Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the larynx have been divided into those of epithelial or neural origin. The latter consist of paragangliomas while the epithelial origin group can be divided into the typical and atypical carcinoids and small cell neuroendocrine carcinomata, the latter consisting of the oat cell type, the intermediate cell type and the combined cell type. There are now over 500 cases of neuroendocrine neoplasms of the larynx in the literature.

The diagnosis is primarily based on light microscopy, and, in some instances, it may be supported by special histochemical studies. It should be confirmed by immunocytochemical and/or ultrastructural investigation. The different biological behaviour of neuroendocrine neoplasms of the larynx makes a specific diagnosis of paramount importance, since treatment depends on diagnostic accuracy.

Typical carcinoid is an extremely rare lesion. It is treated preferably by conservative surgery; elective neck dissection is not necessary because of the lack of lymph node metastases at diagnosis. Chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy have not been effective in the limited number of patients treated thus far. Prognosis is excellent with cure following surgery.

Atypical carcinoid is the most frequent non-squamous carcinoma of the larynx. The mainstay of treatment is surgery. Elective neck dissection should be performed because of the high likelihood of cervical lymph node metastases. Primary radiation therapy with adjuvant chemotherapy is not indicated. The survival rate is 48 per cent at five years and 30 per cent at 10 years.

Although the larynx is one of its most common extrapulmonary sites, small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma is still a rare tumour. Surgical results for this tumour have been disappointing and is reserved for cases of local relapse with no evidence of metastasis. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy currently appear to offer the least disabling and most effective forms of therapy. The two- and five-year survival rates are 16 per cent and five per cent, respectively.

Paraneoplastic syndromes have occasionally been reported in association with carcinoid tumours (typical and atypical) and small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. There have been also rare reports of an elevated neuropeptide serum level.

Paraganglioma is the only laryngeal neuroendocrine neoplasm with a female preponderance (3:1). Confusion with atypical carcinoid has led to incorrect diagnosis and inappropriate classification schemes, erroneously suggesting that laryngeal paraganglioma has the potential for aggressive behaviour. Conservative surgery represents the treatment of choice; elective neck dissection is not necessary, and the prognosis is excellent.

Reports on the relationship between diabetes and hearing loss have been controversial. The present study examined this relationship in 1,740 Mexican American adults using data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Hearing threshold levels were obtained for each participant at the following frequencies: 500,1000, 2000, and 4000 Hertz (Hz). The thresholds from the worse hearing ear were used in the analyses. Diabetes and insulin use were assessed by self-report. The mean crude hearing thresholds in diabetics were significantly higher than in non-diabetics at each of the four frequencies. However, after adjustment for age, gender, and socioeconomic status, diabetics had a significantly higher mean threshold than non-diabetics only at 500 Hz (mean difference ± SE: 2.8 ± 1.2, p = 0.04). Diabetics who were not using insulin had significantly higher thresholds than those who were using insulin at 2000 (mean difference ± SE: 5.6 ± 2.6, p = 0.03) and 4000 Hz (7.7 ± 3.3, p = 0.02). Also, at 4000 Hz, insulin users had a significantly lower mean threshold than non-diabetics (mean difference ± SE: –4.9 ± 1.6, p = 0.02). Our data suggest that associations between diabetes and decreased hearing acuity in the higher frequencies are present only amongst diabetic Mexican-Americans who do not use insulin.

Mucoceles are the most common lesions causing expansion of the paranasal sinuses. The sinuses most commonly involved are, in decreasing order of frequency, frontal sinus, ethmoid sinuses, maxillary sinus and sphenoid sinus. We reviewed 46 cases of surgically proven mucoceles and the purpose of this study was to report five cases of mucoceles in an uncommon location.

The bacteriology of chronic sinusitis was studied by using swab and mucosalspecimens from both the maxillary and ethmoid sinuses. The specimens of the maxillary sinus were taken through translabial antroscopy. The specimens of the ethmoid sinus were taken after removing the ethmoid bulla during functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Eighty-six samples of each type of specimen were collected. Among the maxillary sinus samples, the culture rate was 60.5 per cent from the swab specimens and 36 per cent from the mucosal specimens. Among the ethmoid sinus samples, the culture rate was 58.1 per cent from the swab specimens and 75.6 per cent from the mucosal. The p-value by the Chi-Square test is higher than 0.01 (p =0.015). As there were more isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis from the mucosal specimens, they are not a better choice of specimen for sampling the ethmoid sinus than a swab specimen.

