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Biomedical subjects

V Forte

Publications and source records attributed to V Forte.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Effect of harvesting autogenous laryngeal cartilage for laryngotracheal reconstruction on laryngeal growth and support.

OBJECTIVE: Determine the effect of harvesting autogenous thyroid cartilage on subsequent laryngeal growth and stability in a kitten model. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective controlled trial in animals. METHODS: Seventeen kittens were divided into three groups. Group one (n = 5) included kittens that underwent a unilateral thyroid cartilage resection. Group two (n = 5) included kittens that underwent a bilateral cartilage resection. Group three (n = 7) comprised kittens that did not undergo any surgical procedure (controls). All animals underwent endoscopic examination followed by the surgical procedure designated for that group. Kittens were then assessed daily for 2.5 months. At the end of that period the now "adolescent" cats were examined endoscopically then euthanized. The larynx was removed for gross and histopathologic analysis. RESULTS: All kittens tolerated the surgical procedure without airway compromise. Subsequent endoscopic examination 2.5 months after surgery revealed normal vocal cord function. Measurements of the true vocal cord and aryepiglottic and subglottic diameter did not differ significantly (one-way analysis of variance, P = .05) with respect to the side or the group. Histopathologic evaluation of the laryngeal sections indicated a patent airway, stable and viable thyroid cartilage, and no evidence of cartilaginous regrowth. CONCLUSIONS: The removal of unilateral and bilateral superior thyroid alar cartilage can be performed in kittens without postoperative respiratory or wound problems. The harvesting of autogenous thyroid cartilage has no apparent effect on subsequent laryngeal growth and stability in a kitten model.

Animals↗

A novel approach to tracheostomal collapse: the use of an endoluminal Palmaz stent.

There are a number of surgical treatments for tracheostomal collapse of the pediatric airway. The techniques include tracheoplasty with costal cartilage graft, the placement of a tracheostomy tube and partial tracheal resection and primary tracheal anastomosis to name a few. Since each child may possess unique medical and social factors in additional to the tracheal pathology, the surgical approach must be individualized. A case history of a 1-year-old Vietnamese child with a tracheostomal collapse is presented. In this case, an endoluminal Palmaz stent was placed endoscopically to support the collapsed tracheal segment for 3 months. After 3 months, the stent was removed, and the child has done well without any airway intervention for 2 years. The indications for this novel approach, the technique of insertion and removal of the stent are the focus of this paper.

Humans↗

The outcome after perinatal management of infants with potential airway obstruction.

Masses in the head and neck are being detected prenatally with increasing frequency, necessitating the need for management of potential upper airway obstruction at delivery. Establishment of the airway at delivery and its maintenance thereafter are critical. This should optimally be performed with the baby still attached to the placental circulation. The importance of multidisciplinary team management, including a high risk obstetrician, neonatologist, pediatric otolaryngologist, pediatric thoracic surgeon, and an anesthetist, cannot be overemphasized. Endotracheal intubation is attempted first, if unsuccessful then is followed by insertion of a rigid bronchoscope. Tracheotomy should be reserved for airway obstructions, which are not amenable to endotracheal intubation or in babies in whom exchange from a bronchoscope to endotracheal tube cannot be safely performed. The management of six infants with prenatally diagnosed potential airway obstruction is presented. Morbidity and mortality still ultimately depend on the severity of the existent anomalies.

Adult↗

Hemangioma.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Angiography↗

Tracheobronchial stenting for the treatment of airway obstruction.

