Eagle's syndrome. Report of a case and literature review

Eagle's syndrome produces recurrent throat pain, foreign body sensation, dysphagia/odinophagia or facial pain due to an elongated styloid process or calcified stylohyoid ligament. We report the clinical case of a 56 years old female who had consulted several times to our by Emergency Service relating these symptoms and she was finally diagnosed as this uncommon pathology. Up to now the patient has been controled with analgesics but not surgical treatment. We have performed a short bibliographic review about this syndrome.     

Giant Madelung's disease. Report of a case and review of the literature

Madelung's disease, also known as benign symmetrical lipomatosis, is a rare proliferative disorder of unknown etiology that was first mentioned by Brodie in 1846.Characterized by multiple symmetrical deposits of unencapsulated fat in the head and neck region, the disease is most common in middle-aged men with a history of alcohol abuse. The only effective therapy in cases of dyspnea and dysphagia, indicating the necessity of treatment, is the surgical resection of the adipose tissue.The authors report on the evaluation and therapy in a case of giant Madelung's disease.     

Laryngeal and hypopharyngeal liposarcoma. Report of a case and literature review

Liposarcoma is the second sarcoma of soft tissues more frequent in adult-age. Its localisation in head and neck is odd. The majority of liposarcoma, of this sitting, take its origin from soft tissues of the neck, being unusual primary liposarcoma from larynx and hypolarynx. Presentation of one case of liposarcoma of the larynx and hypopharynx and review of the opportune literature.     

Adenocarcinoma of the epiglottis. Report of a case and review of the literature

The larynx is rarely the site of an adenocarcinoma. About 60 patients were described in the literature, and the epiglottis was primarily involved in only three. We studied a fourth case in a 77-year-old man. Adenocarcinoma of the larynx is a highly lethal neoplasm that tends to spread to both regional lymph nodes and distant sites. Despite radical surgical measures, the cure rate is low.     

Angioleiomyoma of the larynx. Report of a case and review of the literature

A rare case of angioleiomyoma in a 76-year-old man is presented. The main symptoms were hoarseness and dyspnea. The tumor originated in the subglottic surface of the right vocal cord and there was only 3 mm of the laryngeal inlet free of the tumor. Histopathologically it was well circumscribed and composed of proliferating smooth muscle fibers and dilated blood vessels. The tumor was partially removed endoscopically, and subsequent cryotherapy was instituted. After two courses of cryotherapy the tumor had completely disappeared. Laryngeal function was restored to normal, and no signs of recurrence were observed after follow-up of 8 months.     

Retropharyngeal phlegmon in adults. Report of a case and literature review

Retropharyngeal phlegmons and abscesses in the adult are uncommon nowdays. We report the case of a 48 years old male diagnosed as retropharyngeal phlegmon of idiopatic cause because no reasons were able to justify the clinical symptoms. Cervical CT was negative for purulent collection and the patient was treated by endovenous antibiotics and steroids until the resolution of his process. The final hospital stay was 12 days and after 10 years follow-up he has not been readmitted due to that pathology.     

Cochlear-vestibular ototoxicity by gentamicin. Report of a case and literature review

Gentamicin is an antibiotic member of the aminoglycosides family with well known potential to cause permanent ototoxicity by damaging more likely the cochlea vestibular system. We are reporting the clinical case of a 48 year-old female who was treated with such IV drug because of abdominal surgery. She had no otologic past history, and was complaining of tinnitus, periferical vertigo and progressive bilateral neurosensorial hearing loss, it est, cochlear-vestibular symptoms. After the withdrawol of gentamicin, the vestibular pathologic symptoms but not the hearing loss had improved, docummented by the persistance of the audiometric decay in the acute frequencies. Prevention is the best way to avoid iatrogenic lesions with thesse climps.     

Junctional epidermolysis bullosa of the larynx. Report of a case and literature review.

