No abstract

Background Purpose of the study is to assess nationwide margin performance in oropharynx transoral robotic surgery (TORS). Methods Retrospective review of the National Cancer Database. Results Two thousand six hundred sixty‐one patients were included. The national positive margin rate (PMR) was 16.9%. High‐volume facilities had a lower PMR than low‐volume facilities (12.7% vs 21.9%; P < .001). Patients with disease of the tonsil had a lower PMR (15.7%) than base‐of‐the‐tongue (18.2%; P = .14). PMR increased with T classification (T1 = 13.0%, T2 = 17.1%, T3 = 28.2%, T4a = 45.9%, T4b = 58.3%; P < .001). On multivariable regression, factors associated with margin status included only lymph‐vascular invasion (1.63[1.13‐2.36]; P = .01), high volume (0.57[0.36‐0.92]; P = .005), and T classification (as compared to T1, T2: 1.50[1.03‐2.18], T3: 3.11[1.77‐5.46], T4a: 7.03[2.95‐16.75], T4b: 6.72[1.26‐35.93]; P < .001). Conclusions National PMR is 16.9%, substantially higher than reported in high‐volume TORS centers. There is a linear association between positive margins and T classification, with T3 and T4 PMRs exceeding 28%. High‐volume facilities are half as likely to yield positive margins compared to low‐volume facilities. There was no association between human papilloma virus status, tumor subsite, or academic facility status and positive margins.

Objectives To characterize trends of adult epiglottitis presenting to the emergency department (ED) and analyze mortality. Methods We utilized the National Emergency Department Sample to characterize adult epiglottitis from 2007 to 2014 and used provided weights to obtain nationally representative data (all presented data are weighted). Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine predictors of mortality. Results A total of 33,549 cases were identified (weighted). Over the study period, the average patient age increased significantly from 47 to 51 (R2 > 0.5), with an overall mean age of 49. A total of 11.8% of patients were coded as having obstruction, and 68.3% of cases were admitted to the hospital. Across all years, < 1% received laryngoscopic or airway procedures in the ED. Utilization of both X‐ray and computed tomography was <10%. Over the 8 years, there were an average of 42 deaths per year (1.01% overall mortality). No clinical factors, except obstruction, were significant on univariate analysis (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis indicated that patient age, degree of hospital urbanization, and smoking status also were nonsignificant. Conclusions Epiglottitis is still a significant pathology seen in EDs, is stable over the study period, and carries a mortality risk. There is an exceptionally low rate of documented clinical interventions in the ED, especially compared with inpatient studies of epiglottis. This suggests a lack of recognition of the need and utilization of critical airway interventions early in the patient encounter. Future research is needed to characterize the reasons for the low rate of early airway visualization and intervention of epiglottitis in the ED. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 129:1107–1112, 2019

Objectives/Hypothesis: To characterize patients undergoing laryngeal transoral robotic surgery (TORS) and compare to open partial surgery and transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) in achieving negative margins, requiring adjuvant radiation, and overall survival. Study Design: Retrospective database analysis. Methods: Early-stage (T1/2) laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients from the National Cancer Database. Univariable and multivariable logistic and Cox regressions were used to identify predictors. Results: There were 1,780 patients included in the study (186 [10.4%] = TORS; 523 [29.4%] = open surgery; 1,071 [60.2%] = TLM). TORS was more commonly treated at academic centers (68.8% = open surgery, 53.9% = TLM, 71.0% = TORS; P < .001) and had more T2 (52.7% = TORS, 46.7% = open surgery, 20.5% = TLM; P < .001) and N-positive disease (26.9% = TORS, 19.5% = open surgery, 5.5% = TLM; P < .001). Surgical approach was significantly associated with margin status (positive margin rates: TORS = 17.4%, TLM = 20.0%, open surgery = 13.8%) between open surgery and TLM in multivariable analysis (compared to open surgery, TLM: 1.63 [1.12-2.38], TORS: 1.18 [0.72-1.94]; P = .04). Surgical approach was not associated with receipt of adjuvant radiation (compared to open surgery, TLM: 1.52 [1.04-2.24], TORS: 1.56 [0.97-2.49]; P = .05). It was not associated with margins or adjuvant radiation in supraglottic patients. TORS had the highest 5-year overall survival, although the survival for TLM was similar (68.7% and 64.8%, respectively), and both were higher than that of open surgery (59.1%; P = .01). In multivariable Cox regression for supraglottic patients, there was no observed difference between TORS and open surgery (compared to TORS, open surgery: 1.44 [0.93-2.24]; P = .25). Conclusions: On multivariable analysis, there was no observed difference in margin status in TORS patients compared to TLM and open surgery (in both the total cohort and supraglottic subgroup). Similarly there was no observed difference in necessitating adjuvant radiation. In Cox regression, there was no observed difference between TORS and open surgery in overall survival for supraglottic patients. This study suggests that TORS may be a viable treatment option for early-stage laryngeal cancer.

Struvite stones can be managed safely with PCNL followed by medical therapy. The majority of patients with residual fragments demonstrated no evidence of stone growth on medical therapy. With careful follow-up and medical management, kidney function can be maintained and stone morbidity can be minimized. Initial large stone burden, residual stones after surgery, and associated medical comorbidities may have deleterious effect on stone recurrence or residual stone-related events.