Abstract Patients who sustain gunshot injuries to the head and neck face heavy tissue damage and eventually life-threatening conditions. A very significant factor that determines the degree of injury is the course and extent of the missile track. The missile track is well correlated with bullet structure, size, and velocity, which have distinct features in civilian and military firearm injuries. The missile entrance or exit wound may be out of sight in some injuries, and often it is difficult to predict the severity of the injury in the chaotic circumstances of the battlefield. We studied the wound ballistics in five soldiers who suffered penetrating cranial and cervical firearm injuries.

We performed an analysis oflong-term out com es data on 60 patients with chronic otitis media with cholesteatoma who had und ergone a surgical procedure bas ed on an improved radical mastoidectomy and an inferiorly based fas cioperiostealflap. Wefound that at the 2-, 7-, 10-, and 13-year postoperative followup visits, all mastoid cavities were healthy and redu ced in volum e. At the f inal examination, the mean cavity volume was found to be decr eased by 39% ofthe mean volume measured 1 month postoperatively. This reduction in volume is attributable to the neo-osteogenic activity of the flap, which was confirmed by histopathologic and radiologicfindin gs. No recurrences took pla ce.

No abstract

This study has been conducted in order to analyze the outcomes of a previously described technique for chronic otitis media surgery: the improved radical mastoidectomy with flap (formerly IRMF), which consisted of improved radical mastoidectomy (formerly IRM), inferiorly based fascioperiosteal flap and large meatoconchoplasty (Kahramanyol, Ear Nose Throat J 71:70-77, 1992; Kahramanyol et al., Ear Nose Throat J 79:524-526, 2000). The technique is hereafter referred as the Gülhane mastoidectomy. During a period of 22 consecutive years, 255 patients have been operated on and treated utilizing the technique mentioned above. Despite extensive otologic destruction and concomitant severe complications, the technique rendered impressive outcomes: the cavities became smaller over time and remained healthy, providing good life quality for the patients. Cholesteatoma recurrence was observed in but one patient. The outcomes confirm the value and usefulness of the technique.

No abstract