Purpose To critically illustrate the personal experience with using the “Remote Check” application which remotely monitors the hearing rehabilitation level of cochlear implant users at home and further allows clinicians to schedule in-clinic sessions according to the patients’ needs. Methods 12-month prospective study. Eighty adult cochlear implant users (females n = 37, males n = 43; age range 20–77 years) with ≥ 36 months of cochlear implant experience and ≥ 12 months of stable auditory and speech recognition level volunteered for this 12-month long prospective study. For each patient, at the beginning of the study during the in-clinic session to assess the stable aided hearing thresholds and the cochlear implant integrity and patient’s usage, the “Remote Check” assessment baseline values were obtained. “Remote Check” outcomes were collected at different times in the subsequent at-home sessions, to identify the patients that had to reach the Center. Chi-square test has been used for statistical analysis of the comparison of the “Remote Check” outcomes and in-clinic session results. Results “Remote Check” application outcomes demonstrated minimal or no differences between all sessions. The at-home Remote Check application reached the same clinical outcomes as the in-clinic sessions in 79 out 80 of participants (99%) with high statistical significance (p < 0.05). Conclusions “Remote Check” application supported hearing monitoring in cochlear implant users that were not able to attend the in-clinic review during COVID-19 pandemic time. This study demonstrates that the application can be a useful routine tool also for clinical follow-up of cochlear implant users with stable aided hearing.

Background The retropharyngeal space is a deep compartment of the head and neck region which extends from the base of the skull to the mediastinum, between the posterior pharyngeal wall and vertebral muscles, delimited laterally by carotid sheaths. Pathological processes of the retropharyngeal space are rarely encountered, generally are isolated and painless masses often cystic, and they usually originate from branchial arch anomalies, but only in rare cases, they turn out to be foregut duplication cysts. Foregut duplication cyst is rare congenital malformations arising along primitively derived alimentary tract during the first trimester in the developing embryo, mostly seen in the thorax and abdomen, with just few cases reported in the head and neck region. We report an extremely rare case of a foregut duplication cyst lined with respiratory epithelium located in the retropharyngeal space, at the level of the oropharynx, of an adult patient with dysphagia surgically treated, and we also made an analysis of the published literature about this very uncommon condition. Case presentation A 63-year-old male patient with chronic dysphagia was diagnosed with a retropharyngeal cystic lesion, which was surgically treated. Final pathologic evaluation confirmed the diagnosis of a rare foregut duplication cyst lined with respiratory epithelium. A review of the pertaining published literature about the head and neck foregut duplication cysts was made, with a particular emphasis on retropharyngeal ones. Conclusions Retropharyngeal foregut duplication cysts are a very rare congenital cyst of the head and neck. Clinical symptoms such as dysphagia and dyspnea should be evaluated with fibrolaryngoscopy, and CT and MRI scans are of great significance for definitive diagnosis, which should include the possibility of a foregut duplication cyst in the differential diagnosis. Surgical excision is the elective treatment for this lesion, in order to prevent complications including infection and compression symptoms or eventually malignant transformation.

Background To retrospectively evaluate oncological outcomes in two groups of patients with pT4aN0 glottic SCC treated with total laryngectomy (TL) and neck dissection (ND) who underwent postoperative radiotherapy or exclusive clinical and radiological follow‐up. Methods It includes patients with pT4N0 glottic SCC who underwent TL and unilateral or bilateral ND with or without PORT. Divided in two comparison groups: the first group underwent adjuvant RT (TL‐PORT); the second group referred to clinical and radiological follow‐up (TL). Results PORT was associated with a better OS while no differences were found in terms of DSS. A better local control is achieved when PORT is administered while no differences in terms of regional and distant control rates were found. Bilateral ND positively impacts on the regional control while the PNI negatively impact the regional control. Conclusions A tailored PORT protocol might be considered for pT4N0 glottic SCC treated with TL and ND, both considering the ND's extent and presence of PNI.

The pyriform sinus fistula (PSF) is a congenital developmental defect of the third or fourth branchial pouch. It presents as acute inflammatory swelling of the neck with recurrent deep neck abscesses, recurrent neck cystic lesions or suppurative thyroiditis. The literature reports various surgical approaches to treat this condition in children. A systematic review of the literature related to management protocols for PSF was conducted and we report a case exemplifying treatment in our department. Traditionally, treatment for PSF has been open surgery; however, in the last few decades, the minimally invasive transoral endoscopic approach has gained in importance, demonstrating long-term outcomes comparable to open surgery and with lower morbidity, and it has now become the first-choice treatment. We further describe a case of PSF treated by a transoral endoscopic approach with electric cauterization, fibrin glue obliteration of the fistula and Polydimethylsiloxane (Vox-Implants®, Bioplasty, Geleen, The Netherlands) submucosal injection. According to the authors, application of Vox-Implants® injection, in addition to standard techniques, may be helpful to reduce fistula recurrence rate after surgery.