Styloid syndrome is a condition in which an elongated styloid process or calcified stylohyoid ligament causes occasional pain in the neck, a feeling of a foreign body (in the pharynx?) or some other form of retromandibular-cervical pain. In adults the styloid process is approximately 25 mm long with a tip which is located between the external and internal carotid arteries, lateral to the pharyn...

The Actinomysec spp. are common saprophytic microorganisms which are found in the oral cavity, pharynx and palatine tonsils. The actinomycotic infections can be responsible for recurrent chronic tonsillitis. Data about presence of actinomycotic granules in tonsillar tissue and their influence clincal course are controversial in the available literarure sources. The presence study assesses the a...

The bacterial loads for gonococcal infections of the pharynx and rectum were determined among men with male sexual partners. The median bacterial load for rectal infections (18,960 copies/swab) was significantly higher than the load for pharyngeal infections (2,100 copies/swab; P = 0.001). Bacterial loads among men with symptomatic proctitis were strikingly high (median, 278,000 copies/swab).

Screening for extra-genital Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections is a crucial component for sexually transmitted diseases management, even if at present days no commercial methods have been approved for use on pharyngeal and rectal specimens by the US FDA or have received the conformity CE marking. Here we report the analytical sensitivities of the Versant CT/GC 1.0 assay ...

Routine examination for gonorrhoea has hitherto been aimed at the demonstration of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in secretions from the urethra, cervix, and rectum. Bacteriological investigation has been limited to the genital organs directly implicated in sexual intercourse, to adjacent sites often involved in gonococcal infection, and the rectum in homosexual men. It has been almost completely disreg...

The human pharyngeal microbiome, which resides at the juncture of digestive and respiratory tracts, may have an active role in the prevention of respiratory tract infections, similar to the actions of the intestinal microbiome against enteric infections. Recent studies have demonstrated that the pharyngeal microbiome comprises an abundance of bacterial species that interacts with the local epit...

Large oropharyngeal concretions--giant tonsillolith--are not very common. Over the last few years only some 50 cases have been reported in the literature. Many tonsilloliths, especially small concretions, are asymptomatic; large concretions, on the contrary, may produce several symptoms. The case is described of a 56-year-old female complaining of dysphagia, odynophagia, sore throat, right otal...

OBJECTIVE To review our experience with intracapsular tonsillectomy using powered instrumentation in the management of tonsillar hypertrophy causing obstructive sleep-disordered breathing in children. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case series. METHODS Intracapsular tonsillectomy, a form of partial tonsillectomy performed with an endoscopic microdebrider, preserves the tonsillar capsule as a ba...