The efficacy of Epley and Semont maneuvers in posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo treatment: A short-term comparative study

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the Epley maneuver with the Semont maneuver in the treatment of posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and observe differences in the resolution time of symptoms in the short-term follow-up. METHODS: Sixty patients with posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (23 males, 37 females; median age: 44.9 years; range, 14 to 80 years) were included in the prospective randomized comparative study conducted in our clinic between April 2019 and October 2019. Diagnosis and treatment maneuvers were performed under videonystagmography examination. Participants were randomly selected after the diagnostic tests for the Epley maneuver and the Semont maneuver treatment groups. RESULTS: In the evaluation of vertigo with videonystagmography, 25 (83.3%) patients in the Epley maneuver group and 20 (66.6%) patients in the Semont maneuver group recovered in the one-week follow-up, and 28 (93.3%) patients in the Epley maneuver group and 24 (80%) patients in the Semont maneuver group recovered in the two-week follow-up. All patients in the Epley maneuver group recovered at the end of one month; four patients in the Semont maneuver group still had vertiginous symptoms (100% vs. 86.6%, p=0.04). There was a statistically significant difference between the Epley and Semont groups regarding visual analog scores at the one-week, two-week, and one-month follow-ups (p=0.002, p<0.001, p=0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: The Epley maneuver was significantly more effective than the Semont maneuver in resolving vertigo in the short-term treatment of posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

COVID-19-associated healthcare worker depression: An increasingly common condition

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the mood of the employees of the ear-nose-throat (ENT) department with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and determine the relationship between the mood and the quality and quantity of the work done. METHODS: A total of 62 healthcare workers (24 males, 38 females; mean age: 34.3±1.1 years; range 24 to 52 years) of our ENT clinic, who have been actively managing COVID-19 patients since April 2020, were included in the study. Those in the study were classified into two groups as nurses (Group 1) and doctors (Group 2). Group 1 consisted of 33 (53.2%) nurses, and Group 2 consisted of 29 (46.8%) doctors. The participants were assessed with a questionnaire by a clinical psychologist, and BDI was conducted to evaluate depressive mood in these individuals. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was found between the groups in thinking they have sufficient knowledge on COVID-19, and the employees in Group 2 were more of the opinion that they did not have sufficient information (p=0.002). A statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of their viewpoint on the precautions against COVID-19 (p=0.001). Group 2 was more inclined to think that the precautions taken were inadequate (p=0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of BDI severity, age, and BDI score (p=0.252, p=0.137, p=0.053, respectively). CONCLUSION: Employees of high-risk departments such as ENT may be more prone to a depressed mood. The increased risk of contamination in correlation with the work done can lead to increased BDI scores and depressive mood disorder.

Evaluation of hematological parameters of patients with profound unilateral and mild to profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate whether changes in blood cells have an effect on sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and compare the hematological parameters of profound unilateral and mild to profound bilateral SNHL patients and the normal population. METHODS: This retrospective study included 100 SNHL patients (81 males, 19 females; mean age: 37.8±16.8 years; range, 18 to 83 years) and 32 healthy volunteers (22 males, 10 females; mean age: 32.8±5.7 years; range 22 to 46 years) between January 2018 and February 2019. Patients who underwent pure tone audiometry and auditory brainstem response (ABR) tests for any reason and were found to have SNHL with no accompanying disease, and those that are non-smokers and without medication were included. Hematological parameters were evaluated in all three groups. RESULTS: Of the 100 SNHL patients, 59 had bilateral and 41 had profound unilateral SNHL. Among the evaluated hematological parameters, the difference in red blood cell count, hematocrit, hemoglobin, platelet distribution width, and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) between the groups was statistically significant (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Erythrocyte values were high in patients with profound unilateral SNHL, whereas platelet-related values [platelet count, PDW, and platelet to lymphocyte ratio) were higher in patients with bilateral SNHL. In addition, the NLR was found to be high in these patient groups. These findings may provide a treatment target, particularly for profound unilateral SNHL, and may shed light on further studies on SNHL.