PURPOSE: The authors report a 5-year experience of inserting the Palmaz stent into infants and children who had a variety of major airway obstructions. METHODS: From 1992 to 1997, 30 balloon expandable stents (Palmaz) were inserted in the trachea (n = 18) and bronchi (n = 12) of 16 infants, ages 1 week to 26 months (median, 9 months), suffering from three types of serious airway obstruction. In group 1, 10 stents were placed in eight children for tracheal or bronchomalacia. In group II, 11 stents were inserted in four infants for stricture at the site of surgical repair of stenosis. In group III, nine stents were placed to relieve airway compression from enlarged pulmonary arteries associated with severe congenital heart disease in three children and mediastinal lymphangioma in one. Tracheal stents were 30 mm long and were expanded to 8 to 10 mm at placement. Bronchial stents were 12 to 15 mm long and were expanded to 7 to 9 mm. The nonexpanded stents were placed on an inflatable balloon catheter and were inserted into the desired position in the airway through a bronchoscope or endotracheal tube using x-ray control. They were expanded and fixed in place by inflating the balloon to its rated diameter. RESULTS: In group I, granulation tissue developed over the stents in five of eight cases. Obstructing granulations were removed by scraping or balloon compression in three and resulted in earlier than the planned removal in two. Stents have now been removed in six of eight cases. Major airway obstruction has not recurred. In group II, stents have been in place in all cases for 13 to 56 months after insertion, but in one child with three stents, two were removed for obstructive granulations 44 months after insertion. All are well. All group III patients could be extubated after stenting, but two with heart disease died after 3 and 12 months of palliation. During the course of follow-up, stents in the bronchi of two had migrated, and an additional stent was required. Autopsy in one showed full-thickness bronchial erosion but no perforation by the stent. A total 11 of 30 stents have been removed bronchoscopically in seven children without complications. Another child referred here for tracheal stent removal after laser resection of granulations died at attempted removal because the stent was "welded" into the tracheal wall by the inflammatory reaction. Manipulation of the stent completely occluded the airway. CONCLUSIONS: Airway stents can be inserted easily and safely and left in-situ for prolonged periods to relieve major airway obstruction from a variety of causes. Tissue reaction may necessitate bronchoscopic manipulation and early stent removal, and adds to the difficulty of removal.

Bronchial Diseases↗

Foreign bodies of the hard palate.

Foreign bodies of the hard palate are rare occurrences with only 11 reported cases in the literature. These patients can present to the Otolaryngologist in a variety of ways and often with confusing histories. We present seven cases of foreign bodies adherent to the hard palate. The age range was three to eighteen months and the most common referring diagnosis was a suspected tumor (five patients). The most common object removed was a nut shell. In six of the seven cases the foreign body could be removed in the ambulatory clinic without the need for sedation or anesthesia. The clinical presentation, incidence and management is reported and discussed with reference to the literature.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

Lipomas of the head and neck in children.

Head and neck lipomas in the pediatric population are rarely described in the literature. Two patients who presented to the Hospital for Sick Children with rapidly enlarging head and neck lipomas are presented. Radiographic imaging, including CT and MRI, as well as fine needle aspiration implicated a lipoma as the probable diagnosis. Both patients were treated by surgical excision. The clinical behavior, diagnostic work-up and treatment of these rare lesions are the focus of this study.

Biopsy, Needle↗

Utility of frameless stereotaxy in the resection of skull base and Basal cerebral lesions in children.

Since 1991, we have performed nearly 300 stereotactic procedures using the ISG viewing wand on a variety of cranial lesions in patients under 22 years of age. Of these, 38 procedures were performed on 34 patients for basal cerebral and skull base lesions. Our patients ranged in age from 3.5 months to 22 years with a mean age of 9.45 years. There were 18 females and 16 males. Twenty-one patients had basal cerebral lesions located in the thalamus (10), basal ganglia (2), third ventricle (2), and hypothalamus (7). Thirteen patients had skull base lesions located within the anterior optic apparatus (3), sella turcica (4), middle and posterior cranial fossae (4), and craniocervical region (2). Preoperative CT and/or MRI scan images were taken as a volume acquisition and transferred to the computer workstation utilizing the ISG Wand software. This workstation was transferred to the operating room where it was calibrated to a faro Surgicom arm which interfaces with the patient and the three-dimensional radiological image. The ISG Wand was utilized to plan the scalp and bone flaps and to select the optional trajectory to lesion. The surgical approaches which were specifically used in this series with the ISG Wand included transcallosal (15), pterional (5), frontal (3), subtemporal (4), transsphenoidal (3), temporal (3), tumor cyst shunt insertion (1), burr hole drainage (1), transoral (2), bifrontal (1), bifrontal mid facial (1), and transnasal (1). Although brain shift occurred following craniotomy and with brain retraction, the relative immobility of these lesions at the skull or cerebral base permitted an accurate targeting of all lesions with an error range of 1.0-2.5 mm throughout the entire procedure. This relatively precise intraoperative feedback led to more accurate recognition of tumor landmarks. It is the authors' impression that a more aggressive resection of these lesions was achieved than could be without the device. We conclude that a frameless stereotactic device such as the ISG Wand is particularly valuable in the approach to skull base and basal cerebral tumors in children.

Journal Article↗

A practical guide for the diagnosis and treatment of acute sinusitis.

