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Background: The prognostic significance of margin-to-depth ratio (MDR) in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) remains unclear, particularly in comparison to traditional margin status. We aimed to examine the association between MDR and clinical outcomes in a large Taiwanese cohort., Methods: A total of 18,324 patients with first primary OCSCC were categorized by margin status: positive (1013), <5 mm (8371), and ≥ 5 mm (8940). Disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS) served as the main outcome measures., Results: After excluding patients with positive margins (MDR = 0), the optimal MDR cutoff value for DSS and OS was 0.6. Patients with MDR > 0.6 showed significantly better 5-year DSS and OS rates (87 %, 81 %) compared to those with MDR ≤ 0.6 (71 %, 63 %) and MDR = 0 (53 %, 43 %). Multivariable analysis identified MDR ≤ 0.6 as independently associated with both DSS and OS in the entire cohort (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.34/1.32). This finding was consistent in the subgroups with surgical margins < 5 mm (HR = 1.39 for DSS and 1.38 for OS) and margins ≥ 5 mm (HR = 1.21 for both DSS and OS). In subgroups with surgical margins < 5 mm and ≥ 5 mm, an MDR > 0.6 was associated with better survival outcomes., Conclusions: An MDR (cutoff: 0.6) is independently associated with prognosis in OCSCC, offering improved risk stratification compared to margin status alone. While MDR may guide surgical margin modification, further research is needed to determine whether MDR could serve as a postoperative indicator for adjuvant therapy in patients with close or clear margins., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the survival outcomes of surgically treated oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients with or without adjuvant therapies and factors predicting treatment outcomes from the largest head and neck cancer center in Northern Thailand., Methods: Two hundred and sixty OSCC patients curatively treated between 2017 and 2021 were retrospectively recruited into the study to analyze the clinicopathological characteristics and oncological outcomes and compare them with historical data. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis was performed to evaluate factors affecting survival outcomes., Results: Males were slightly predominant (58.1 %). The most common subsite was an oral tongue (48.5 %), followed by an alveolar ridge (18.5 %). Advanced stages (III-IV) presented most at 88.5 %. The majority of the patients (52.3 %) received surgery and chemoradiotherapy, followed by surgery and radiotherapy (36.9 %), and surgery alone (10.8 %). The five-year overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival, and disease-free survival were 28.8 %, 44.0 %, and 46.3 %, respectively. Age > 45, ECOG performance status 2, and positive surgical margin status were found to be independent predictors for decreased OS (aHR 1.74, 95 % CI 1.01-3.00, aHR 2.64, 95 % CI 1.22-5.68, and aHR 1.76, 95 % CI 1.18-2.63, respectively)., Conclusions: Survival outcomes of OSCC in the study remain poor compared to other studies. The high prevalence of locally advanced stage presentation and inadequate surgical margin are the main problems. Public awareness, cancer screening programs, and intraoperative specimen-driven evaluation might help obtain adequate surgical margins and improve survival outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Background: The primary treatment for oral tongue cancer in both early and advanced stages involves surgical resection, which often affects tongue function. When microvascular free flaps are unsuitable for tongue reconstruction following cancer ablation, locoregional pedicled flaps become viable alternatives, for example, submental and supraclavicular island flaps. This study compares perioperative and functional outcomes between submental and supraclavicular flaps in tongue cancer reconstruction., Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed the outcomes of 46 patients who underwent tongue resection and reconstruction with a submental or supraclavicular island flap between January 2015 and December 2022. We evaluated patient demographics, flap outcomes, postoperative complications, and speech and swallowing outcomes., Results: The study included 24 submental and 22 supraclavicular island flap reconstructions. While demographic data were similar between the two groups, the submental island flap group had significantly shorter operative times than the supraclavicular group (291 and 347 min, respectively, p = 0.018), reduced hospital stays (14.8 and 18.6 days, respectively, p = 0.016), fewer major recipient site complications necessitating interventions under general anesthesia (1 and 6 patients, respectively, p = 0.043), and less recipient wound dehiscence (1 and 8 patients, respectively, p = 0.009). Speech and swallowing outcomes were comparable in the two groups., Conclusion: The submental island flap appears to be a more favorable option for tongue reconstruction than the supraclavicular