Ear,Nose & Throat Journal

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We conducted a study to determine the causes of dizziness in patients aged 70 years and older who had been referred to our multidisciplinary dizziness clinic between Nov. 1, 2000, and Dec. 31, 2008. This population was made up of 731 patients—254 men (34.7%) and 477 women (65.3%). During their consultations, all of these patients were evaluated simultaneously by an ENT surgeon and a neurologist. We were able to identify the cause of dizziness in 620 of these patients (84.8%). The two most common causes were benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), which was found in 202 patients (27.6%), and hyperventilation/anxiety, which was diagnosed in 112 patients (15.3%). Based on our findings, we conclude that the cause of dizziness can be established in the vast majority of elderly patients. We also compare our findings in these older patients with those of a group of 2,556 younger patients who were seen at our hospital and with the findings reported in other studies.

We conducted a retrospective study to reexamine the value of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in the evaluation of patients with neurotologic complaints, and to assess the intra- and inter-radiologist variability of SPECT readings. Our study population was made up of 63 patients—23 men and 40 women, aged 34 to 91 years (mean: 59)—who had presented to a tertiary care otolaryngology practice and university hospital for evaluation of head trauma, sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus, and/or vertigo. All patients had undergone brain scanning with SPECT during their evaluation, and almost all had also undergone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and standard computed tomography (CT). We compared the findings of all three imaging modalities in terms of their ability to detect neurotologic abnormalities. We found that detection rates were very similar among the three modalities; abnormalities were found in 24% of SPECT scans, 26% of MRIs, and 23% of CTs. Nevertheless, we did find that among 60 patients who underwent all three types of imaging, 13 (22%) exhibited areas of cerebral hypoperfusion on SPECT while their MRIs and CTs were read as either normal or nonspecific. In all, 18 of these 60 patients (30%) exhibited normal or nonspecific findings on all three types of imaging. In addition, when SPECT scans were read by the same radiologist at different times, different results were reported for 17 of the 63 scans (27%). Likewise, when SPECT scans were read by different radiologists, different results were reported for 21 of 63 scans (33%). We conclude that SPECT may be a valuable complementary diagnostic modality for making a comprehensive neurotologic evaluation and that it may detect abnormalities in some patients whose other imaging is read as normal. However, we did not find that SPECT was the most sensitive of the three modalities in neurotologic evaluation, as we had previously found in a preliminary study that the senior author (R.T.S.) published in 1996. In addition, with respect to our radiologists, both their intra- and inter-reader reliability was low, and we recommend additional study on this matter.

We used the IB-question Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI) to conduct a retrospective assessment of quality of life following nasal valve surgery. We telephoned 53 patients who had undergone open rhinoplasty for the treatment of nasal valve collapse over a 2-year period. A total of 39 patients—24 men and 15 women, aged 20 to 50 years (mean: 38)—agreed to participate and answer the questions. Follow-up ranged from 3 to 12 months (mean: 8). The spectrum of possible GBI scores ranges from −100 (maximum negative outcome) to 0 (no change) to +100 (maximum benefit); in our group, the median total score was +56 (interquartile range: +32 to +90.5) and the overall total score was +58. The three subscale components of the GBI—general benefit, physical benefit, and social benefit—were analyzed individually; the respective median scores were +46 (+21 to +71), +67 (+25 to +91.5), and +50 (+17 to + 100), and the respective overall scores were +60, +59, and +50. Based on these findings, we conclude that nasal valve surgery significantly improves quality of life.

At their earliest stage, pathologic lesions of the laryngeal epithelium are macroscopically invisible. Ideally, these lesions should be detected before their clinical manifestations appear so that prompt management can be initiated. However, most diagnostic modalities are unable to detect early premalignant lesions. We conducted a retrospective study of the use of contact endoscopy in analyzing the vocal fold mucosal epithelium in adults who had been operated on at our hospital under general anesthesia for various nonlaryngeal diseases. After we identified 71 such patients who were smokers, we chose an almost equal number of nonsmokers (n = 70) for comparison purposes. In all, our study population was made up of 141 patients—51 men and 90 women, aged 21 to 78 years (mean: 52). All patients had normal findings on preoperative laryngeal endoscopy. Our goal was to determine if the routine use of this diagnostic modality is justified in selected cases. Contact endoscopy identified dysplastic vocal fold lesions in 4 patients and chronic laryngitis in 3; all 7 of these patients were smokers. Since early laryngeal lesions are not macroscopically evident, early detection of these changes by other means is associated with a better prognosis and easier management. Our study demonstrates that the use of contact endoscopy during general anesthesia as a standard diagnostic method in long-time cigarette smokers is fully justified.