Neck Mass Came Back Cancer... Now What?

It is not uncommon that an adult patient presents with a neck mass to an ENT clinic. Unfortunately, upon workup which typically includes a needle biopsy, the neck mass comes back showing cancer, usually, a type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma, although lymphoma, mucoepidermoid carcinoma, etc occasionally occurs as well. In this blog article, we will focus specifically on the case of the neck mass being squamous cell carcinoma. At this point, the patient's main concern is wha…

5/01/2019 0

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Swab Culture is Inaccurate Test for Determining Tonsillitis

A fascinating study came out in June 2017 that compared the bacteria found on the tonsil surface by swab versus bacteria found within a core needle biopsy versus bacteria found within the dissected tonsil's core. The take home finding is that a swab culture poorly identifies the bacteria causing recurrent tonsillitis . Based on 54 children who underwent tonsillectomy , researchers performed a swab, needle biopsy, and core dissection of all tonsils removed. Culture results obtained from…

6/28/2017 0

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Parkinson's Disease Diagnosed by Salivary Gland Biopsy

Taken from Wikipedia Diagnosing Parkinson's Disease (a degenerative neurological disorder) is hard, usually a clinical exam and assessment of symptoms by a neurologist with at best about an 80% accuracy rate. There is no "test" per se that can diagnose Parkinson's Disease... until now. In patients with Parkinson's Disease, an uniquely abnormal protein called alpha-synuclein protein can be found in the submandibular spit gland located under the jawline. By obtainin…

5/02/2016 0

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10 Ways to Remove a Facial Skin Lesion [VIDEO]

There are many different ways to remove a skin lesion from the facial region depending on location, size, and orientation. This video demonstrates the ten most popular techniques to remove a skin lesion. Shave Biopsy Fusiform Excision Rhomboid Flap Bilobed Flap Geometric Broken Line W-plasty Note Flap Z-plasty Rotation Flap Advancement Flap Most ENTs, dermatologists, and plastic surgeons are familiar with all these techniques.

9/21/2015 0

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Large Thyroid Nodules Have Higher Risk of Cancer Even if Needle Biopsy is Normal

A recent 2015 study revealed that large thyroid nodules (over 3cm) have a higher risk of cancer and that needle biopsies are not very accurate in diagnosing cancer in such large nodules. This is hardly the first study to demonstrate this. In a 2009 study , surgeons at the University of Wisconsin found that fine needle aspiration  biopsy  (FNAB) in 26 of 52 FNAB reported as benign (50.0%) turned out to be either neoplastic (22) or malignant (4) on final pathologic analysis after  thyroidect…

1/27/2015 1

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Joan Rivers Underwent Unplanned Vocal Cord Biopsy Without Consent

Image by  David Shankbone  of  Wikipedia When it was first reported 8/28/14 that comedian Joan Rivers suffered some type of respiratory arrest during some type of sedated endoscopic procedure, it was unclear exactly what was done and what happened. According to initial reports, the endoscopy was done to "check her vocal cords." Media reports have emerged citing an anonymous source that state an unplanned, un-consented vocal cord biopsy was done during the planned endoscopy pr…

9/10/2014 1

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