island flap, offering advantages in operative time, length of hospital stays, and lower rates of major complications and wound dehiscence., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Adult-onset lymphatic malformations arising at the postcricoid, a subsite of the hypopharynx, are sporadic. Only one case has been previously reported. In this study, we presented a 36-year-old female presented with globus sensation, dysphagia, and upper airway obstruction, requiring a tracheostomy. A computed tomography scan identified a 5 cm × 4.5 cm × 3 cm multilocular hypodense lesion in the postcricoid. Due to its considerable size, complete resection with function preservation was crucial, and a standard microscopic direct laryngoscopy approach may result in inadequate exposure, while an open transcervical approach may affect functional outcomes and increase surgical complications. We successfully performed an en bloc resection with a transoral endoscopic approach, using laryngeal suspension and a laparoscopic ultrasonic scalpel to preserve aerodigestive functions, ensure rapid recovery, and avoid neck scarring. The patient was decannulated within 2 weeks and remained disease-free after 1 year. The reported cases of adult-onset lymphatic malformations at the postcricoid and hypopharynx were reviewed and summarized for educational purposes., 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: Hypocalcemia is the most common complication following total thyroidectomy. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of perioperative combined calcium and vitamin D supplementation compared to postoperative combined calcium and vitamin D supplementation in reducing symptomatic hypocalcemia., Materials and Methods: A prospective randomized placebo-controlled trial was carried out in patients undergoing total or completion thyroidectomy from June 2017 to May 2022. Eligible patients were assigned to receive either calcium carbonate and alfacalcidol or placebo 3 days before surgery, and both groups were given calcium carbonate and alfacalcidol for 14 days after surgery. Clinical outcomes (signs and symptoms of hypocalcemia, requirement of intravenous calcium, and medication-induced hypercalcemia) and laboratory results (calcium and parathyroid hormone levels) were compared between the two groups., Results: One hundred and thirty-four patients were included in the analysis, 68 were in perioperative oral calcium and vitamin D supplementation group, and 66 were in postoperative oral calcium and vitamin D supplementation group. Symptomatic hypocalcemia rates were significantly lower in the perioperative group than in the postoperative group (8.8 and 22.7%, respectively, P=0.033). All symptomatic hypocalcemia cases in the perioperative group occurred in the first 24 hours after surgery. Mean calcium levels were significantly higher in the perioperative group at 24 and 48 hours after surgery. Intravenous calcium requirement rate was lower in the perioperative group but the difference was insignificant (2.9 and 12.1%, P=0.053). Mean parathyroid hormone levels were within the normal range and did not differ between groups. No medication-induced hypercalcemia was detected in either group., Conclusion: Perioperative oral calcium and vitamin D supplementation significantly decreased the risks of symptomatic and biochemical hypocalcemia compared to postoperative oral calcium and vitamin D supplementation. The perioperative supplementation also shortened the recovery period of symptomatic hypocalcemia to within 24 hours., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Objectives: Parotidectomy increases childhood challenges. This study aimed to determine the clinical profiles, investigations, and outcomes of pediatric patients who had undergone parotidectomy., Methods: A multicenter retrospective review of parotidectomy in pediatric patients between 2007 and 2020., Results: In 108 parotidectomies, the final diagnoses were benign (47.22%), malignant (36.11%), and non-neoplastic (16.67%). The incidence of facial palsy was 37.03%, which was significantly lower in the superficial group than that in the total parotidectomy group ( p  = .021). The incidence of facial nerve palsy was significantly higher in the malignancy group than that in the benign group ( p  = .035). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detected malignancy with 92.8% overall accuracy, 83.3% sensitivity, and 100% specificity. The sensitivity and specificity of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) were 54.2% and 92.7%, respectively., Conclusions: Parotidectomy is commonly performed for benign and non-neoplastic diseases in pediatric patients. Facial nerve palsy is significantly associated with malignant tumors and total parotidectomy. MRI is the most accurate imaging modality for diagnosing malignant lesions. FNA exhibits moderate agreement with the final pathology., Level of Evidence: Level IV., Competing Interests: All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest, (© 2022 The Authors. Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Triological Society.)