Long-term analysis of bilateral versus unilateral neck dissection in the treatment of early-stage supraglottic laryngeal cancer

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of routine bilateral neck dissection on the survival outcomes of supraglottic laryngeal cancer patients with lateralized tumors and clinically negative necks. METHODS: The data of 234 patients surgically treated for supraglottic squamous cell carcinoma between January 2000 and September 2014 were retrospectively collected. Patients treated previously for head and neck cancer, patients who could not be contacted, and those with missing data were excluded. Of the remaining 187 patients, 124 patients with early-stage primaries (T1-T2) (116 males, 8 females; mean age: 55.5±9.5 years; range, 33 to 82 years) were included. Age and sex of the patients, site of the primary tumor, TNM stage, type of the neck dissection, length of follow-up, and survival rates were evaluated. The tumors were classified into three groups according to their relationship with the median line of the larynx, and the neck dissections were recorded as unilateral or bilateral. Recurrences and survival outcomes were evaluated. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in the recurrences according to tumor site groups (p=0.39). Similarly, there was no statistically significant difference in 10-year overall survival rates in patient groups according to the tumor site (p=0.072). We found no statistically significant difference in 10-year overall survival rates between the patients who underwent unilateral and bilateral neck dissection (p=0.580). CONCLUSION: Long-term survival analysis of 124 patients with supraglottic carcinoma did not show a survival benefit of elective contralateral neck dissection in lateralized supraglottic cancer with contralateral clinically negative neck.

Compulsory auricular cartilage use: Modified septal extension graft application in revision rhinoplasty

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to demonstrate how to perform a tongue-in-groove graft with the method we developed using auricular cartilage to provide adequate nasal tip support in 17 revision rhinoplasty cases. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted on 17 patients (17 females; mean age: 23.9+3.7 years; range, 19 to 30 years) who underwent revision rhinoplasty (RR) operations for a low nasal tip between February 2019 and September 2020. After auricular cartilage was removed with a standard posterior auricular intervention, it was folded in two to increase its resistance and fixed to the caudal part of the nasal septum as a tongue-in-groove graft. RESULTS: Solid nasal tip support and satisfactory nasal tip projection and rotation were achieved in all patients. One (6%) patient developed auricular hematoma as a complication on the third postoperative day, and three (17%) of our patients complained of nasal obstruction in their postoperative follow-up. CONCLUSION: When the use of costal cartilage is limited due to social and cultural reasons in RR cases performed due to a low nasal tip, auricular cartilage can be used as a modified tongue-in-groove graft and provides a satisfactory aesthetic appearance.

Geriatric epistaxis: Management of epistaxis in the geriatric patient group

OBJECTIVE: In this study, given the recent increases in the geriatric population and the consequent impacts on healthcare services, we examined the characteristics of geriatric patients admitted to the emergency department due to epistaxis. METHODS: This retrospective study included 55 patients (33 males, 22 females; mean age: 72±6.8 years; range, 65 to 93 years) with epistaxis admitted to the Cukurova University Emergency Medicine Department and University of Health Sciences Adana City Training and Research Hospital Otolaryngology Emergency Polyclinic between 01.05.2019-01.04.2020. The patients were divided into two groups according to age: Group 1 consisted of patients aged 65 to 75 years; Group 2 consisted of patients over 75. Postoperative bleeding and trauma history were excluded in all patients in the study. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding the rate of hospital discharge (p=1.00). Patients with posterior hemorrhage and posterior nasal tampons required significantly more hospitalizations (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The presence of comorbidities and drug use may cause persistent and recurrent epistaxis. It is necessary for physicians to be more cautious about the use of off-label antiaggregants and anticoagulants.

Recurrent Blandin-Nuhn mucocele and intralesional ethanol injection

A 21-year-old female patient presented with a swelling under the tongue that lasted about a month. A 2¥1 cm cystic lesion was found on the left side of the tongue ventral face in the physical examination, and the patient was operated. However, a partial recurrence was detected after the surgery; thereby, intralesional ethanol was administered. The lesion disappeared after the administration of ethanol, and there was no recurrence during the one-year follow-up. We presented this case to demonstrate the efficacy of this treatment method.