IMPORTANCE Hyoid expansion with suspension can potentially increase the upper airway at the hypopharyngeal level, benefitting patients with sleep-related breathing disorder. OBJECTIVES To document the effect of hyoid expansion using titanium plate and screw on retrolingual hypopharyngeal airway dimension and to compare the airway dimension after isolated hyoid expansion with hyoid expansion +...

Introduction: Extraosseous Ewing’s sarcoma (EES) of the head and neck region is a rare occurrence, and Ewing’s sarcoma of the parapharyngeal space is even rarer. To the best of our knowledge, only three cases of EES of the parapharyngeal space have been reported in the literature.   Case Report: We report a rare case of EES of the parapharyngeal space in an 8-year-old girl. She presented with c...

We tested the hypothesis that pharyngeal geometry and soft tissue dimensions correlate with the severity of sleep-disordered breathing. Magnetic resonance images of the pharynx were obtained in 18 awake children, 7-12 yr of age, with obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (OAHI) values ranging from 1.81 to 24.2 events/h. Subjects were divided into low-OAHI (n = 9) and high-OAHI (n = 9) groups [2.8 +/...

The aims of this study were to assess changes in the upper airway morphology associated with an oral appliance in situ in patients suffering from the obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome and to relate these changes to treatment response. Changes in upper airway morphology as a result of an oral appliance were assessed in 52 patients with obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome by mea...

BACKGROUND There is evidence to suggest that chronic continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy may produce reversible changes in upper airway morphology and function in patients with sleep apnoea/hypopnoea. This study was designed to examine the effect of chronic CPAP therapy on upper airway calibre. METHODS Twenty four men with the sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (mean (SE) apnoea/h...

The Combitube is an emergency airway-maintaining device, which can supply oxygen to dyspneic patients in emergency situations following two-jaw surgery. These patients experience difficulty in opening the mouth or have a partially obstructed airway caused by edema or hematoma in the oral cavity. As such, they cannot maintain the normal airway. The use of a Combitube may be favorable compared to...

Bleeding from retropharyngeal space is relatively rare, and can be life threatening due to its close proximity to the upper airway. We report a case of a 59 year-old Chinese lady who had spontaneous retropharyngeal haematoma following warfarin anticoagulation that resulted in airway obstruction.