American Journal of Otolaryngology最新文献

Purpose

This retrospective cohort study aims to evaluate the clinical, oncological, and functional outcomes of transoral non-robotic surgery for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC).

Materials and methods

Data from 131 patients with surgically treated OPSCC (2010-2022) were analyzed. Patients who underwent exclusively transoral surgery were included in the study. The surgeries were performed under microscopic or endoscopic guidance and either a CO₂ laser or an ultrasound/radiofrequency scalpel was used as a cutting instrument, depending on the characteristics and location of the tumor. Functional outcomes were assessed in terms of length of hospital stay, tracheostomy rate, duration of feeding tube dependency and complications. Survival outcomes were assessed in terms of overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS).

Results

Of 74 included patients, transoral surgery demonstrated safety with no major complications. Tracheotomy was performed in 51.4 % of cases, and was maintained for a median of 10 days. Complete swallowing recovery was restored in 97.3 % of cases, after a median of 5 days. The median length of hospital stay was 12 days. At 5 years, OS was 68.2 %, PFS was 58.2 % and DSS was 83.6 %.

Conclusion

The study confirms the safety and efficacy of a transoral approach for OPSCC. Having the capability to utilize and access a variety of tools provides the opportunity to tailor the technique to the individual patient and specific circumstances.

Objective

A publicly available large language learning model platform may help determine current readability levels of otolaryngology patient education materials, as well as translate these materials to the recommended 6th-grade and 8th-grade reading levels.

Study design

Cross-sectional analysis.

Setting

Online using large language learning model, ChatGPT.

Methods

The Patient Education pages of the American Laryngological Association (ALA) and American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) websites were accessed. Materials were input into ChatGPT (OpenAI, San Francisco, CA; version 3.5) and Microsoft Word (Microsoft, Redmond, WA; version 16.74). Programs calculated Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) scores, with higher scores indicating easier readability, and Flesch-Kincaid (FK) grade levels, estimating U.S. grade level required to understand text. ChatGPT was prompted to “translate to a 5th-grade reading level” and provide new scores. Scores were compared for statistical differences, as well as differences between ChatGPT and Word gradings.

Results

Patient education materials were reviewed and 37 ALA and 72 AAO-HNS topics were translated. Overall FRE scores and FK grades demonstrated significant improvements following translation of materials, as scored by ChatGPT (p < 0.001). Word also scored significant improvements in FRE and FK following translation by ChatGPT for AAO-HNS materials overall (p < 0.001) but not for individual topics or for subspecialty-specific categories. Compared with Word, ChatGPT significantly exaggerated the change in FRE grades and FK scores (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Otolaryngology patient education materials were found to be written at higher reading levels than recommended. Artificial intelligence may prove to be a useful resource to simplify content to make it more accessible to patients.

Objective

Compare the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain, compensatory saccades and head and eye coordination during head impulses between patients with dizziness but normal VOR gain and healthy controls.

Methods

Video head impulses test (vHIT; ICS impulse, Otometrics, Denmark) was reviewed in 40 participants (20 patients with dizziness; 20 controls). VOR gain, saccades characteristics (frequency of occurrence, amplitude, latency) and time difference between head and eye velocity was compared.

Results

No significant difference between groups was observed for VOR gain. However, saccade frequency was greater and time difference between head and eye was prolonged in patients with dizziness. No significant difference was observed for saccade amplitude, nor for saccade latency between groups.

Conclusions

The present study highlights that saccades observed in patients with normal VOR gain could reflect a clinical marker for dizziness in patients with normal VOR gain. We propose that theses saccades are caused by a prolonged time delay between head and eye velocity leading to a gaze position error.

Significance

The results support previous findings suggesting additional value of saccades and time delay when interpreting vHIT results. This study goes further by proposing time delay as a possible mechanism to explain increased saccade frequency in dizzy patients with normal VOR gain.

Objective

To evaluate the extent of payments from medical device and pharmaceutical companies to editorial board members of leading otolaryngology journals.

Methods

Editorial board members of the top 10 otolaryngology journals from Google Scholar rankings were identified in this cross-sectional study.

Payments between 2017 and 2022 were identified via the Open Payments Database from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. All payment data was adjusted for inflation in 2022 US dollars. Descriptive analyses were performed and journal websites were evaluated for individual editor disclosures.

Results

Out of 581 board members, 306 (53 %) received industry payments between 2017 and 2022, median journal percentage 55 % (interquartile range: 26.5 %–73.5 %). A sum of $45.8 million was paid out between 2017 and 2022, comprising $32.0 million in associated research funding, $1.2 million in research payments, $1.4 million in ownership and investment interests, and $11.2 million in general payments. The largest general payments were made out for “services other than consulting and speaking” ($3.9 million), “consulting” ($3.8 million), “travel and lodging” ($0.99 million), “education” ($0.87 million), “royalty or license” ($0.56 million), and “food and beverage” ($0.55 million). Individual editor disclosures were only available for International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology (9 % of all included editors).

Conclusions

Industry payments to editors of otolaryngology journals are not uncommon. We highlight the need for improved reporting of individual editor disclosures for transparency to journal readers and for minimizing biased editorial decisions.

Objective

To compare the graft success rates and hearing outcomes of underlay myringoplasty with or without perichondrium tucking of the attached perichondrium, graft perforation margins when repairing chronic large central dry perforations.

Study design

Randomized controlled trial.

Material and methods

Chronic large central dry perforations were prospectively randomized to tucking perichondrium graft underlay (TPGU) and no-tucking perichondrium graft underlay (NTPG) groups. The graft outcomes and complications were compared between the two groups at 12 months postoperatively.

