SHFJV is an advanced ventilation mode playing a pivotal role in the (open) ventilatory support/ventilation of patients with laryngotracheal stenosis. It is particularly indicated in cases of severe stenosis and offers optimal conditions for laryngotracheal surgery, including laser surgery and stent implantation techniques.

Purpose: Since the combination of cisplatin and docetaxel have demonstrated activity in squamous cell carcinomas of the lung and oesophagus before, promising results in recurrent metastatic head and neck cancer were expected. Patients and Methods: Between September 1998 and October 2000, 40 patients entered this trial, 38 of whom were evaluable. Six patients were previously untreated, 24 had surgery and/or radiotherapy and 13 had received chemoradiation and/or surgery. Therapy consisted of 75 mg/m² docetaxel (1-hour infusion) and 75 mg/m² cisplatin (90-min infusion) on day 1, repeated every three weeks for a maximum of 6 courses. All patients received corticosteroids routinely, 5-HT3-antagonists, and hydration. Results: The overall response rate was 52.5% (95% confidence interval, 36.1 to 68.5%) including 7 complete (17.5% complete response; CR) and 14 partial remissions (35% partial response; PR). The overall response rate in patients who had no prior treatment (n = 6) was 100%, including 3 CR and 3 PR. In patients who had prior surgery and/or radiotherapy (n = 21) an overall response rate of 42.8% was observed, including 2 CR and 7 PR; 8 patients (38.1%) had stable disease, while disease progressed in 3 (14.3%). Six of 13 patients (46.2%) who had prior chemoradiation ± surgery responded, including 2 CR (15.4%) and 4 PR (30.8%), no change was seen in 4 patients (30.8%) and tumour progressed in 2 (15.4%). The median response duration for all patients was 10 months (range, 3–20), the median overall survival was 11 months (range, 1–30). Myelosuppression was commonly observed; WHO grade 3 or 4 neutropenia occurred in 12 patients (30%) each, and was complicated by septicaemia in 5 cases. WHO grade 3 anaemia was observed in only 3 patients (7.5%). Severe non-hematologic toxicity except for alopecia was rarely observed, and included diarrhea in 2 (5%), nausea/vomiting in 2 patients (5%) and stomatitis in 1 patient (2.5%). Conclusion: Our data suggest that docetaxel and cisplatin in combination is an effective and fairly well tolerated regimen for the treatment of head and neck cancer with an excellent response rate in previously untreated patients.

Radiotherapy of the head and neck can be associated with conductive and/or sensori-neural hearing loss. We report the case of a 67-year-old man who developed complete bilateral deafness caused by labyrinthitis and radiation-induced neuritis of the acoustic nerve after postoperative radiotherapy of a nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Two years postoperatively extensive clinical workup including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed no recurrence or secondary brain tumors. To facilitate sound perception a Combi 40 cochlear implant was implanted. Because of fibrosis the insertion depth of the stimulating electrode into the scala tympani was limited and therefore a "short electrode version" was used. Six months after implantation the patient had achieved an excellent environmental sound recognition and moderate speech intelligibility. Present experiences has shown that although radiotherapy can cause damage to the labyrinth and acoustic nerves and central hearing pathways, there may still be surviving auditory nerve fibers that can be stimulated successfully by a cochlear implant.

The immune response with respect to immunoglobulin production in the tumor was investigated in 23 patients with advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. Immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal antibodies against IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD and IgE in the tumor was compared to normal hypopharyngeal mucosa. For IgG, IgA and IgM no significant differences between tumor and control tissues could be found. In contrast, a high number of IgE-positive cells was counted in most squamous cell carcinomas compared to normal mucosa. Most of these cells appeared as plasma cells. Regarding IgD the differences between tumor and control tissues, were less pronounced but also significant.