OBJECTIVE: To investigate the character of upper airway and to offer the reference for clinical treatment through observing the upper airway caliber and its corresponding pharyngeal wall of OSAHS patients by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHOD: The upper airway of 33 obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) patients diagnosed by PSG were analyzed and compared by MRI. The cross-sectional area of the upper airway and thickness of lateral parapharyngeal wall were calculated. The cross-sectional area of the upper airway and thickness of lateral and posterior pharyngeal wall were also measured in 20 nonsnoring age-matched normal subjects selected as the control group. RESULT: The cross-sectional areas of upper airway of OSAHS patients were smaller than that of the control. The Thickness of posterior pharyngeal wall and lateral pharyngeal wall of the retropalatal region, retroglossal region and epiglottal region were thicker in patients group than that of the control. The thickness and length of the palate in patients group were larger than that of the control. The cross-sectional areas of retropalatal region of OSAHS patients had negative correlation with apnea hypopnea index (AHI). There was also negative correlation between the retroglossal region cross-sectional area and the neck circumference. CONCLUSION Measurement of upper airway with MRI could observe the change of pharynx cross-sectional area and had reference value in guiding the clinical diagnosis and treatment.
Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Palate ; pathology ; Palate, Soft ; pathology ; Pharynx ; pathology ; Respiratory System ; pathology ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; pathology

OBJECTIVE: To describe consultation practice patterns of an otolaryngology chief resident in China. METHOD: The pattern and frequency of patient encounters during the Xijing Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University otolaryngology residency program for one chief resident were retrospectively analyzed. RESULT: A total of 1062 new inpatients were consulted during a 10-month period of otolaryngology residency, including emergency consultation for 467 cases (43.97%) and routine consultation for 595 cases (56.03%). The chief resident consulted an average of 28 new patients perweek. The most common diagnosis for an emergency consultation was epistaxis (279 cases, 59.72% of emergency consultation), characterized by disturbances of blood coagulation, hypertension, renal failure or liver failure, iatrogenic factors. The second cause was laryngeal obstruction and tracheotomy (113 cases, 24.19% of emergency consultation). There were 43 cases with foreign body in bronchus . For routine consultation on general internal medicine, chronic rhinitis and sinusitis (169 cases) was the most common disorder, followed by chronic pharyngitis, acute or chronic tonsillitis. For consultation on surgery, most cases were concerned about preoperative evaluations (67 cases) of the chronic otolaryngological disorders. CONCLUSION Consultation is an inimitable clinical practice and a challenge to otolaryngology residents. The chief residents should be prepared for the consultation practice. Accumulation of related data from consultation is necessary and helpful for chief residents.
Humans ; Otolaryngology ; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Physicians ; Referral and Consultation ; statistics & numerical data ; Retrospective Studies ; Workforce

Objective To observe the clinical effects and postoperative recurrence of endoscopic natural opening in the middle nasal meatus-maxillary sinus and prelacrimal recess approach in treating antrochoanal polyp(ACP).Methods Clinical data of 64 patients with ACP from March 2019 to March 2023 were analyzed retrospectively.According to different surgical approaches,the patients were divided into control group(n=32,endoscopic natural opening in the middle nasal meatus-maxillary sinus)and study group(n=32,endoscopic prelacrimal recess approach).Clinical efficacy,surgical indicators,preoperative and postoperative Lund-Mackay nasal endoscopy scores and sinus CT scores were compared between the two groups.Complications and recurrence that occurred within 5 months after surgery were recorded.Results The total clinical effective rate in the study group was 93.75%,higher than that in the control group 75.00%,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Intraoperative blood loss of the study group less than that of control group,hospital stay of the study group shorter than that of the control group,the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).Three months after surgery,Lund-Mackay nasal endoscopy scores and Lund-Mackay CT scores of both groups decreased,and the study group was lower than those of the control group,the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).The recurrence rate in the study group was 3.13%,lower than that in the control group 18.75%,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05),but there was no significant difference in the total incidence of postoperative complications between the groups(P>0.05).Conclusion Endoscopic prelacrimal recess approach is effective in the treatment of ACP.It can clean up the lesions,with little intraoperative blood loss and short hospital stay.Compared with endoscopic natural opening in the middle nasal meatus-maxillary sinus,the recurrence rate after endoscopic prelacrimal recess approach is lower.