No abstract

Success was directly related to adherence to precise indications in cancer surgery. While near-total laryngectomy is an effective and reliable treatment modality in laryngeal cancer surgery, its effectiveness in laryngeal cancers with subglottic extension is debatable. These subglottic lesions should be treated by total laryngectomy, which is a more radical surgery.

The objective of this study was to retrospectively investigate a single institution's experience with carotid artery resection performed as part of an oncological procedure and to determine acute and convalescent complication and survival rates. We performed a record review of 28 patients with head and neck malignancy invading the carotid artery. Immediate carotid artery resection and ligation on an emergent basis was performed on 12 patients (group 1), elective resection and ligation was performed on 8 patients (group 2), and elective resection and revascularization was performed on 8 patients (group 3). In group 1, although 1 patient survived for 1 year and 1 patient survived for 2 years, 1 patient died of severe neurologic deficit, 2 patients experienced neurologic deficit with good recovery, and 1 patient was moderately disabled. In group 2, 2 patients survived without disease for 5 years, and 2 patients experienced neurologic deficit, 1 with good recovery and the other with complete recovery. In group 3, only 1 patient survived for 5 years, and within this group, 1 patient died of severe neurologic deficit, 1 patient had neurologic deficit with moderate recovery, and 1 patient had neurologic deficit with complete recovery. No significant difference in mortality and morbidity rate was observed between the "resection and ligation" group and the "resection and revascularization" group (p = .52, chi(2) = 0.79). We conclude that the surgical treatment of patients with an invaded carotid artery, including carotid resection, provides a small but real chance of 5-year survival. The methods of carotid resection and repair should be guided by clinical presentation and by preoperative and intraoperative investigations.

This report describes our experience in performing mitral valve replacement and tricuspid annuloplasty via a right mini-thoracotomy in a patient with tracheostomy. A 24-year-old woman was admitted with shortness of breath and palpitations. She had subglottic tracheal stenosis and tracheostomy due to tracheal intubation of long duration. Echocardiography revealed chronic severe mitral and tricuspid valve regurgitation. We planned to perform at first the cardiac, and then the tracheal operation, because her left ventricular function was worsening. To eliminate the potential complications of sternotomy in patients with tracheostomy, we used right mini-thoracotomy. We performed mechanical mitral valve replacement for the mitral valve and De Vega annuloplasty for the tricuspid valve. The patient was transferred to the tracheal surgery clinic after the 20th day. Tracheal resection and anastomosis were performed in this department. Three months later, the patient was asymptomatic. We believe that the right mini-thoracotomy approach is a good technique for mitral valve replacement in patients with tracheostomy.