To better understand pharyngeal airway mechanics as it relates to the pathogenesis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea, we have developed a novel application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with non-invasive tissue tagging to measure pharyngeal wall tissue motion during active dilatation of the airway. Eleven anaesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats were surgically prepared with platinum ele...

In this issue of Blood, Diomede and colleagues establish a novel Caenorhabditis elegans model of primary amyloid cardiotoxicity. Using pharyngeal pumping as a surrogate for cardiac function, they find that human amyloidogenic light-chain proteins directly impair pharyngeal activity. Direct toxicity was associated with the release of reactive oxygen species, and pharyngeal activity was restored ...

Before a bolus is pushed into the pharynx, oral sensory processing is critical for planning movements of the subsequent pharyngeal swallow, including hyoid bone and laryngeal (hyo-laryngeal) kinematics. However, oral and pharyngeal sensory processing for hyo-laryngeal kinematics is not fully understood. In 11 healthy adults, we examined changes in kinematics with sensory adaptation, sensitivity...

A novel application of the adult Merocel nasal pack Dear Sir, Post-adenoidectomy haemorrhage is a potentially life-threatening complication with a prevalence of 0.38–1.5%. – 3 Post-nasal packs are the preferred haemostatic solution. Eighty-seven percent of ENT consultants questioned preferred using them, in a recent survey, with 78% leaving them in overnight. We recently treated a four-year-old...

The pha-4 locus encodes a forkhead box A (FoxA/HNF3) transcription factor homolog that specifies organ identity for Caenorhabditis elegans pharyngeal cells. We used microarrays to identify pharyngeal genes and analyzed those genes to determine which were direct PHA-4 targets. Our data suggest that PHA-4 directly activates most or all pharyngeal genes. Furthermore, the relative affinity of PHA-4...

We established a novel murine model of pharyngeal candidiasis maintaining stable yeast population and local symptoms characteristic of pharyngeal thrush. The persistent Candida-infection was prolonged by inhalation of beclomethasone dipropionate corticosteroid. The severity of infection lesions was evaluated by determining viable cell number of Candia albicans and scores representing symptomati...

Pharyngeal perforation is an uncommon injury in children. Most reported cases to date have been secondary to instrumentation or penetrating wounds. Laceration to the pharyngeal wall may introduce air, secretions and bacteria into the parapharyngeal space and mediastinum and consequently has potentially life-threatening sequelae. The management of these injuries is controversial. We present a se...

We present a rare complication of endoscopic staple repair of a pharyngeal diverticulum related to prior anterior cervical spine surgery. A 70-year-old male developed a symptomatic pharyngeal diverticulum 2 years after an anterior cervical fusion that was repaired via endoscopic stapler-assisted diverticulectomy. He initially had improvement of his symptoms after the stapler-assisted approach. ...

BACKGROUND We aimed to describe anatomic site-specific concordance of gonococcal infections in partnerships of men who have sex with men (MSM). METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from MSM partnerships attending Melbourne Sexual Health Centre between March 2011 and February 2015. Logistic regression models (random effect) were used to examine the association between gonoco...

A structural magnetic resonance imaging study has revealed that pharyngeal articulation varies considerably with voicing during the production of English fricatives. In a study of four speakers of American English, pharyngeal volume was generally found to be greater during the production of sustained voiced fricatives, compared to voiceless equivalents. Though pharyngeal expansion is expected f...