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The goal of this study was to determine the incidence of postoperative tachycardia and its predictive value of complications in patients following microvascular free flap surgery in the head and neck.Retrospective chart review.Single tertiary care academic medical center.All patients who underwent a microvascular free flap of the head and neck by surgeons in the department of otolaryngology from 2013 to 2017 were included in this study.Of the 344 who patients met inclusion criteria, 40.4% had a maximum heart rate (HR) of the hospitalization over 110 beats per minute (bpm). Patients with a maximum HR greater than 110 bpm were 19 times more likely to experience a composite vascular complication (myocardial infarction, myocardial necrosis, or pulmonary embolism) than patients with a maximum HR110 bpm ( P = .0063). Patients with a history of chronic kidney disease were also noted to have an increased risk of experiencing a postoperative composite vascular event.Postoperative tachycardia is significantly associated with adverse outcomes and should not be dismissed as a normal variant. Identifying patients at an increased risk of having an underlying complication can help guide interpretation, workup, and management of postoperative patients in the head and neck population.

Head and neck cancer patients require close clinical follow up to monitor and address sequelae of treatment and for adequate cancer surveillance. The goal of this study is to determine barriers and risk factors for head and neck cancer patients who are lost-to-follow-up.A chart review of the Head and Neck Cancer Registry was performed to identify patients who were lost-to-follow-up (LTF). LTF was defined as missing two consecutive appointments as recommended by their oncologic surgeon. Those identified as LTF were contacted via email and phone to complete a 16-question survey addressing possible barriers to follow up.Of the 353 patients reviewed, 53 met the criteria for LTF (15%). Forty-eight participants were contacted, and 23 surveys were completed (48%). Of the 23 patients that responded, 22% reported difficulty scheduling an appointment, 30% had transportation barriers, 22% had personal or work obligations that prevented follow up, 17% did not follow up because they "felt better," and 39% were following up with an otolaryngologist or oncologist closer to home. Only three participants (13%) were aware of the recommended 5-year surveillance period.Head and neck cancer patients have a variety of reasons they are lost to follow-up. Understanding these barriers is critical to creating a patient-centered model that balances both clinical surveillance needs and reasonable expectations for patients. Improvements can be made to educate patients on the recommended length of follow-up and its importance.

Background Postoperative blindness is a devastating surgical complication. Although usually associated with prolonged cardiac and prone spinal operations, it may follow other procedures as well. Postoperative blindness is most commonly caused by a vascular etiology, but it can more rarely be caused by status epilepticus. We have previously reported a case of this phenomenon following a staged spinal deformity surgery. Case Description Here we report 2 additional cases following a skull base procedure and a single stage lumbar spine surgery. In all instances, rapid recognition that the patients' blindness was due to occipital seizures resulted in acute antiepileptiform treatment and full restoration of vision. Conclusions Although a rare phenomenon, this syndrome, first recognized and described by Tarik F. Ibrahim, should be considered in any patient with postoperative visual impairment.

Amplification of MYCN is the signature genetic aberration of 20–25% of neuroblastoma and a stratifying marker associated with aggressive tumor behavior. The detection of heterogeneous MYCN amplification (hetMNA) poses a diagnostic dilemma due to the uncertainty of its relevance to tumor behavior. Here, we aimed to shed light on the genomic background which permits hetMNA in neuroblastoma and tied the occurrence to other stratifying markers and disease outcome. We performed SNP analysis using Affymetrix Cytoscan HD arrays on 63 samples including constitutional DNA, tumor, bone marrow and relapse samples of 26 patients with confirmed hetMNA by MYCN‐FISH. Tumors of patients ≤18m were mostly aneuploid with numeric chromosomal aberrations (NCAs), presented a prominent MNA subclone and carried none or a few segmental chromosomal aberrations (SCAs). In older patients, tumors were mostly di‐ or tetraploid, contained a lower number of MNA cells and displayed a multitude of SCAs including concomitant 11q deletions. These patients often suffered disease progression, tumor dissemination and relapse. Restricted to aneuploid tumors, we detected chromosomes with uniparental di‐ or trisomy (UPD/UPT) in almost every sample. UPD11 was exclusive to tumors of younger patients whereas older patients featured UPD14. In this study, the MNA subclone appears to be constraint by the tumor environment and thus less relevant for tumor behavior in aggressive tumors with a high genomic instability and many segmental aberrations. A more benign tumor background and lower tumor stage may favor an outgrowth of the MNA clone but tumors generally responded better to treatment., What's new? MYCN amplification (MNA) in neuroblastoma (NB) generally associates with an aggressive tumor behavior and detection of MNA leads to an automatic upstaging of the tumor in non‐stage 1 tumors. But what if only a fraction of the tumor cells is MYCN‐amplified? To investigate the diagnostic importance of heterogeneous MNA, the authors conducted a genetic analysis of samples from 26 NB patients with a particular focus on accompanying genetic aberrations. They concluded that tumor behavior is largely dependent on patient age and other chromosomal alterations in the genetic tumor background rather than the mere presence of the MNA clone.

