Ingested foreign bodies are the commonest otolaryngological emergency in Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia. One of the uncommon complications of ingested foreign bodies is migration, which has the potential to cause morbidity and mortality. A retrospective study of 24 patients presenting from 1990 to 1996 at Singapore General Hospital was done to evaluate the presentation, investigation, and diagnosis of migrated foreign bodies. Of interest, most patients had ingested foreign bodies within 24 hours. All the migrated foreign bodies were linear, sharp fish bones. Migration is said to have occurred in the presence of positive neck radiography and negative rigid esophagoscopy. Computed tomography is the investigation of choice to confirm migration. All patients had neck exploration, and factors for successful outcome are discussed. This is the largest series in the literature to date.

Sinonasal inverted papillomas are well known for high recurrence rates after surgery and the risk of malignant change. Recurrent disease occurs because of inadequate excision as a result of poor exposure and visualization. For these reasons, aggressive surgery has been advocated-classically a lateral rhinotomy and en bloc medial maxillectomy. Endoscopic techniques have provided excellent visualization and a less invasive approach to these tumours. We describe 18 patients with inverted papillomas treated endoscopically at the Singapore General Hospital since 1993. The presentation, sites of involvement and diagnostic imaging are presented. All the patients had a minimum follow-up of 18 months with a mean of 32.8 months. One case of recurrence at the frontal recess is reported. Endoscopic management is appropriate for the diagnosis, follow-up and treatment of circumscribed primary and recurrent inverted papillomas.

Isolated sphenoethmoid recess (SER) polyps are rare. They usually arise from the sphenoid sinus. We report six patients with SER polyps as the only abnormal clinical finding at initial presentation. All cases were investigated with outpatient biopsy and computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Pre-operative histology revealed three cases of inflammatory disease, two cases with inverted papilloma, and one case of an ectopic pituitary adenoma arising from the sphenoid sinus. One of the inflammatory polyps arose directly from the mucosa around the sphenoid ostium. The other five cases involved the sphenoid sinus. Except for the ectopic pituitary adenoma all the polyps were managed by transnasal endoscopic surgery. We emphasize that isolated SER polyps may signify existing sphenoid pathology and a pre-operative biopsy is valuable for planning surgery.

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