OBJECTIVE: To develop guidelines for the diagnosis and management of acute sinusitis. OPTIONS: Diagnostic clinical criteria and imaging techniques, the role of antimicrobial therapy and duration of treatment, and the role of adjunct therapy, including decongestants, glucocorticosteroids and nasal irrigation. OUTCOMES: Improved accuracy of clinical diagnosis, better utilization of imaging techniques and rational use of antimicrobial therapy. EVIDENCE: A MEDLINE search for relevant articles published from 1980 to 1996 using the MeSH terms "sinusitis," "acute sinusitis," "respiratory infections," "upper respiratory infections," "sinusitis" and "diagnosis," "sinusitis" and "therapy," "sinusitis" and "etiology," and "antimicrobial resistance" and search for additional articles from the reference lists of retrieved articles. Papers referring to chronic sinusitis, sinusitis in compromised patients and documented nonbacterial sinusitis were excluded. The evidence was evaluated by participants at the Canadian Sinusitis Symposium, field in Toronto on April 26-27, 1996. VALUES: A hierarchical evaluation of the strength of evidence modified from the methods of the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination was used. Strategies were identified to deal with problems for which no adequate clinical data were available. Recommendations arrived at by consensus of the symposium participants were included. BENEFITS, HARMS AND COSTS: Increased awareness of acute sinusitis, accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment should reduce costs related to unnecessary investigations, time lost from work and complications due to inappropriate treatment. As well, physicians will be better able to decide which patients will not require antimicrobial therapy, thus saving the patient the cost and potential side effects of treatment. RECOMMENDATIONS: Clinical diagnosis can usually be made from the patient's history and findings on physical examination only. Five clinical findings comprising 3 symptoms (maxillary toothache, poor response to decongestants and a history of coloured nasal discharge) and 2 signs (purulent nasal secretion and abnormal transillumination result) are the best predictors of acute bacterial sinusitis (level I evidence). Transillumination is a useful technique in the hands of experienced personnel, but only negative findings are useful (level III evidence). Radiography is not warranted when the likelihood of acute sinusitis is high or low but is useful when the diagnosis is in doubt (level III evidence). First-line therapy should be a 10-day course of amoxicillin (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole should be given to patients allergic to penicillin) (level I evidence) and a decongestant (level III evidence). Patients allergic to amoxicillin and those not responding to first-line therapy should be switched to a second-line agent. As well, patients with recurrent episodes of acute sinusitis who have been assessed and found not to have anatomic anomalies may also benefit from second-line therapy (level III evidence). VALIDATION: The recommendations are based on consensus of Canadian and American experts in infectious diseases, microbiology, otolaryngology and family medicine. The guidelines were reviewed independently for the advisory committee by 2 external experts. Previous guidelines did not exist in Canada.

Acute Disease↗

Experimental trial of balloon-expandable, metallic Palmaz stent in the trachea.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of the Palmaz stent, which has been successfully used to relieve airway obstruction in a small group of children, on the normal and operated on animal trachea. DESIGN: In this experimental trial, stents were placed bronchoscopically in the thoracic tracheae of 4 groups of 50 anesthetized cats. The cats in group 1 (adults, n = 10) and group 2 (kittens, n = 10) had normal tracheae; the cats in group 3 (adults, n = 15) underwent horizontal tracheal incision and closure; and the cats in group 4 (adults, n = 15) underwent pericardial patch tracheoplasty. In group 3 and 4, the stents were inserted in 10 cats and 5 cats served as controls. Stents were inflated to a 15-mm diameter in group 1 and an 8-mm diameter in the other groups. Half of the animals with stents were killed 5 weeks after the procedure, and the others, 10 weeks after the procedure. SETTING: The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario. RESULTS: In group 1, 1 animal died of tracheal perforation. A mild cough was noted in 15 of the 39 cats with stents. In group 4, 3 cats had difficulty eating and lost weight. The results of esophagoscopy excluded esophageal inflammation or obstruction in these 3 animals. The results of bronchoscopy indicated a nonobstructing rim of granulation tissue at the end of the stent in 15 of 20 cats in groups 1 and 2 and 17 of 20 cats in groups 3 and 4 and at the repair site in all animals with stents from groups 3 and 4. The results of autopsy indicated the cross-sectional area at the site of the stent was greater than normal in group 1 (P < .003) and smaller than the normal trachea at the site of the tracheoplasty in group 4 controls without stents (P < .02); however, the cross-sectional area at the tracheoplasty site with the stent was not smaller (P < .13). The results of histologic examination indicated a mild inflammatory reaction, with granulation tissue in all animals with stents, but in group 1, with overexpanded stents, the reaction was more severe, with epithelial ulceration, fibrosis, and sealed-off perforations in most animals. In group 3, the tracheae with stents had significantly more inflammatory reaction, granulation tissue, and epithelial damage than the controls without stents. CONCLUSIONS: The Palmaz stent provokes an inflammatory reaction in the normal trachea and the trachea recently operated on. With the exception of the group 1 animals with overexpanded stents, this reaction is clinically insignificant. The Palmaz stent is able to maintain a normal lumen size after pericardial tracheoplasty in cats.

