Laryngotracheal stenosis has been and remains one of the most vexing problems in the field of head and neck surgery. Two treatment modalities prevail, endoscopic and external. The indication for each modality is not yet clearly defined. This undefined situation motivated our current work, and we decided to assess laser-assisted endoscopy (with or without stenting) vs. open surgery for treating chronic laryngotracheal stenosis. Our study included 28 cases of chronic laryngotracheal stenosis that were classified according to treatment in two main groups: group I included 13 patients who were endoscopically treated and group II included 15 patients with surgical reconstruction. The mean follow-up period was 12.58 months for group I and 27.43 months for group II. Respiratory function tests (RFT) were carried out preoperatively, 1-month postoperatively and on completion of follow-up. Except for age, which was significantly higher in group I (P<0.001), there was no significant difference between both groups. Although the incidence of complications was higher in group I (69%) than in group II (47%), it was nonsignificant. The postoperative RFT improved significantly in both groups. Although the improvement was higher in group I than group II, the difference was nonsignificant. The correlation between preoperative stridor and all other variables demonstrated that preoperative stridor correlated with the diameter of the stenosed segment (rs=-0.631, P<0.001) and the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) (rs=-0.488, P=0.030). Our results indicate that open surgery is the treatment of choice. Compared with endoscopic treatment, it provides a higher success rate and better functional results, especially long term. However, if contraindications to open surgery exist, whether local or general, laser-assisted endoscopy with stenting can offer good palliative results.

Our results showed that the use of the endoscope gave the surgeon better control over the pathology, thus achieving better eradication. Stated differently, the use of the endoscope raised the surgeon's confidence level about total removal and thus encouraged the surgeon to keep the canal wall intact while removing cholesteatoma in hidden areas. Therefore, the use of endoscope could be considered an additional tool that may affect decision-making in cholesteatoma surgery.

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In CHC genotype 4 patients, favourable genotypes of both SNPs of IL28B are valuable for predicting SVR. Additional genotyping of rs8099917 in carriers of the heterozygous C allele of rs12979860 can improve the prediction of SVR.

Introduction:Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is considered to be one of the major risks for patients suffering from end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on regular hemodialysis (HD) and patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. This study compared the prevalence of OBI among these two high-risk groups in the Suez Canal region, Northeastern Egypt, to obtain a better national overview of the magnitude of OBI in this region. Methods: Serum samples were collected from 165 HD patients and 210 chronic HCV-infected patients. Anti-HCV antibody, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), total hepatitis B core (anti-HBc) antibody, and hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). HCV RNA was detected using a quantitative real-time RT-PCR assay, and HBV was detected using a nested PCR. Results: All patients were negative for HBsAg. A total of 49.1% and 25.2% of the patients in the HD and HCV groups, respectively, were anti-HBc-positive. In addition, more anti-HBs-positive patients were detected in the HD group compared to the HCV group (52.1% and 11.4%, respectively). Three cases were positive for HBV DNA in the HD group, while eighteen positive cases were detected in the HCV group. Both study groups showed signifi cant differences in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level as well as anti-HBc, anti-HBs and HBV-DNA positivity. Conclusions: OBI was more prevalent among chronic HCV patients than HD patients in the Suez Canal region, Egypt, with rates of 8.5% and 1.8%, respectively. However, more precise assessment of this infection requires regular patient follow-up using HBV DNA detection methods.