PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

D Tomenzoli

Publications and source records attributed to D Tomenzoli.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Postlaryngectomy pharyngocutaneous fistula: incidence, predisposing factors, and therapy.

BACKGROUND: Pharyngocutaneous fistula is the most common complication following total laryngectomy. The present study was designed to determine the incidence and predisposing factors and to describe the management of the complication. METHODS: The records of 246 consecutive patients who underwent total laryngectomy for squamous cell carcinoma were reviewed. We evaluated 23 factors potentially predisposing to fistula formation (age, sex, smoking and drinking habits, hypertension, diabetes, chronic bronchitis, chronic congestive heart failure, anesthesiologic risk, cholinesterase level, pre- and postoperative hemoglobin and albumin levels, previous treatment, previous tracheotomy, site of origin of the tumor, surgical procedure, concurrent neck dissection, suture material, status of surgical margins, clinical stage, and histologic grade) using the chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: A pharyngocutaneous fistula developed in 16% of patients within a mean time of 11 days from surgery. Spontaneous closure with local wound care was achieved in 70% of cases. Ten patients required surgical closure by direct suture of the pharyngeal mucosa; a deltopectoral flap and a pectoralis major myocutaneous flap were used in one case each. The mean healing time was 39+/-46 days in the group of patients requiring surgical closure, compared with 19+/-12 days in the group in which spontaneous closure occurred. The definitive model of logistic regression analysis showed that pharyngolaryngectomy, chronic congestive heart failure, and postoperative hemoglobin level lower than 12.5 g/dL carried respectively a two-, five-, and ninefold increase in the risk of fistula development. The model, with a specificity of 81%, is fairly good in identifying patients with a low risk of fistula. CONCLUSIONS: The results observed in the group of patients under analysis corroborated the relevance of factors such as the extension of laryngectomy and postoperative hemoglobin level on fistula occurrence. However, chronic congestive heart failure, which is an expression of disturbance of the organism, emerged for the first time as an additional statistically significant risk factor for pharyngocutaneous fistula formation. Our experience confirmed that most fistulas can be successfully managed with conservative treatment. Except for the rare cases in which large defects are present, direct suture is appropriate when conservative treatment has failed.

Adult↗

[Endoscopic treatment of sphenoid aspergilloma].

In recent years there has been an increase in fungal infections of the nose and paranasal sinuses, even though it is difficult to ascertain the incidence and prevalence of such disorders. The only information which can be drawn from the literature is that such infections are diagnosed in 6% to 13% of surgically treated chronic sinusitis. Aspergillus is the etiologic agent in approximately 80% of cases. Fungal infections are classified into two groups: non-invasive and invasive. The former includes mycetoma and allergic fungal sinusitis. The latter comprises the chronic indolent form, which presents slowly progressive bone erosion, and the fulminant form, which almost invariably carries a dismal prognosis. The maxillary sinus is involved in 80% of mycetomas, followed, in order of frequency, by the ethmoid and frontal sinus. Localization in the sphenoid sinus is exceedingly rare, with only 71 cases reported in the literature. Diagnosis of mycetoma is based on fungal cultures of nasal secretion (which are indeed of limited sensitivity, around 40%) and histological examination of the material removed from the sinus, which identifies the fungus in 80% of cases. CT and MR are highly sensitive diagnostic tools because of their ability to detect the presence of ferromagnetic substances (i.e. iron, magnesium and manganese) and calcium deposits in the diseased sinus. Four new cases of sphenoid mycetoma, treated with endoscopic surgery, are described. The advantages of the endoscopic approach compared to traditional techniques and the role of anti mycotic agents are also discussed.

Aspergillosis↗

Prognostic determinants in supraglottic carcinoma: univariate and Cox regression analysis.

BACKGROUND: A series of 281 consecutive patients affected by supraglottic cancer and treated with surgery alone or with surgery followed by radiotherapy between 1983 and 1989 was reviewed to identify significant prognostic determinants. METHODS: Fifty-one variables (related to host, tumor, and treatment) were tested by univariate and multivariate analysis performed on absolute and determinate survival. RESULTS: The final model of the multivariate analysis for absolute survival included the following covariates listed in order of higher relative risk of death: extracapsular spread, involvement of the medial wall of the pyriform sinus, thyroid cartilage invasion, metachronous tumor, anesthesiologic risk according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists classification (chi 2 = 71.28 with 6 d.f., p < .00001). The definitive model for determinate survival included: extracapsular spread, involvement of the medial wall of the pyriform sinus, extralaryngeal soft tissue invasion, and thyroid cartilage invasion (chi 2 = 82.74 with 5 d.f., p < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Extracapsular spread was the most important factor affecting the prognosis of patients with supraglottic carcinoma. A second important finding was that T and N category did not emerge as a significant independent prognostic predictor at multivariate analysis. The negative impact on absolute survival of physical status and metachronous tumor could be the expression of the influence of concomitant diseases on survival. These observations concur to reinforce the concept that the current TNM classification is rather inadequate in predicting the prognosis of patients with supraglottic carcinoma when the aforementioned variables are considered.

Adult↗

[Incidence and distribution of lymph node metastases in supraglottic squamous cell carcinoma: therapeutic implications].