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a group of rare inherited disorders in which minor trauma causes blister formation in the skin and mucosa, including the esophagus. Morbidity varies with the type of disease and ranges from occasional trivial skin blisters to death in infancy. Laryngeal involvement presenting as hoarseness and respiratory distress has been reported in nine patients, five of whom had junctional EB. We present the sixth case of junctional EB with laryngeal involvement, and offer guidelines for otolaryngologists and anesthesiologists caring for these fragile patients.     

Laryngeal carcinoma in childhood. Report of a case and review of the literature

A rare cose of an 8½ year old boy with a stage III well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, which responded to chemotherapy and irradiation, is reported. It is the 56th cose in children up to 15 years of age and the 20th case in children 10 years old or younger reported since 1868. Carcinoma of the larynx in children has similar clinicopathological features to those of adult laryngeal carcinoma, but markedly differs as concerning sex incidence ratio. The main differential diagnosis is juvenile papillomatosis and the principal risk factor is previous cervical irradiation. Delayed diagnosis is frequent since clinical manifestations might be attributed to the normal laryngeal maturation process or to a common respiratory infection. Treatment is problematic, for special effort must be made to preserve laryngeal anatomy and function and to avoid complications. Prognosis of childhood laryngeal cancer is unclear since the reported survival rates are not tumor stage related.     

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of tongue. Report of a case and literature review

We report the clinical case of an adenoid cystic carcinoma on the base of the tongue, a rare malignant tumor of slow-growing but aggressive with a propepnsity for perineural invasion. Treatment modalities more common include surgery and radiotherapy but locorregional recurrences are frequent and relatively early in the first years. A review of the literature of this pathology is performed.     

Maxillary sinusitis by Fusarium sp. Report of a case and literature review

We report the clinical case of a 54 year old male who was diagnosed as left maxillary sinusitis with poor evolution in spite of several treatments. All the tests performed on this patient are shown and they allowed the final anatomopathologic diagnosis of infection by Fusarium sp., an opportunist fungal pathogen very rare as cause of an ENT infection. It was necessary to practice a Caldwell-Luc technique or extern antrotomy and an antifungal therapy (itraconazol) to obtain a significant improvement. Finally a bibliographic review has been made at respect of this pathology.     

Otolaryngologic manifestations of Churg-Strauss sindrome. Report of a case and review of the literature

Churg-Strauss Sindrome or allergic granulomatosis is a small vessel systemic vasculitis characterized by asthma, hypereosinophilia and necrotizing vasculitis with extravascular eosinophil granulomas. We describe a case assisted in our hospital who presented pulmonary infiltrates, fever, peripherical neuropathy, weight loss, myalgia, rhinosinusitis, with antecedents of nasal polyposis, and facial edema. Our aim is to review the main otolaryngologic manifestations of this rare illness that is treated with oral corticosteroids, immunosupresor drugs like ciclofosfamide and plasmapheresis.     

Self-induced pneumoparotitis in an adolescent. Report of a case and review of the literature

Pneumoparotitis is a rare cause of parotid inflammatory disease in both adults and children. A 12-year-old girl is reported who presented with recurrent bilateral parotid swelling. Radiologic evaluation revealed pneumoparotitis associated with masseter muscle hypertrophy. Further investigation revealed the self-induced nature of the condition in this teenager. Self-induced pneumoparotitis has been reported almost exclusively in adolescents who often have psychosocial problems. The clinical presentation, proposed pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of this rare condition are discussed and a review of the literature is presented.     

Late suprasternal and neck base abscess. Report of a case and literature review

Deep suprasternal infections secondary to cardiac surgery are uncommon but can compromise the life ofthe patient. After a sternotomy it is possible to find late cervico-thoracic abscesses specially in the presence of risk factors. We are reporting the case of a diabetic female of 67 years old with aortocoronary bypass who was diagnosed of suprasternal and neck base abscess in relation to her intervention 11 years later. It was necessary to practice drainage of the collection and wide spectrum antibioticotherapy with good evolution. 4 months after the surgery she was admitted again suffering a thoracic abscess that required treatment by Cardiac Surgery. The clinical follow-up was 3 years and no new recurrences have been detected.