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Biomedical subjects

M Onerci

Publications and source records attributed to M Onerci.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Intranasal endoscopic silicone intubation for congenital obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct in children.

Aim of the present study was to determine the efficacy of intranasal endoscopic silicone intubation to treat congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction in children who failed conventional lacrimal system probing. Silicone intubation with intranasal endoscopic visualization was performed in 18 eyes of 16 patients with an age range of 18-48 months (mean, 25 months) to treat congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction. Out of 16 patients, ten had already undergone previous probings with failure, the other six were primary intubation cases without any previous probings. The tubes were left in place an average of 6 months. Follow-up ranged from 4 months to 2 years (mean, 12 months) following removal of the silicone tubing. Intranasal endoscopic silicone intubation is effective in the treatment of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction as a primary procedure in children over 18 months of age and, it is also recommended as the next step in the management of epiphora which fails to resolve after probing.

Child, Preschool

Trace elements in children with chronic and recurrent tonsillitis.

Trace elements are indispensable for life and play a very important role in the essential functions. According to some reports in the literature lower trace element levels increase the susceptibility to recurrent infections. Since there are no reports available in the English literature about the effects of trace elements on recurrent and chronic tonsillitis, 37 children with recurrent and chronic tonsillitis were evaluated for Zn, Cu and Mg levels. Serum levels of Zn in 6 patients were slightly lower than the normal limit. All the other serum levels of Zn, Cu and Mg were within the normal range. On the other hand, the mean serum level of Zn in the 37 patients was significantly lower than in a control group of 28 age and sex matched children. In contrast, the mean serum levels of Cu and Mg in the patients were significantly higher than in the control group. Whether this alteration in the trace element status causes or fosters recurrent and chronic tonsillitis is not clear.

Adolescent

Mucociliary function of the maxillary sinuses after restoring ventilation: a radioisotopic study of the maxillary sinus.

Ostium patency and sinus ventilation play a key role in the normal function of the sinuses and the pathogenesis of sinusitis. Experience with endoscopic treatment modalities has indicated that even severe mucosal disease in the maxillary and frontal sinuses will heal after eradication of an infectious focus in the ethmoid and maintaining ventilation and drainage of sinuses. The aim of this study was to use scintigraphic methods to evaluate possible differences in mucociliary function of chronically diseased maxillary sinuses after establishment of ventilation. Fourteen patients (22 maxillary sinuses) and 3 controls (6 maxillary sinuses) were evaluated after functional endoscopic sinus surgery. The drainage ratios of sinuses at 20 min were calculated at the 3rd postoperative day and again at 3 weeks. When the early and late postoperative drainage ratios were compared it was found that mucociliary function returned to normal after 3 weeks in sinuses with cysts but without hyperplastic mucosal degeneration. While the mucociliary function and drainage improved significantly in sinuses with hyperplastic mucosa, depending on the severity and extension of the pathology present, it was still less than levels found in normal sinuses at 3 weeks.

Adolescent

Glass in the frontal sinus: report of three cases.

Patients with paranasal sinus foreign body are not commonly seen in otolaryngological practice; glass in the frontal sinus as a complication of maxillofacial trauma should be very rare, and papers dealing with this issue appear to be rare in the English literature. To elucidate the diagnostic pitfalls and the treatment aspects we present three cases of glass in the frontal sinus which occurred as a result of road traffic accidents.

Accidents, Traffic

Audiological findings in kernicteric patients.

Audiological findings in kernicteric patients. Thirty patients followed up because of kernicterus sequelae and 15 normal children serving as control group were examined to determine their hearing status and evoked response audiometry (ERA) results. Seventeen out of the 30 patients (57%) had high frequency sensorineural hearing loss. Sixteen of them had bilateral hearing loss. Ten had no response or prolonged bilateral latencies. The results showed that high neonatal serum bilirubin levels affect the hearing adversely.

