Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0032290 (aspiration pneumonia)
 2,291 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Total laryngectomy was successfully performed for the management of repetitive lower respiratory tract infections in three cases with severe motor and intellectual disabilities syndrome. The patients were thirteen, ten and nine years of age and had cerebral palsy, mental retardation and epilepsy which resulted from neonatal asphyxia and seizures. To treat repetitive lower respiratory tract infections, the patients underwent the operation at the age of nine years and a month, seven years and six months, and six years and eleven months, respectively. Postoperatively, the respiratory tract infections were remarkably reduced for two to four years. Total laryngectomy is one of the best methods for the prevention of aspiration pneumonia, because it separates trachea and esophagus completely. The operation is indicated for children with influx of saliva into trachea and gastroesophageal reflux. The family should recognize that this operation causes permanent loss of voice and speech. The bronchoscopy, upper gastrointestinal tract barium studies and esophageal pH monitoring should be performed before the operation. Our cases fulfilled all of these indications. Laryngectomy should be considered as an effective method of respiratory management for cases of severe motor and intellectual disabilities syndrome, although its application should be carefully examined from the point of improvement of quality of life for patients.
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PMID:[Successful total laryngectomy in three cases with severe motor and intellectual disabilities syndrome for the management of repetitive lower respiratory tract infections]. 1048 66

Despite the recent progress of chemotherapy and sophisticated radiotherapy, surgery still remains the most reliable treatment for advanced tongue cancers in terms of survival. The major disadvantage of this treatment is that it should sacrifice the quality of patients' life. When the tongue cancer is so advanced as to involve the hyoid bone, which is considered a functional part of the larynx, radical operation needs to resect both the entire tongue and the larynx and the hyoid bone en bloc to prevent aspiration pneumonia. As a result of total laryngectomy, the patients will suffer significant disabilities: aphonia and the loss of deglutition that limits the oral intake to only liquid or pasty food. With this clinical background, we have been contriving to overcome these significant surgical shortcomings by conducting larynx-preserving operation. In this case report, we present our newly devised surgical method which consists of free-flap transfer with a combination of laryngeal suspension and a novel reconstructive technique, that is, epiglottis suspension, which enabled favorable swallowing function without aspiration and allowed a sufficiently wide airway for breathing. The operation worked quite successfully for the patient's quality of life. We believe this novel surgical method would serve as a larynx-preservation treatment for locally advanced tongue cancers with hyoid bone invasion.
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PMID:A Novel Laryngeal Preservation Technique following Total Glossectomy with Hyoid Bone Resection. 2987 89