Multiple specialties have demonstrated increased risk of certain postoperative complications in patients with an increased body mass index (BMI). The goal of this study was to understand the outcomes of patients undergoing parotidectomy with an increased BMI and to identify any other patient risk factors for postoperative complications. This study was a retrospective chart review of 432 patients. Patient variables collected included BMI, age, gender, history of diabetes mellitus, type of parotidectomy, and pathology. Outcomes reviewed included facial nerve weakness, hematoma or seroma formation, and wound infection. The results showed that BMI had no statistically significant effect on complications. However, patients undergoing a total parotidectomy, malignant pathology, and patients with a history of diabetes mellitus had significantly more postoperative facial weakness. In conclusion, BMI does not influence postoperative complications in patients undergoing parotidectomy. Patients with diabetes, those undergoing total parotidectomies, and patients with malignant pathology have significantly more facial weakness and should be counseled accordingly.

Purpose Given the increasing costs of medical care, there has been a shift to outpatient elective surgeries in certain patient populations among all surgical specialties. The goal of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of outpatient parotidectomy with traditional inpatient parotidectomy. Materials and Methods This is a retrospective chart review of all patients who underwent a parotidectomy at a single tertiary academic center from 2007 through 2017. Results There were 568 patients who met the inclusion criteria. There was no difference in demographics or patient comorbidities between the inpatient and outpatient groups. There was no increased incidence of postoperative complications or extent of postoperative care in patients who underwent outpatient parotidectomy. On average at the authors' institution, the direct outpatient parotidectomy cost was $1,200 less than the inpatient equivalent. Conclusion Outpatient parotidectomy can be performed safely and cost effectively with no increased risk of complications.

Acute and chronic sinusitis can give rise to a wide array of intracranial and orbital complications. These complications include brain abscess, subdural empyema, epidural abscess, meningitis, venous sinus thrombosis, frontal bone osteomyelitis, and orbital cellulitis and abscess. Despite numerous medical advances, these complications carry a risk of mortality and significant morbidity. Recent studies have shown improvement in both the mortality and the morbidity associated with the neurologic complications of acute and chronic sinusitis. However, there are still a large portion of patients with long-term sequelae, and the literature reports a morbidity rate of approximately 30%. The most common post-treatment morbidities include permanent changes in vision, seizures, and hemiparesis. Although the overall incidence of neurologic complications from a sinogenic source are rare, the potential long-term complications can be devastating making prompt diagnosis and treatment vital to improving outcomes.

Objectives To identify the recurrence rates and survival outcomes of patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the scalp. Methods This study was a retrospective chart review of eight patients that had squamous cell carcinoma of the scalp with either periosteal or skull invasion on clinical and/or radiographic evaluation. Results The disease-free survival was 62.5% (5/8 patients) with a local control rate of 75% (6/8 patients) for the entire group. The two patients with full-thickness craniectomy had a local control rate of 100% (2/2 patients); the patients with outer cortex removal had a local control rate of 66.7% (4/6 patients). The disease-free survival of the full-thickness group was 50% (1/2 patients ), and the disease-free survival of the outer cortex removal patients was 66.7% (4/6 patients). Conclusion Despite the invasive nature of this disease, a high degree of local control can be achieved in this high-risk group with multiple comorbidities using outer cortex drilldown, and, in properly selected patients, full-thickness calvarial resection. We conclude that for patients without evidence of medullary involvement that outer table drilldown offers a well-tolerated approach with reasonable oncologic control.

