Practice Focus

COSM 2012: Insights Gleaned from Treating Paragangliomas

A medical career is a career in discovery, and keys to that discovery are listening carefully to patients, surrounding yourself with intelligent people, and not letting mysteries lie unsolved, said James Netterville, MD, the Joseph H. Ogura, MD, Lecturer at the 115th Annual Meeting of the Triological Society, held here on April 20 as part of the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings.

The MRI-CT Faceoff in Pre-Operative Coclear Implant Staging

There is no one right answer to the question of which imaging test is best for patients with hearing loss who are candidates for cochlear implantation. Age, underlying pathology and the ability to tolerate radiation and sedation are just a few of the variables that can determine whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) or both are chosen in this clinical setting.

COSM 2012: Dr. Jonas Johnson Explores the Subtleties of PET/CT for Tumors

PET combined with CT might be one of the most powerful imaging technologies available, but how effective it is in evaluating head and neck tumors and helping with treatment is not a cut-and-dried proposition, said Jonas Johnson, MD, in his State of the Art Lecture at the 115th Annual Meeting of the Triological Society, held here on April 20 as part of the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings.

Parotid Mass Diagnostic Dilemma

A 75-year-old man presented with a left ear lobule melanoma and was found, on examination, to have a concurrent right parotid mass and bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy. A CT scan of the neck confirmed a 2-cm right superficial parotid mass containing both solid and cystic components without any pathognomonic characteristics, as well as bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy with multiple 2- to 3-cm lymph nodes. FNA biopsy of the parotid mass was consistent with carcinoma, whereas FNA samples from the cervical lymph nodes were non-diagnostic.