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Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of topical nasal Pomegranate Fruit Extract (PFE) for Chronic Rhinitis (CR), Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyposis (CRSwNP), and Chronic Rhinosinusitis without Nasal Polyposis (CRSsNP). Methods: Prospective, double-blinded, randomized study including 111 consecutive patients, between April 2012 and January 2017, afflicted by CRSwNP, CRSsNP, and CR. Patients from each group were randomly assigned to either PFE treatment or placebo twice daily for 30 days. Therapeutic efficacy was assessed by Ear Nose and Throat, blood and tomographic examinations, and the SNOT-20 questionnaire. Results: CR patients treated with PFE suffered significantly less from thick nasal discharge, difficulty falling asleep, reduced productivity, reduced concentration, and sadness (P =.004, P =.02, P =.03, P =.007 and P =.02, respectively). Conclusions: Topical nasal PFE was found to have some benefits for CR patients, however, not for CRS with or without Nasal Polyposis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Puncture and lavage of the paranasal sinuses, previously the primary treatment for unresponsive acute bacterial rhinosinusitis before surgery, has been abandoned due to procedural discomfort and advancements in antibiotic efficacy and endoscopic surgery. The rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria has renewed the interest in minimally invasive sinus lavage to both avoid aggressive surgical interventions and identify appropriate antibiotic therapy. In this article, we describe the safety and feasibility of a new device in human patients and evaluate its efficacy as a treatment before the traditional sinus surgery in acute rhinosinusitis. Methods: The device with its seeker-shaped guiding tube and rotating wire can enter the sinus cavity through the natural ostium, pulverize the inspissated mucus, and enable lavage and culture sampling without the need for sinus puncturing. It was tested in 6 patients with chronic sinusitis under general anesthesia during endoscopic sinus surgery and in additional 10 patients with maxillary acute bacterial rhinosinusitis in outpatient settings under local anesthesia. Results: The device enabled rapid, efficient, and atraumatic insertion of the wire into the occluded sinuses. The rotating wire permitted pulverization of the thick mucus, which enabled irrigation without mucosal damage or adverse events. Overall, 9 of 10 patients with acute bacterial rhinosinusitis demonstrated remarkable improvements and were discharged the following day with no acute symptoms. The visual analog scale score for pain dropped from 8.9 to 0.4. The remaining one patient underwent endoscopic sinus surgery subsequently. None of the patients treated during endoscopic sinus surgery developed any adverse events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The 2017 revised Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (BSRTC) included new malignancy rates for each category as well as new management recommendations. Here, we evaluate the malignancy rate and test performance for BSRTC categories in a middle‐sized institution outside the United States (US). Design: Retrospective single centre case series with chart review. Patients: All patients who underwent thyroid surgery with a preoperative BSRTC between the years 2010 and 2018 at our institution. Measurements: In order to assess the malignancy rate for each BSRTC, all medical records were reviewed to collect demographics, nodule's size, BSRTC and final pathology. Results: Three hundred and sixty‐four patients were included, with an overall malignancy rate of 34.3%. The malignancy rate for BSRTC categories I‐VI was as follows: 13.3%, 5.1%, 25.0%, 24.4%, 91.3% and 95.2%, respectively. The most sensitive test was when BSRTC III‐VI were evaluated (91%). Overall best performance (sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy) was obtained when BSRTC V‐VI were grouped together with a substantial decrease when adding BSRTC III‐IV (90%, 97%, 94%, 95%, 95% vs, respectively, 91%, 73%, 62%, 95%, 79%, respectively). Conclusions: Despite differences from the reported 2017 BSRTC malignancy rates, we demonstrated that the revised 2017 BSRTC management recommendations for thyroid nodules are also valid in smaller non‐US centre, supporting its use globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of topical nasal Pomegranate Fruit Extract (PFE) for Chronic Rhinitis (CR), Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyposis (CRSwNP), and Chronic Rhinosinusitis without Nasal Polyposis (CRSsNP). Methods: Prospective, double-blinded, randomized study including 111 consecutive patients, between April 2012 and January 2017, afflicted by CRSwNP, CRSsNP, and CR. Patients from each group were randomly assigned to either PFE treatment or placebo twice daily for 30 days. Therapeutic efficacy was assessed by Ear Nose and Throat, blood and tomographic examinations, and the SNOT-20 questionnaire. Results: CR patients treated with PFE suffered significantly less from thick nasal discharge, difficulty falling asleep, reduced productivity, reduced concentration, and sadness ( P = .004, P = .02, P = .03, P = .007 and P = .02, respectively). Conclusions: Topical nasal PFE was found to have some benefits for CR patients, however, not for CRS with or without Nasal Polyposis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the outcomes of pediatric patients with acute mastoiditis while examining the role of intravenous steroid therapy, patient demographics, and serum inflammatory values as prognostic factors., Methods: This study is a single-center retrospective observational study including 73 consecutive patients treated for acute mastoiditis in the course of the 10-year study period (January 2010 to December 2019)., Results: Data analysis showed that patients requiring surgical treatment (14%) had a 3-fold higher C-reactive protein value at admission compared to those treated conservatively (P < .001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that a C-reactive protein cut-off of ≥98.7 had a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 74.6%, respectively, for predicting the need for surgery (area under the curve=0.927, P < .001). The duration of symptoms before hospitalization was nearly 2 days shorter in male patients (P=.031), and the use of intravenous steroid therapy significantly shortened the length of hospitalization (P=.023), by 1.4 days on average., Conclusion: Intravenous steroid therapy may be useful in decreasing the length of hospital stay. Mastoiditis tends to present more severely in male patients, and monitoring C-reactive protein values during treatment correlated well with the need for surgery.