Arch Otolaryngol
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Laryngeal cysts of thyroid cartilage origin are unusually rare. A patient had a degenerative cyst of the thyroid cartilage. ⋯ An external laryngeal approach was used for excisional biopsy, and this also proved to be curative. The cyst probably resulted from a traumatic episode 35 years earlier.
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A 30-month-old female infant had a cardiopulmonary arrest due to viscous lidocaine. The protective airway mechanisms were blunted by this drug, resulting in aspiration, hypoxia, seizures, and death. Lidocaine has also been associated with respiratory depression, psychosis, methemoglobinemia, and toxic cardiovascular reactions. We do not recommend the use of viscous lidocaine for minor oral irritation in infants and young children.
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Between 1960 and 1983, 63 of 3,489 patients treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, were under the age of 40 years. Malignancies in these patients occurred in the oral cavity (41%), pharynx (28%), larynx (25%), and other sites (6%). One third of the patients were females and half the patients were smokers. ⋯ Management consisted of surgery, radiation, or a combination of the two. Actuarial five-year survival for the entire group was 67%. The best prognosis was for patients with cancer of the larynx, while the poorest was for those with cancer of the pharynx.
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A sample of 5,392 students were surveyed using a 42-item, multiple-choice questionnaire from a population of 19,040 Texas school-age children. The geographic distribution was 70% urban and 30% rural, with a representative sampling of the various racial and ethnic groups within Texas. ⋯ Further, 77% perceived cigarette smoking as very harmful, while only 40% perceived smokeless tobacco as very harmful. Age of initiating use indicated that 55% of smokeless tobacco users started before the age of 13 years, whereas only 36% of cigarette smokers began that early.