Angioplasty, Balloon↗

Prognostic factors in the treatment of lymphatic malformations.

OBJECTIVE: To find factors that may influence the treatment outcomes of lymphatic malformations of the head and neck in children. DESIGN: Charts of patients treated surgically for lymphatic malformations of the head and neck between 1988 and 1996 at our tertiary care children's hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Outcomes were correlated with age at presentation, associated symptoms, anatomical site (s) of involvement, extent of disease, length of time between first symptoms and surgery, completeness of removal, and histologic pattern. PATIENTS: Of 85 children treated, 74 underwent primary surgical excision at our hospital. Follow-up ranged from 6 months to 8 years, with a mean of 3 years. RESULTS: The overall recurrence rate, judged by functional or cosmetic deformity, was 22%. Two neonates died of the disease. Factors associated with a better prognosis were a single anatomical site of involvement; location in the neck, even if involving 2 sites; and the impression of completeness of resection at the time of surgery. Findings associated with a higher recurrence rate included younger age (especially neonates) and the presence of associated symptoms (ie, infection, dyspnea, dysphagia, and hemorrhage). The histologic pattern and the length of time from diagnosis to treatment were not significantly associated with the prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend aggressive, timely surgical excision for lymphatic malformations of the head and neck. The timing of surgery should be based on the child's functional and cosmetic deformity at the time of presentation and on the likelihood of complete excision, weighed against the morbidity associated with surgical excision.

Adolescent↗

Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung referred as 'airway foreign body'.

Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung is an uncommon anomaly. Two patients with this condition were recently referred to the Otolaryngology Service at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, for bronchoscopic evaluation of the airway to rule out a foreign body. Although history did not disclose a clear episode of aspiration in either case, chest radiographs showed unilateral lobar hyperinflation with mediastinal shift, consistent with foreign body obstruction. We report two cases to introduce congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation to the English otolaryngology literature and to increase awareness of it among otolaryngologists.

Child, Preschool↗

Heterotopic brain in the parapharyngeal space.

There have been numerous reports of various types of heterotopic tissue in the head and neck. Heterotopic cartilage, gastric tissue, thyroid, and salivary gland in such various locations as tongue, gingiva, palate, nasopharynx, parapharyngeal space, and neck have been frequently reported. Heterotopic brain in the parapharyngeal space causing airway obstruction in the neonate has been rarely described. These benign masses are capable of expansion and because of their location, can lead to significant airway and feeding difficulties. We describe 3 cases of heterotopic brain tissue in the parapharyngeal space causing feeding difficulties and airway obstruction in the neonatal period. Two were initially misdiagnosed as lymphatic malformations. In the third, a nine month delay in diagnosis occurred. The diagnostic features of heterotopic brain in this location and some management suggestions in treating such a lesion are discussed.

Airway Obstruction↗

Unusual laryngeal cysts in the newborn.

In the newborn, severe airway obstruction is a rare occurrence. The possible etiologies include a broad spectrum of diseases with laryngeal cysts an unusual cause. If diagnosed and properly managed, however, the prognosis for this entity is excellent. Three cases presenting with airway obstruction secondary to unusual laryngeal cysts are the material for this report. In all three, cases the laryngeal cystic structure extended through the cricothyroid membrane and in two, pathologically contained both mesodermal and endodermal elements suggesting a laryngotracheal duplication cyst anomaly, previously unreported. Laryngofissure can be safely employed for complete excision even in the neonatal period.

Airway Obstruction↗

Analysis of the recent cluster of invasive fungal sinusitis at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to review the eight histopathologically proven cases of invasive fungal sinusitis that occurred at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children between 1985 and 1995, seven of which that clustered between March 1990 and February 1992. DESIGN: A retrospective review of the relevant cases and a review of the literature are presented. METHOD: A clinical review of this rare, life-threatening entity, occurring almost exclusively in severely neutropenic patients is presented and compared to the relevant clinical findings from an analysis of this series, the largest reported to date and first to document a significant clustering (p < .01). CONCLUSION: We conclude, based on epidemiologic evidence, that this clustering was directly related to the release of airborne fungal spores from dormant soil reservoirs disturbed during hospital construction. Therefore, we strongly advocate increased vigilance with respect to precautions against airborne pathogens wherever severely neutropenic hosts are treated.

Adolescent↗