Adolescent

Pneumatised superior turbinate: a common anatomic variation?

Anatomic variations are important in preendoscopic CT evaluation of the paranasal sinuses. In this study, we investigated whether the superior turbinate could become pneumatised like the middle turbinate, pneumatisation of which is well-known. Images of 52 patients who underwent CT examination prior to endoscopic sinus surgery and who had normally aerated posterior ethmoidal cells and an unobscured nasal cavity were retrospectively evaluated. The patients were 12-68 years old (median age, 35 years); 28 were women and 24 were men. Pneumatisation of the superior turbinates was graded in two groups as minimal or marked. Pneumatisation was evident in 25 patients (48%). 13 unilateral (25%), 8 bilateral (15%) pneumatisations were detected in the group graded as minimal, whereas 1 unilateral and 3 bilateral pneumatisations were present in the markedly (8%) pneumatised group of patients. Superior turbinates were seemingly aerated through the posterior ethmoid cells. The superior turbinates can be pneumatised as the middle turbinate is a not frequent anatomic variation that should be taken into account in preendoscopic CT evaluation of the paranasal sinuses.

Adolescent

Evaluation of the microbiology of chronic sinusitis.

Chronic sinusitis is one of the most common diseases treated in outpatient centres. In this prospective study, 49 patients with the diagnosis of chronic maxillary sinusitis were evaluated microbiologically by using sinus swab, irrigation fluid and sinus mucosal tissue specimens obtained during endoscopic sinus surgery. There was no bacterial growth in seven cases. In the remaining 42 cases a total of 89 bacteria were isolated, 28 of them being classical pathogens and 61 being non-classical pathogens. Among the classical pathogens Staphylococcus aureus was the most common one. The correlation between the isolates obtained from maxillary sinus and isolates obtained from throat, nose and nasopharynx did not have a predictive value. Since the overall rate of classical pathogen isolation from patients with chronic sinusitis was not significantly high, the possible role of factors other than bacterial growth should be identified in the pathogenesis of chronic sinusitis.

Adolescent

[Aneurysmal bone cyst of the mandible].

BACKGROUND: Aneurysmal bone cysts are benign lesions of bone consisting of a septated, cystic cavity filled with non-endothelium-lined, blood-filled spaces. Aneurysmal bone cysts mainly occur in children and adolescents. Only a few occur in the jaws. PATIENT: This is the report of a 9-year-old girl with an aneurysmal bone cyst in the condyle of the mandible who was admitted to the hospital with swelling in front of her right ear. Because of the location and to eliminate recurrence, complete surgical excision of the condyle was performed. DISCUSSION: Fifty-seven cases of aneurysmal bone cyst of the mandible have been reported to date. Aneurysmal bone cyst is treated by surgical excision, which ranges from enucleation and curettage to conservative resection. CONCLUSION: Simple curettage for aneurysmal bone cyst is reported to be associated with a high recurrence rate, a result of the difficulty of completely excising such a vascular lesion. We recommend complete surgical excision as the best treatment.

Bone Cysts, Aneurysmal

Trace elements in chronic sinusitis.

Trace elements are indispensable for life and play an important role in the immunological system. Since it is believed that serum trace element values decrease in chronic infections, 43 patients with chronic sinusitis were evaluated for Zn, Mg and Cu levels. While all trace elements were found to be within normal ranges, Cu values were found to be significantly lower than in a control group of 20 age- and sex-matched volunteers. The reasons for this are unclear in the present study.

Case-Control Studies

The effect of tonsillectomy on neutrophil chemotaxis in adults with chronic tonsillitis.

Neutrophil random motility and chemotactic responsiveness were determined in 17 healthy adults and 19 adult patients with chronic tonsillitis before and 10 days after tonsillectomy, using a modified Boyden chamber method. The mean chemotactic index values of the healthy controls were significantly higher when compared with the chronic tonsillitis patients before tonsillectomy. The postoperative mean chemotactic values were increased, and there was a statistically significant difference between the mean chemotactic index of neutrophils in preoperative and postoperative patients. The authors conclude that this change in host defense mechanism may be the reason for frequent attacks of acute tonsillitis in these patients.