This retrospective study was designed to establish some guidelines for the treatment of the neck in the case of supraglottic cancer. The patient population included a series of 264 patients, from 39 to 76 years old (mean age 58.3), who had undergone monolateral (76) or bilateral (188) neck dissection for a total of 452 neck dissections. The distribution of the patients, according to pT category, was the following: 17 T1 (6.4%), 88 T2 (33.3%), 107 T3 (40.5%) and 52 T4 (19.7%). In 121 patients the tumor was central (45.8%), whereas in 143 (54.2%) the neoplasm did not extend beyond the midline and was therefore defined as lateralized. The overall incidence of lymph node metastases was 43.4% (39 N1, 32 N2b, 28 N2c), and the rate of occult metastases was 24.7%. The distribution of metastases according to pT category was as follows: 6.2% T1, 30.7% T2, 38.3% T3 and 57.7% T4 (p < 0.001). Occult metastases distribution was: 0% T1, 19.6% T2, 26.7% T3 and 44.4% T4 (0.001 < p < 0.01). The incidence of bilateral metastases was significantly different (p < 0.001) in central (45.8%) and lateralized tumors (7.8%). The distribution of metastases according to level was 0.8% I, 82.4% II, 35.2% III, 13.6% IV and 0% V (p < 0.001). When level I or IV was involved, lymph node metastases were also present in level II and/or III. These results suggest that contralateral elective neck dissection is not required in lateralized tumors and elective neck dissection is not indicated in T1 lesions. Since no occult metastases were detected in level I or V, the management of choice for the clinically negative neck might well be a selective dissection limited to levels II, III and IV ("lateral neck dissection"). Levels I and V should be dissected only when metastatic nodes are found.

Adult↗

Sphenoid mucocele with intracranial invasion secondary to nasopharyngeal acinic cell carcinoma.

We present a case of sphenoid mucocele with large invasion of the middle cranial fossa, secondary to a nasopharyngeal acinic cell carcinoma, occurring in a 52-year-old man. To the best of our knowledge, this association has not been reported so far. We discuss the importance of imaging techniques in delineating the relationship between the two lesions, as long as the clinical and therapeutic problems related both to sphenoid mucocele and acinic cell carcinoma.

Carcinoma↗

[Sino-nasal inverted papillomas and occupational etiology].

The sino-nasal inverted papilloma is a rare benign tumour with certain aggressive features because of frequent relapses and the high probability of malignant degeneration. For these reasons, several studies have been made to evaluate the efficacy of the different courses of treatment, but only afew studies have been carried out to establish the etiology of this tumour, which is still uncertain. Although it is believed that viral infection, chronic inflammation and cigarette smoking can play an important etiological role, it has recently been suggested that occupational risk factors, such as those involved in malignant epithelial sino-nasal cancer (SNC), can also be involved in causing sino-nasal inverted papilloma. A group of 70 patients was examined who have been diagnosed with inverted papilloma from 1991 to 2003; the occupational history, collected via the standardized questionnaire, showed that risk factors like wood and leather dusts, chromium and nickel vapours or fumes and formaldehyde were associated with only 5% of all cases. This proportion is much lower than that established for SNC in several epidemiological studies. Although occupational environmental pollution can be a source of chronic sino-nasal mucosa irritation, on the basis of our results we believe that a causal relationship between exposure to occupational risk factors and inverted papilloma is not likely, differently from the suggestions made in other studies. Consequently, an epidemiological surveillance of inverted papilloma as a "sentinel" tumour, as has been proposed in Italy for SNC, is not considered necessary. Among the possible non-occupational risk factors we observed that 75% of the male patients were smokers and 40% of all patients suffered from chronic sinusitis and sino-nasal polyps. Lastly, among the 70 cases of inverted papilloma, we observed 5 with malignant degeneration.

Aged↗

[Laryngocele: analysis of 18 cases and review of the literature].

18 cases of laryngocele (8 combined, 6 external, 4 internal) treated at the E.N.T. Clinic from January 1968 to December 1989 are reported. The review of the literature is specifically focussed on some controversial issues (i.e. nomenclature, association with laryngeal cancer, pre-operative work-up, surgical procedures). The main symptoms at presentation have proved to be airway obstruction (44.4%), hoarseness (44.4%) and a cervical mass (44.4%). In 12 cases (66.6%) surgical excision was performed by means of an extralaryngeal approach, median thyrotomy was used in 2 cases (11.1%). In 4 cases (22.2%) in which the laryngocele was associated with a laryngeal cancer, a total laryngectomy proved necessary, four patients required a second operation for a recurrence of the laryngocele. Major complications included pyocele (33.3%) and acute airway obstruction (22.2%). CT scan proved to be the most accurate radiological method for defining the spatial relationship between the laryngocele and the laryngeal structures and extralaryngeal soft tissues, in differentiating the laryngoceles from other cystic formations and in identifying the co-existence of a laryngeal cancer. Surgery is the treatment of choice. An extralaryngeal approach, according to Stell and Maran (1975) provides the most adequate exposure of the laryngocele, preserving the integrity of the laryngeal framework. Only in cases of small internal laryngoceles can endoscopic CO2 laser excision be considered a valid alternative. Tracheotomy is usually not indicated.

Adult↗