The tracheas of 12 patients who had undergone autopsies after percutaneous dilatational tracheot¬ omy (PDT) were analyzed macroscopically and microscopically. The puncture site of the trachea varied from just below the cricoid cartilage (two patients) to below the third ring (three patients). A fracture of one or more tracheal rings was present in 11 patients, ofwhom 2 had a fractured cri¬ coid...

The association of iron deficiency anaemia, postcricoid webs and carcinoma is controversial. The main findings in a recent study which re-examined this problem are presented here. It was shown that the majority of patients with a post-cricoid web have evidence of iron deficiency but that only about 10°O of patients with iron deficiency develop post-cricoid webs. Factors which might be important...

The most frequent cause of an aggressive mass in the larynx is squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Rheumatoid arthritis is known to affect the larynx but does not usually produce an aggressive mass. We present a case of rheumatoid arthritis in a 63-year-old woman who presented with acute upper airway obstruction. On CT scans, an erosive mass on the right cricoid cartilage with significant destructio...

BACKGROUND The benefit of cricoid pressure during tracheal intubation is still debated and, due to its potential negative impact on laryngeal views, its routine use is questioned. The goal of this study was to estimate its impact on laryngeal view. METHODS All patients intubated in the prehospital setting were included. Three different propensity score (PS) models were used and compared in te...

An approach to cannulate right internal jugular vein in neutral head position is described for situations where head rotation and extension are contraindicated. Venous puncture was made immediately lateral to the carotid artery at the level of cricoid cartilage and directed caudad. In 40 patients studied, the right internal jugular vein of 97.5% of the patients were successfully located by the ...

Laryngeal fracture is a rare traumatic injury, potentially fatal, with an estimated incidence of 1 in 30,000 patients admitted to severe trauma centers. Because of the rarity of this injury, physician may be not aware of its existence, leading to a late diagnosis of this entity. We report a case of a 59-year-old woman admitted to the emergency room after a motorcycle accident with cervical trau...

BACKGROUND Cricopharyngeus is the only muscle for which electromyography is used in the differential diagnosis of swallowing disorders. Because of some practical difficulties, electrophysiologic tests for this muscle are not performed routinely. Thus we aimed to describe an alternative topographic way to reach the muscle easily. METHODS On 10 cadavers, a spinal needle (20 G) and on 37 patient...

I t was with great interest that I read the review by J. Brodsky and M.Lemmens on “The history of anesthesia for thoracic surgery”.1 The authors must be credited for presenting physiologically well-founded facts and for providing rare contemporary photographic material. They must also be recognized for discussing clinically deplorable and ill-advised methods of tackling the issue of gas exchang...