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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]

The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology was developed in 2007 to facilitate an accurate, reproducible communication of thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA) interpretations between clinicians and cytopathologists and to serve as a guide for treatment. Based on large patient series, the system details the risk of malignancy for each category as well as a suggested management for each FNA result. Though this system has been widely adopted, there are only few studies to determine whether results are applicable for Israel. A multicenter, retrospective analysis of medical charts of all patients who underwent thyroid surgery between January 1st, 2012 and December 31st, 2016 in four medical centers in Israel was performed. Data was analyzed for the overall risk of malignancy for the Bethesda system groups as well as comparison between the different laboratories performing the test. Records of 810 thyroidectomies in which preoperative cytological reports and final pathology were available and reviewed. The malignancy rates according to the Bethesda groups' I-VI for our cohort were: 27.8%, 17.6%, 41.4%, 41.4%, 86.9%, and 98.1% respectively. Similar results were seen when results were analyzed according to the different laboratories performing the tests. Post-surgical review of all Bethesda groups had higher malignancy rates than those reported in the original report. These results indicate a difference in the malignancy rates for the different Bethesda system groups in Israel compared to those reported. Physicians are encouraged to use data validated for their own country or patients' community in addition to published values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite several reports on the association between molecular profiling, aggressive histology, and clinical outcomes, the association between mutation expression and pre-operative cytology is yet to be demonstrated. Therefore, we performed a retrospective, single-center study, including all patients who underwent molecular profiling of thyroid nodules in Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (BSRTC) categories III to VI, between 2018 and 2019. Medical records were reviewed to collect demographics, cytology results according to BSRTC, final pathology (presence of malignancy and its type, as well as presence of aggressive features, including extrathyroidal extension, positive neck lymph nodes, and multifocality), and the identified genetic variants stratified by risk levels, according to the 2015 ATA guidelines. We supplemented this analysis with a systematic review to identify the variant distributions across the literature. We included data on 55 nodules from 48 patients for the final analysis. A significant positive correlation was found between BSRTC categories and the mutation risk level, shown by an increase in the intermediate to high-risk mutation rate in the higher BSRTC categories (Rs = 0.660, p ≤ 0.001). A significant positive correlation was also found between mutation risk levels and the presence of malignancy and aggressive tumor features (Rs = 0.637, p < 0.001 and Rs = 0.459, p = 0.006, respectively). This novel positive and significant correlation between BSRTC categories and the mutation risk level provides additional insight to aid clinicians in the interpretation of BSRTC results and may contribute to the discussion of appropriate management of thyroid nodule with patients., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)