Advances in telecommunications technology in the last decade have fostered the development of computer networks that allow access to vast amounts of information and services. The most prominent is the Internet (Glowniak, 1995). Medical information is increasingly available on such computer networks. The purpose of the present article is to provide an update to previously published otolaryngology sites (Johns, 1996; Burton and Johns, 1996) available on the World Wide Web, and to provide the otolaryngologist with details of resources that are accessible via the Internet. However, the reader should also be aware that the uniform resource locator (URL) addresses of Web sites can change without warning.

An audit of 334 patients who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as investigation for a possible diagnosis of vestibular schwannoma was carried out to assess adherence to previously agreed screening guidelines. This represents one year's activity. A posterior fossa tumour was identified in 12 patients. Scan requests were judged to be inappropriate for 28 cases. The issues surrounding the screening for acoustic neuroma are discussed.

Myringotomy is one of the most common procedures performed by ENT surgeons. Use of the tip of a hypodermic needle not only provides a neat and precise incision into the tympanic membrane, but is also a cheap and disposable means of doing so. Sterility is virtually guaranteed avoiding any possibility of cross contamination between consecutive patients.

Leukaemic relapse in the ear is very rare. We report a case of relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in the left ear. The patient presented with an aural polyp and ipsilateral facial palsy. The temporal bone showed simultaneous leukaemic infiltrate and cholesteatoma. To our knowledge, this is the first case reported with such pathology.

Pyoderma gangrenosum affecting the nose is rare and this may lead to diagnostic confusion because of the large differential diagnosis. As diagnosis is made, largely, on the basis of exclusion the treatment of pyoderma gangrenosum may be unduly delayed. The condition is often disfiguring, particularly following inappropriate surgical intervention, and early diagnosis is therefore important.

We present a case of pyoderma gangrenosum managed initially in the community with minor surgery and resulting in the rare complication of saddle nose deformity.

A patient with a four-week history of hypaesthesia and recurrent swelling of the cheek in the left infraorbital region presented with a computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrating an expansion in the infraorbital nerve canal, thought to be a neuroma. The tumour was surgically removed without complications and no bleeding. Histopathological investigation showed a partially thrombosed cavernous haemangioma. To our knowledge, after reviewing the literature, this is the first report of a cavernous haemangioma in the infraorbital nerve canal.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-system autoimmune disorder that can affect the upper airway. Hydralazine has been known to cause a lupus-like syndrome that can produce the clinical manifestations of SLE. We discuss a case of hydralazine-induced lupus, presenting with acute laryngeal oedema and right vocal fold paralysis. Cessation of hydralazine therapy resulted in reversal of paralysis.

Vocal fold palsy is a cause of dysphonia. Due to incomplete glottic closure during phonation, patients with a unilateral vocal fold palsy present with a weak and breathy voice and recurrent aspiration. To lessen the clinical manifestations of unilateral vocal fold palsy, polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) paste is one agent which has been injected into the paraglottic region, thus causing the vocal fold to move more medially. One of the complications associated with Teflon paste injection is migration of the paste into the surrounding tissues. We present a patient with idiopathic left vocal fold palsy who underwent Teflon injection to the vocal fold and subsequently developed a precricoid nodule, mimicking a cartilaginous swelling.

We present a case of well-differentiated liposarcoma of the hypopharynx in a 51-year-old male, with a review of the literature of this very rare condition.

We present a case of malignant schwannoma (MS) of the parapharyngeal space which completely encircled the internal carotid artery in close proximity to the skull base and required resection of the internal carotid artery along with the excision of the tumour. There have been three previous case reports in the literature of malignant schwannoma of the parapharyngeal space of which one case was associated with neuroflbromatosis. Our patient did not exhibit any feature of neurofibromatosis.

An otolaryngologist is conversant with the potential of middle-ear disease leading to lateral sinus thrombosis and subsequent jugular vein thrombosis, although this is becoming an increasingly rare event. Spontaneous jugular vein thrombosis from non-otological causes, however, is not well described in the otolaryngology literature. We present three cases of jugular vein thrombosis who presented primarily to the Otolaryngology department each attributable to a different pathology including discoid lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome and metastatic malignancy. Awareness needs to be increased of this condition in the differential diagnosis of acute neck swelling and neck pain.

In general, malignancies presenting as abscesses are uncommon. We report on a patient that presented with a neck abscess originating in a cluster of metastatic lymph nodes from a primary squamous cell carcinoma arising in the thoracic oesophagus.

Bronchogenic cysts are rare congenital benign lesions that are usually detected in the paediatric patient with symptoms of infection or compression on vital structures. They are rarely diagnosed in the adult population. We present a case of bronchogenic cyst presenting as a lump in the neck in an adult patient. Radiological imaging helped to diagnose this lesion accurately before any form of intervention. Complete surgical excision is the treatment of choice.