Adult

Shortcomings of lateral sinus radiograph in the preoperative determination of the extent of endonasal endoscopic sinus surgery.

Lateral sinus radiograph is helpful in determining the distances between certain anatomic landmarks in preparation for endonasal endoscopic sinus surgery. However, some misleading factors limit the usefulness of this radiograph. In this study these distances were measured in 49 patients and compared with measurements obtained from another imaging modality, magnetic resonance imaging, which provides more accurate measurements. Results show a discrepancy in the measurements of distances between some of these landmarks that cannot be explained by the factor of magnification alone on the sinus radiographs. Statistical analysis of the results for women revealed a significant discrepancy between the distances from the nasal spine to the midfovea ethmoidalis, the sphenoethmoid junction, and the posterior sphenoid wall as measured on MR images and those as measured on lateral sinus radiographs (P < .05). For men the same was true for the distances from the nasal spine to the midfovea ethmoidalis and the posterior sphenoid wall (P < .05). It is concluded that there should be reservations in the surgical application of data provided by the lateral sinus radiograph before endoscopic sinus surgery.

Adult

Evaluation of leukocyte chemotactic function in patients with chronic sinusitis.

In this study the chemotactic activities of neutrophils and monocytes were evaluated in patients with chronic sinusitis as compared to a control group. Leukocyte chemotaxis was measured with a micropore filter method in blood samples taken from 26 patients with chronic sinusitis and 10 volunteers. A statistically significant impairment of leukocyte chemotaxis capacity in patients with chronic sinusitis was found. It is concluded that a functional disorder of leukocytes may play a role in the progression of the disease into a chronic state.

Adolescent

The effect of a new ostium and sinus mucosal flaps on mucociliary flow of the maxillary sinus.

To evaluate the effect of a new ostium upon the mucociliary flow of the maxillary sinus, a window in the lateral wall of the sinuses was made and left open in New Zealand rabbits. The contralateral sinuses were used as controls. No change in mucociliary flow was observed, except for a shorter clearance time in sinuses with a new ostium. In the second group of rabbits the maxillary sinus mucosa was elevated at the floor, lateral and medial walls and rotated about 80-90 degrees. The other side acted as control, the mucosa was elevated and put in place again. The mucociliary flow of sinuses with rotation decreased significantly.

Animals

Audiologic and impedancemetric findings within thalassaemic patients.

The objective of this study is to investigate hearing losses in thalassaemic patients. This study was conducted on 34 thalassemic patients of which 27 of them had thalassaemia major and the remaining 7 had thalassaemia intermedia. Six (11.11%) of the 54 ears with thalassaemia major were found to have normal hearing. Thirty-two ears (59.26%) had conductive hearing loss, 8 ears (14.81%) had mixed type of hearing loss. Moreover, in this group, there was no ear which had pure sensorineural hearing loss. Of the majority of patients having thalassaemia major and thalassaemia intermedia, an air bone gap was found even though there was no negative pressure in the middle ear. In these patients a high degree of static compliance and normal shaped, stiff amplitude, normal pressure tympanograms were observed. Moreover, in most of these patients acoustic reflexes were not obtained. These findings are rather interesting since they show the pathological changes which may cause stiffness in the middle ear sound transmission system.

Acoustic Impedance Tests

Lymphoma with bilateral cavernous sinus involvement in early childhood.

A 4-year-old girl developed complete ophthalmoplegia with intact pupillary responses. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a mass invading the cavernous and sphenoid sinuses and posterior ethmoidal cells. Biopsy revealed non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This patient is the youngest reported with malignant lymphoma of the cavernous sinus and the second reported with bilateral cavernous sinus involvement.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols