Histocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (HNL), also known as Kikuchi's disease is a benign self limiting disease of unknown origin. It effects cervical lymph nodes, predominantly in young females. It is well described in the pathology literature, but little is written about this in the ENT literature, as few clinicians are probably aware of this condition. Five cases of cervical Kikuchi's disease are presented with a brief review of the literature.

Adenoidectomy performed without vision may be one of the reasons for recurrence of symptoms. Residual adenoids are acknowledged in the literature as one of the complications of the traditional technique. We highlight the fact that the need for revision adenoidectomy is not uncommon and suggest that we should improve our surgical technique in the UK by visualization of the postnasal space either by a mirror or an endoscope.

The most commonly used adenoidectomy technique in the UK is digital palpation followed by blind curettage, according to this postal questionnaire survey. Few respondents reported performing adenoidectomy under direct vision: only 10 per cent used a mirror during the procedure and only 8 per cent used an endoscope.

To the authors' best knowledge, and after searching the world literature, the presented case represents the first report of primary carcinoid tumour of the nasal septum. Despite its rarity, this tumour should be considered as part of the differential diagnosis, as timely recognition and intervention are critical for successful treatment.

We report the case of an acute onset facial paralysis which was caused by a benign lymphoepithelial cyst found in the parotid, an association which is a rarity in the literature. The diagnosis and surgical management is discussed. This report emphasises the clinical principle that parotid masses causing an acute facial palsy are not necessarily malignant in nature. Intra-operative frozen section histology is helpful in saving the patient from unnecessarily radical surgery.