of 129 patients undergoing ED received PPI (47%), and 10/143 patients undergoing ED received ICS (7%). TMP-SMX was used by 87/115 patients (76%) undergoing EMRT. PPI use in the ED group did not affect time to recurrence (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.00, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.53-1.88; P = .99) or 12-month change in PEF (L/min) (median [interquartile range], 12.

ObjectiveTo characterize the influence of expanding indications on the profile of adults undergoing cochlear implantation (CI) at a high-volume CI center.Study DesignRetrospective review.SettingTertiary referral center.Patients774 adults undergoing CI evaluation from August 2015 to August 2020.Main Outcome MeasuresDemographics; audiometry; speech recognition; speech, spatial, and qualities of hearing scale (SSQ-12).ResultsOf 745 (96.3%) patients qualifying for implantation, 642 (86.6%) pursued surgery. Median age at evaluation was 69 years; 56.3% were men; 88.2% were Caucasian. Median distance to our center was 95 miles. The majority (51.8%) had public insurance (Medicare, Medicaid), followed by private (47.8%) and military (0.4%). Mean PTA, CNC, and AzBio in quiet and noise for the ear to be implanted were 85.2 dB HL, 15.0%, and 19.2% and 3.5%, respectively. Hybrid/EAS criteria were met by 138 (18.5%) CI candidates, and 436 (77.0%) unilateral CI recipients had aidable contralateral hearing for bimodal hearing configurations. Younger age (odds ratio [OR], 0.96; 95% confidence interval, 0.93–0.99) and non-Caucasian race (OR, 6.95; 95% confidence interval, 3.22–14.98) predicted candidacy. Likelihood of surgery increased for Caucasian (OR, 8.08; 95% confidence interval, 4.85–13.47) and married (OR, 2.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.50–3.47) patients and decreased for those with public insurance (OR, 0.45; 95% confidence interval, 0.29–0.69). A lower SSQ-12 score predicted both candidacy and surgery.ConclusionDespite expansions in criteria, speech understanding remained extremely low at CI evaluation. Younger age and non-Caucasian race predicted candidacy, and Caucasian, married patients with private insurance and lower SSQ scores were more likely to pursue surgery.

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