Objective To evaluate the reliability of medical history taken before hormonal medication administration to identify women with an increased risk for thromboembolic events detected by laboratory screening. Design Prospective study. Setting Outpatient endocrine clinic of a university-based hospital. Patient(s) Four hundred forty-three consecutive women (median age 49 years) who presented with endocrine disorders. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Parallel screening, on first visit, with a complete medical history, and same-day laboratory screening for thromboembolic risk. Laboratory examination in a two-step procedure with a standard assay and confirmation by genotyping on the second visit. Result(s) A total of 13.8% (61/443) patients with an abnormal activated protein C (APC) resistance test were identified. Second blood samples revealed a prevalence of factor V (Leiden) heterozygosity in 10.9% (homozygosity in 0.2%). There was a significantly higher prevalence of thrombotic events in a first degree relative of patients with APC resistance (in 18.3%) compared with women with a normal test outcome (in 7.8%). However, medical history (personal and family history) was negative concerning hints for thromboembolic events in more than 80% of patients with a laboratory risk profile for thromboembolic morbidity. No association of APC and factor V testing with the patients' gynecological/obstetric history (e.g., live birth rate, miscarriages) was observed. Conclusion(s) Medical history alone may be inadequate to identify all patients at risk for thromboembolic complications with hormonal treatment.

Chronic peripheral arterial occlusive disease of the lower limbs may cause tissue damage. Type and extent of peripheral nerve involvement is controversial. We examined 25 patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease in various grades of severity and 37 age-matched healthy controls using conventional angiography and motor and sensory nerve conduction tests. Subjects with confounding factors for peripheral neuropathies were excluded. We found prolongation of distal motor latencies, decrease of motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities, and reduction in amplitude of the compound muscle action potential. Amplitudes of the compound muscle action potentials were lower in patients with pain at rest than in patients with intermittent claudication and decreased with increasing neurological disability score. Sural nerve conduction velocity, peroneal nerve F-wave chronodispersion, and tibial nerve F-wave persistence were the most frequent abnormal findings. Therefore we concluded that chronic peripheral arterial occlusive disease causes axonal degeneration, resulting in axonal polyneuropathy.

Purpose: Precise and comprehensive analysis of neuroblastoma genetics is essential for accurate risk evaluation and only pangenomic/multilocus approaches fulfill the present-day requirements. We present the establishment and validation of the PCR-based multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) technique for neuroblastoma. Experimental Design: A neuroblastoma-specific MLPA kit was designed by the SIOP Europe Neuroblastoma Biology Committee in cooperation with MRC-Holland. The contained target sequences cover 19 chromosomal arms and reference loci. Validation was performed by single locus and pangenomic techniques (n = 174). Dilution experiments for determination of minimal tumor cell percentage were performed and testing of reproducibility was checked by interlaboratory testing (n = 15). Further 156 neuroblastomas were used for establishing the amplification cutoff level. Results: The MLPA technique was tested in 310 neuroblastomas and 8 neuroblastoma cell lines (including validation and amplification cutoff level testing). Intertechnique validation showed a high concordance rate (99.5%). Interlaboratory MLPA testing (κ = 0.95, P < 0.01) revealed 7 discrepant of 1,490 results (0.5%). Validation by pangenomic techniques showed a single discordance of 190 consensus results (0.5%). The test results led to formulation of interpretation standards and to a kit revision. The minimal tumor cell percentage was fixed at 60%. Conclusions: The recently designed neuroblastoma-specific MLPA kit covers all chromosomal regions demanded by the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group for therapy stratification and includes all hitherto described genetic loci of prognostic interest for future studies and can be modified or extended at any time. Moreover, the technique is cost effective, reliable, and robust with a high interlaboratory and intertechnique concordance. Clin Cancer Res; 17(4); 792–804. ©2011 AACR.