Tolga Kandoğan

The results of objective and subjective evaluation of postoperative vocal function were assessed in patients treated with thyroplasty for the correction of sulcus vocalis. Six patients (5 males, 1 female; mean age 26 years; range 18 to 34 years) underwent thyroplasty for sulcus vocalis. Voice evaluations were performed one week before and two months after surgery. None of the patients had voice therapy before evaluations in the postoperative period. The mean follow-up period was 14.8 months. Compared to the preoperative values, postoperative voice handicap index scores were significantly different (p=0.002). However, the difference between the dysphonia severity index (DSI) scores were not significant (p=0.810). A subjective rather than an objective improvement was observed in voice. Our results suggest that, in the evaluation of voice patients, therapeutic success should not be based only on objective criteria, but subjective criteria should also be considered.

Mucoceles are defined as chronic, cystic lesions in the paranasal sinuses. When the mucocele content becomes infected, the lesion is defined as mucopyocele. Involvement of the maxillary sinus is rare. A 26-year-old male patient presented with left-sided facial swelling and nasal obstruction that had a history of six months. He had several episodes of sinus infections treated with antibiotics. His visual acuity was not affected. A computed tomography scan showed complete opacification of the left maxillary sinus with expansion through the medial wall of the antrum and hard palate, and thinning and destruction of the adjacent bony structures. The lesion was excised via a sublabial approach. During surgery, the cystic mass had yellowish color with foul-smelling mucopurulent material. In light microscopy, the cystic mass was diagnosed as mucopyocele.

Surgery for cochlear implantation (CI) bears the risks of complication associated with all major surgery, in addition to the particular risks associated with implanting a foreign body into the peripheral auditory system. Here we present a retrospective study involving 227 cochlear implant operations in 205 children to evaluate the rate of intra- and post-operative complications.Complications were defined as major complications, requiring explantation of the device or further operation, causing a significant medical problem, or leading to any degree of facial paralysis or requiring additional hospitalization for treatment; or defined as minor complications, namely those that settled spontaneously, with conservative treatment, with local care and/or with medication alone.In our study there were 15 (6.6 per cent) minor and 28 (12.33 per cent) major complications. The most frequent minor complication was dizziness and vomiting (3.08 per cent), followed by transient hemifacial oedema (1.76 per cent), head pain (1.32 per cent) and mild ataxia (0.4 per cent). The most frequent major complication was trauma to the device (9.69 per cent), followed by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) gusher (2.2 per cent) and facial paresis (0.4 per cent). All of the device trauma cases were re-implanted. There were neither any life-threatening complications nor any facial nerve paralysis in our implanted children.This study confirms that CI is relatively safe and that major complications are few and within acceptable limits.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate influences of aging and sex on different voice parameters in patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis (VCP). Study Design: Retrospectiv...

We evaluated the causes of hoarseness in patients above 60 years of age. The study included 98 patients (40 females, 58 males; mean age 64 years; range 60 to 77 years) who presented with hoarseness. All the patients were examined by videolaryngoscopy. Temporary hoarseness secondary to respiratory tract infections was excluded. The most common cause of hoarseness was benign vocal fold lesions (28.6%) followed by malignant lesions (27.6%), vocal fold paralysis (25.5%), functional dysphonia (10.2%), and presbyphonia (8.2%). Laryngopharyngeal reflux was found in 13 patients (13.3%). Fourteen male and 11 female patients had paralysis of the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Malignancies that caused hoarseness without paralyzing the vocal folds were larynx carcinoma (n=18), hypopharynx carcinoma (n=8), and multiple malignancy (n=1). Our data show that dysphonia develops due to disease processes associated with aging rather than to physiologic aging alone. Considering adverse influences of dysphonia on the quality of life of elderly population, efforts should be directed to elucidation of the cause and to performing appropriate treatment.