Until 1980, the primary technique for assessing patients with dysphagia was the modified barium swallow (MBS). It was then that fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing was added to the diagnostic armamentarium.

Until 1980, the primary technique for assessing patients with dysphagia was the modified barium swallow (MBS). It was then that fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing was added to the diagnostic armamentarium.
Presenters at several scientific sessions at the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting (COSM) reported on their recent studies involving the use of botulinum toxin type A (Botox® [BTX]; Allergan, Inc., Irvine, CA) injections to treat adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD) and chronic salivary aspiration.
Two abstracts presented at the 2007 Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting (COSM) reflect where the news lies with the subject of tracheotomy: raising the index for suspicion for tracheal stenosis following percutaneous tracheotomy and better educating non-otolaryngologists who manage tracheotomy patients.
Does the time between aspiration and retrieval of an airway foreign body affected the pediatric patient’s outcome?
“Despite increasing awareness among intensivists and respiratory therapists and more widespread use of low-pressure, high-volume cuffs, the incidence of tracheal tube cuff overinflation remains high in the contemporary American intensive care unit [ICU],” said Luc Morris, MD, from the Head and Neck Service in the Department of Otolaryngology at New York University School of Medicine during his scientific session presentation at the April 2007 meeting of the American Broncho-Esophagological Association at the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting.
Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is effective in controlling allergic symptoms in a preliminary patient cohort, according to a study presented April 27 at the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting.
Although the most commonly seen cases of laryngomalacia (LM) are in very young children, clinicians should consider late-onset LM as a potential cause of feeding difficulties in toddlers, sleep apnea in children, and teenage exercise intolerance, according to researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the Mayo Clinic.
The use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) does not lead to increased postoperative bleeding following tonsillectomy, according to two research studies reported during the April 29 American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology program at the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting.
A peritonsillar abscess (PTA) is an infection typically occurring in the potential space later to the tonsil.