270 unilateral and bilateral neck resections have been performed in different primary localisations of tumours in the head and the neck at the Ear, Nose and Throat Department of the Medical Faculty in Zagreb in the period 1960-70. Of 209 patients with unilateral resection, only 78 survived (37%), while only 3 patients (4.9%) survived of a total of 61 patients where bilateral resection was performed. An analysis is given separately of radical resection in carcinoma of the larynx, the hypopharynx and the skin. From this analysis and from immunologic considerations, the following conclusions are derived: (i) The authors are not in favour of prophylactic block resection as this would be contrary to our knowledge of the role played by the immunobiological factors in the struggle against the malignant lesion. (ii) Evacuation of the neck must be performed in carcinoma of the larynx T3 and in hypopharyngeal carcinoma, as histologically positive lymph nodes are usually found in this site in large numbers.

Head and Neck Neoplasms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Act of swallowing in the fixed larynx.

In a 16-year-old female, complete stenosis of the larynx and hypopharynx developed as a consequence of the ingestion of lye cristals. Supraglotic laryngectomy, plastic surgery of the hypopharynx and antethoracic oesophagus were performed and the upper aero-digestive tract reconstructed. The dilated larynx remained fixed by the surrounding fibrous tissue, but the sphincteric action of the mobile vocal cords was partly salvaged. In that condition, the act of swallowing could be reestablished. The pathophysiology of this new mechanism of swallowing is discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Histological structure of vocal fold lamina propria in foetal larynx.

Previous investigations of vocal fold lamina propria in adult human larynx have revealed a highly specific organization and distribution of the connective fibres. The authors tried to elicit the developmental characteristics of that process using a material of foetal larynxes, ranging in foetal age from 13 to 23 weeks. The specimens were embedded in paraffin and then serially sectioned in both horizontal and vertical plane. The specific technique of differentiating elastic fibres from collagen fibres was utilized. The distribution and organization of connective tissue in foetal vocal fold lamina propria differed from that in adults and no straight elastic fibres were demonstrated as the first sign of later differentiation.

Connective Tissue↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The problem of functional dysphonia (author's transl)].

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Adult↗