Introduction  Free flaps have been the preferred method for reconstruction after resection of oral cavity cancer. However, pedicled flaps remain valuable alternatives in appropriate settings. Objective  The main objective of the present study was to compare surgical complications, hospital costs, and functional outcomes of oral cavity cancer patients who underwent soft tissue reconstruction with pedicled flaps or free flaps. Methods  A total of 171 patients were included in the study. Ninety-eight underwent reconstruction with a pectoralis major, submental, temporalis, or supraclavicular pedicled flap, and in 73 patients, a radial forearm or anterolateral thigh free flap had been used. The cases were retrospectively reviewed, and a comparative analysis was carried out between the two groups. Results  Recipient site and flap complications, speech, and swallowing functions did not differ between groups, but donor site complications, operative time, hospital stay, and costs were significantly reduced in the pedicled flap group compared with the free flap group. However, the pectoralis major flap reconstruction resulted in a more inferior swallowing function than the free flap reconstruction. Conclusions  With comparable complications and functional outcomes, while decreasing in costs, pedicled flaps are a useful alternative to free flaps in oral cavity cancer reconstruction. However, in an extensive defect (> 70 cm 2 ), free flaps are the reconstruction of choice for the preservation of swallowing function., Competing Interests: Conflict of interests The authors have no conflict of interests to declare., (Fundação Otorrinolaringologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).)

Background: Kimura's disease is a rare inflammatory disease that usually appears in head and neck region. We reported natural history of the disease and treatment outcome of radiotherapy (RT) in Chiang Mai University Hospital., Methods: A retrospective review was performed for all Kimura's disease patients treated with radiotherapy at our center between 2002 and 2017., Results: A total of 20 patients with Kimura's disease were reviewed. There were 14 men and 6 women. All patients presented with the mass in head and neck region. Eleven patients were treated with a definitive intent with RT, 9 patients were treated with RT after recurrence from other modalities. All patients were treated with local external beam RT with 2 Gy per fraction to a median total dose of 30 Gy (range 30-40). The median follow-up time was 4 years (range 1-16.5 years). One patient died from HIV opportunistic infection after 1.5 year of radiation with complete response of Kimura's disease. Most of the patients responded to radiotherapy and controlled the disease at the time of analysis. Two patients had multiple recurrences at new areas outside radiotherapy field. Skin toxicity grade 1 was the most common late side effect which was found in 8 (44%) patients. We did not find severe late toxicity or second malignancy in this patient cohort., Conclusion: : Good local control of Kimura's disease can be achieved, with a radiation dose of 30-40 Gy, with insignificant late toxicities. We suggest that radiotherapy should be one of the treatments of choice for Kimura's disease both in primary or recurrence setting., Competing Interests: None

Background: Overexpression of excision repair cross-complementing Group 1 (ERCC-1) is related to cisplatin resistance and defective repair of radiation damage. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of excision (ERCC-1) expression in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC)., Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients diagnosed with NPC between 2000 and 2013. The archived tissues were analyzed using immunohistochemistry to determine ERCC-1 expression. The ERCC-1 expression level along with other clinical factors and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Hazard ratio (HR) with a 95% confidence interval was calculated to assess the risk., Results: The analysis of ERCC-1 expression was available in 262 NPC patients who had medical records at our hospital. Among those patients, 221 (84%) were treated with curative radiotherapy (RT)/concurrent chemoradiotherapy, 22 (7%) were treated with palliative RT alone, and 19 (9%) were given best supportive care. There was no correlation between ERCC-1 expression and stage of cancer or OS. No difference in 5-year OS was found between patients with low ERCC-1 expression and high ERCC-1 expression (38% vs. 36%; P = 0.981). The adjusted HR (aHR) of cancer death increased with cancer stage (aHR = 2.93 for advanced Stages III-IV; P = 0.001) and age (aHR = 2.11 for age >55; P ≤ 0.001). ERCC-1 expression exhibited no prognostic significance in our study (aHR = 1)., Conclusion: In this study, ERCC-1 expression has no statistical significance to be considered a prognostic factor for OS among NPC patients. On the other hand, cancer stage, age, and types of treatment can be prognostic factors in NPC patients., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2020 Journal of Research in Medical Sciences.)