Results

In total, 61 patients with large central dry perforations were included. All patients completed 12-month follow-ups. Residual perforations occurred in 0.0 % of the TPGU group and in 12.9 % of the NTPG group (P = 0.129), and re-perforations occurred within 6 months in 0.0 % and 3.2 % of the two groups, respectively (P = 0.987). The graft success rates were 100.0 % (30/30) and 83.9 % (26/31) (P = 0.067). No significant between-group differences were observed in terms of preoperative (P = 0.547) or postoperative (P = 0.612) air bone gaps (ABGs) or mean ABG gains (P = 0.597). No graft-related complications were observed in either group during follow-up. No patients exhibited significant graft blunting or medialization; graft lateralization was noted in one patient of the NTPG group.

Conclusions

Endoscopic cartilage with tucking of the attached perichondrium perforation margins during underlay myringoplasty may improve the graft success rate compared to that of the cartilage push-through technique when repairing large central dry perforations; however, the hearing improvements were comparable in the two groups.

Objective

To retrospectively analyze the efficacy and safety of laser ablation (LA) and microwave ablation (MWA) in the treatment of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC).

Methods

This was a retrospective study of 103 patients (109 nodules) who underwent thermal ablation for PTMC between October 2019 and March 2023; 61 underwent LA and 48 underwent MWA. The mean patients' age was 43.50 ± 12.42 years. After ablation, changes in tumor size at different time points, local recurrence, new lesions, lymph node metastasis, and complications were evaluated and recorded. The feasibility, success rate, and safety of LA and MWA were analyzed.

Results

Complete absence of enhancement on contrast-enhanced ultrasonography was observed in all target tumors after ablation. At the last follow-up, the mean volume of the PTMC nodules decreased from 0.09 ± 0.09 to 0.03 ± 0.03 ml (LA group) and from 0.11 ± 0.10 to 0.06 ± 0.08 ml (MWA group) (both, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in volume change between the groups (P (groups): 0.520; P (groups over time): 0.423), indicating similar efficacy between the groups. There was also no significant difference in the volume reduction rate between the groups during follow-up, except for at 3 months (P = 0.023). The complication rates did not differ between the LA group (8.2 %) and MWA group (6.3 %) (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

During the short-term follow-up, ultrasound-guided LA and MWA were effective and safe for PTMC, and there were no significant differences in treatment outcomes between the methods.

Objective

The convergence of hearing impairment and language barriers presents unique communication challenges to patients and practicing otolaryngologists. Limited data exist comparing interpretation methods for patients with hearing loss. Patients with hearing loss rely on visual cues, lip-reading, written communication, and/or comprehensive interaction techniques, which may encounter limitations by remote services. Herein, we examine patient and otolaryngology provider satisfaction, cost, and encounter efficiency between virtual and in-person interpretation among adults who speak Mandarin and Cantonese.

Methods

This study is a prospective, randomized controlled trial in patients with moderate-to-severe bilateral hearing loss, Limited English Proficiency, and a primary language of Mandarin or Cantonese. Fifty-two patients were randomized to either in-person or virtual interpretation conditions. Patient satisfaction was measured using an 8-item Likert scale assessing communication effectiveness, encounter efficiency, and overall quality. Otolaryngology provider satisfaction was measured using a 1-item Likert scale. Encounter time, cost, and communication difficulty were measured and compared using independent sample t-tests.

Results

Patient and otolaryngology provider satisfaction scores were significantly higher with in-person interpretation (p < 0.05 for 7 of 8 patient items; physician mean score 4.9, p < 0.001, r = 0.54) compared to virtual interpretation (physician mean 3.8) conditions, while overall quality of the encounter remained the same. There was no significant difference in the length of encounters or in the number of times patients requested interpreter repetition between groups. A difference in average cost existed for in-person interpretation ($14.50) compared to video interpretation ($25) services for an average length appointment.

Conclusion

Patients and otolaryngologists reported higher overall satisfaction with in-person compared to virtual interpretation services. In-person interpretation yielded better comprehension in the hearing loss population among Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking patients and demonstrated a cost advantage over virtual interpretation.

Objective

Given rising concern regarding antibiotic resistance, our objective was to evaluate antibiotic-resistant infections following leech therapy and to characterize the use of prophylactic antibiotics.

Methods

All reports of adverse events involving hirudotherapy (product code “NRN”) were retrieved from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration MAUDE database between 2012 and 2021. Antibiotic resistance was defined by bacterial culture or infection after antibiotic administration.

Results

Nineteen cases of antibiotic resistance involving hirudotherapy were identified. Only three cases of antibiotic resistance were discovered on routine testing and the remaining 16 cases were associated with patient injury. Positive blood cultures or fever were present in 26.3 % (n = 5) of cases. Cultures of the infection grew Aeromonas hydrophilia (n = 13; 68.4 %), Vibrio vulnificus (n = 3; 15.8 %), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 2; 10.5 %), and Proteus vulgaris (n = 1; 5.3 %). There were nine (47.4 %) multi-drug resistant infections. Infection was most commonly resistant to fluoroquinolones (n = 9; 47.4 %), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (n = 9; 47.4 %) and ertapenem (n = 4; 21.1 %).

Conclusion

Antibiotic-resistant infections involving hirudotherapy are frequently resistant to multiple drugs, including fluoroquinolones and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Resistance to ertapenem, a drug of last resort, was also documented. The findings presented in this study support growing literature that the trend in multi-drug resistance is more severe than previously reported.