UT ORL Update

Balloon Dilatation of the Sinuses for Chronic rhinosinusitis: Should we slow down and look at the data?

Amber Luong, MD, PhD     e-mail

     Johnson & Johnson recently announced its acquisition of Acclarent for over $800 million. This acquisition and the recent survey for new CPT codes for the balloon sinus ostial dilation beg the question as to when should this technology be utilized. Read More »
 
 

Bilateral Cochlear Implantation: Achieving a Stereo Effect

Sancak Yuksel, MD     e-mail

     As we all know, normal hearing is binaural. Binaural hearing provides some major benefits: better and targeted hearing in a noisy environment, better localization of sounds, and more natural and balanced hearing quality. If this is the case, would bilateral implantation prove more beneficial than unilateral implantation? Read More »
 
 

Functional Septorhinoplasty for Nasal Obstruction

Tang Ho, MD     e-mail

      Nasal obstruction secondary to anatomic nasal deformities is a fairly routine problem seen by the otolaryngologists in the office, usually in the setting of someone who has failed medical management. Read More »
 
 
 

Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: Management of the Neck

Ron J. Karni, MD     e-mail

     Patients with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma (PTC) exhibit excellent rates of disease control and survival with total thyroidectomy and post-operative radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy. In the United States, overall survival is greater than 95% despite a greater than 25% risk of nodal metastases. The literature suggests a higher risk of nodal metastesis in patients with large primary sites in the thyroid gland and in patients with multifocal PTC. Nodal metastases in PTC may be more difficult to identify because of unpredictable patterns of spread. Metastases may occur in the central compartment (level VI), the lateral neck (Levels II-IV), posterior triangle (Level V), the retropharyngeal nodes, or the superior mediastinum. Read More »