A 60 year old lady was referred to the Princess Alexandra Hospital (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) tertiary Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Unit from a peripheral hospital for investigation and management of a tumour at the base of the tongue. Biopsy of the tumour revealed it to be an epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma of the base of the tongue. This is an extremely rare tumour in this location with only 2 other case reports in the world literature: the patients were treated with chemo-radiotherapy and surgery respectively. Our patient was made aware of the world literature and was able to make a fully informed decision on her choice of treatment modality and was treated with radiotherapy. Increasingly journals are limiting publication of case reports to "world firsts" only. We present a case where such a policy would have denied patient choice and possibly led to detrimental treatment.We review the world literature of tongue base epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma of the tongue.

A trial of topical timolol solution in a 92-year-old patient with two chronic leg ulcers resulted in rapid healing of the treated ulcer. While this finding needs to be confirmed, topical timolol is a simple, inexpensive therapy that has the potential to help heal refractory wounds. 1 Tang J, Dosal J, Kirsner R. Topical timolol for a refractory wound. J Am Acad Dermatol 2012; 66 (4 Suppl 1): AB12. 2 Tang JC, Dosal J, Kirsner RS. Topical timolol for a refractory wound. Dermatol Surg 2012; 38: 135-138. 3 Drew P, Posnett J, Rusling L. The cost of wound care for a local population in England. Int Wound J 2007; 4: 149-155. 4 Vowden K, Vowden P, Posnett J. The resource costs of wound care in Bradford and Airedale primary care trust in the UK. J Wound Care 2009; 18: 93-94, 96-98, 100 passim.

This is the first time a lingual thyroid causing sleep apnoea has been studied with pre- and post-treatment sleep studies. This is also the first recorded instance of lingual thyroid causing sleep apnoea has been recorded in a male.