The BPECO is not very well-known clinical diagnosis among ENT surgeons and, therefore, often misdiagnosed for ear canal cholesteatoma, malignant otitis externa, or temporal bone malignancies. It seems reasonable to re-review patient's medical history with focus on BP medication in cases with negative biopsy. Although the BP osteonecrosis is a rare phenomenon, the large volume of BP prescription makes the number of patients at risk significant.

Background: Antiresorptive drugs are widely used to reduce bone mineral loss in patients with osteoporosis and to prevent skeletal-related events in patients with metastatic cancers and multiple myeloma (MM). Both the bisphosphonates (BP) and denosumab typically used in this indication were shown to be effective and relatively safe. Obviously, this medication could have some adverse effects; one of them is osteonecrosis of the external auditory canal. Only sporadic cases of external auditory canal osteonecrosis have been published yet. Here, we provide a case of denosumab-related osteonecrosis of the external auditory canal successfully treated surgically in the early stage of the disease. Case report: A 68-year-old patient with breast cancer underwent comprehensive oncological treatment, including denosumab administration. She was diagnosed with osteonecroses in the jaw and ear canal. The necrotic bones in both regions were resected with primary wound closure. Both affected sites healed well with no signs of necrosis recurrence. Conclusions: Osteonecrosis of the external auditory canal is a rare but probably underdiagnosed complication of antiresorptive medication. It has a negative impact on patient quality of life if left untreated. Early surgical treatment appears to be effective. The authors highlight several similarities with medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw. Therefore, an analogous disease staging and treatment rationale is suggested.

This work evaluates the prevalence of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), among members of the Czech Dental Chamber. The assessment was based on an online questionnaire filled out by 2716 participants, representing 24.3% of all chamber members. Overall, 25.4% of the participants admitted they were diagnosed with COVID-19 by 30 June 2021, with no statistical differences between the sexes. While in the age groups under 50 the reported prevalence was around 30%, with increasing age, it gradually decreased to 15.2% in the group over 70 years. The work environment was identified as a place of contagion by 38.4% of the respondents. The total COVID-19 PCR-verified positivity was 13.9%, revealing a statistically lower prevalence (p = 0.0180) compared with the Czech general population, in which the COVID-19 PCR-verified positivity was ~15.6% (fourth highest rank in the world). The total infection–hospitalization ratio (IHR) was 2.8%, and the median age group of hospitalized individuals was 60–70 years. For respondents older than 60 years, the IHR was 8.7%, and for those under 40 years, it was 0%. Of the respondents, 37.7% admitted that another team member was diagnosed with COVID-19, of which the most frequently mentioned profession was a nurse/dental assistant (81.2%). The results indicate that although the dentist profession is associated with a high occupational risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, well-chosen antiepidemic measures adopted by dental professionals may outweigh it.