No abstract

PET is useful for initial imaging of head and neck cancers. SUV does not appear to be useful for predicting outcome following treatment with RT. One-month post-RT scans were inaccurate for predicting the presence of cancer. Four-month post-RT scans were a better predictor for the presence of cancer.

A retrospective review of 88 cases of foreign body aspiration was undertaken. The patients ranged in age from 5 months to 73 years; the peak incidences of foreign body aspiration occurred in children less than 3 years of age and in adults older than 50 years. Sixty-one of the 88 patients were male. Physical examination was abnormal in 61% of patients. The most common radiographic abnormality was inspiratory-expiratory abnormality, seen in 27% of patients. Rigid endoscopy under general anesthesia was the preferred method for removal of the aspirated material. Multiple foreign bodies were found in 5% of the patients. Tracheobronchial foreign bodies should, therefore, be strongly suspected in susceptible patient populations who present with a suggestive history, even when no physical or radiographic evidence can be seen. Patients should be carefully examined for multiple foreign bodies at the time of rigid endoscopic removal.

Among 334,884 admissions to the North Carolina Baptist Hospital from 1963 through 1982, 100 patients had central nervous system (CNS) complications of middle ear disease. The complications occurred predominantly in young patients, 85 of the 100 being less than 20 years of age. Meningitis occurred in 76 patients; the acute form was more prevalent (63 cases). The less common nonmeningitic complications included brain abscess (n = 6), effusion (n = 5), lateral sinus thrombosis (n = 5), otitic hydrocephalus (n = 5), and empyema (n = 3). Overall mortality was 10%. One patient with brain abscess died; 9 of the 76 patients with meningitis died (12%), with 4 of those deaths occurring among the 13 patients with chronic meningitis (31%). Because these complications have declined markedly since the advent of antibiotics, many contemporary otolaryngologists have been unexposed to these complications. However, as this series shows, they do still occur, their natural history remains the same, and the resulting mortality is still alarmingly high. A plea is made for otolaryngologists to maintain an awareness of these complications and to work with pediatricians and neurosurgeons for the best team care of patients with CNS complications of middle ear disease.