The clinical records of 20 patients with the diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma of the head and neck treated between 1991 and 2005 were retrospectively reviewed. Advances in diagnostic techniques and treatment have had obvious impact on outcomes in cutaneous melanoma. Cutaneous melanoma of the head of neck is treated with complete surgical resection in early stage disease. Resection margins are determined by the size and depth. Evaluation for regional and distant metastatic disease is necessary in advanced stage disease. Adjuvant therapy may be indicated in regional nodal disease.
The dynamic posturography (PD) is an amply diffused method for the study of balance. Its principal utility is the design of therapeutic strategies based on the vestibular rehabilitation. In determined patients and with the help of other elements of rehabilitation the PD favour the compensation of the degradation ofthe secondary balance to determinated pathologic entities that affect the vestibular peripheric or central system. Normally individualized strategies for each patient are employed and although this is the more correct, we consider necessary to propose global mesures that facilitate the rehabilitation program and the comparison of the results of different authors.
Cholesterol granulomas and cysts located on the petrous apex can course of a silent way during years. We describe one case assisted in our consulting rooms which was discovered after performing CT and MRI (with and without paramagnetic contrast) in a patient with vertigo associated to conscience loss without other symptoms. In the discussion is exposed which must be the differential diagnosis of this pathology.
Stapedial surgery is able to obtain excellent hearing results in the long-term in most otosclerotic patients. Nevertheless, some cases have vertigo and/or tinnitus after surgery, that may lead them to revision surgery. Out of a consecutive series on 115 patients, we present three cases (2,6%) with persistent vertigo after stapedotomy. These patients had residual unsteadiness despite good hearing after surgery, with a minimum follow-up of 12 months. Videonystagmography showed spontaneous nystagmus towards the contralateral ear in one case, whereas the other two had a canalicular paresis in the operated side, signs of vestibular hypofunction. After vestibular rehabilitation, unsteadiness resolved in all cases, with good spontaneous compensation, without any further surgery.
Vegetal or animal food can produce hipersensibility reactions IgE mediated of diverse intensity. We report the case of a 54 years old woman without previous allergic antecedents who after eating frozen fish had to go to Emergencies due to angioedema especially in face and oropharynx. The ENT exploration by fibroscopia descarted laryngeal edema but the patient showed initially respiratory symptoms so she was treated with SC adrenalina and then steroids during her admission. The diagnosis of alimentary alergia would be confirmed after by Allergology with cutaneous test prick type.
The arterioveinous dural malformation (MAVD) is a rare entity between the vascular craneal anomalies with a not well nown ethiology and variability in treatments. We present eleven cases of MAVDs, between them five presented tinnitus as symptom of aparition. The importance of this pathology makes necessary to discard it before a patient consulting because of pulsaltil tinnitus with normal otoscopy.
Paragangliomas are tumours derived from cells in the neural crest that are normally benign, and have low incidence and slow growth rates. We report the clinical case of a 61 year-old female studied at the ENT's surgery suffering from a left side tinnitus with four years of evolution. Complementary explorations were carried out such as an audiogram, computerised axial tomography scans and angioresonance. In spite of the high diagnosis suspection, it is late confirmed, because it was not visible in the radiographic studies. We revised the literature referring this pathology.
Althouh lymphomas are an illness that characteristically affects the lymph nodes they can present in other locations (extranodes). The lymphoid tissue of the salivary glands can be considered part of the called mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT). We report the case of a diffuse large B-cells parotid lymphoma. The location on the parotid gland, within its rareness, is the most common for salivary gland lymphomas whose diagnosis is always histological by examination of the removed piece since the biopsy can be nonsufficient and take to a wrong diagnosis besides the greater risk of injury on the facial nerve.