GUASTINI , Luca

Background: A schwannoma, also called neurilemmoma, is a benign encapsulated slow-growing tumor arising from the neural sheath's Schwann cells of the peripheral, cranial, or autonomic nerves. Schwannoma of the tongue is uncommon, but the treatment is simple. However, the diagnosis is invariably delayed because of the vagueness of symptoms. The...

Piezosurgery® is an ultrasound instrument (24.7-29.5 kHz) that is able to cut the bone without necrosis and nonmineralized tissue damage. The aim of this work has been to determine the applicability and efficiency of the piezoelectric device in the excision of symptomatic ear osteomas. 10 patients affected by osteoma of the external auditory...

Purpose of review: Transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) is widely acknowledged to offer several advantages in the treatment of early and selected intermediate-advanced laryngeal cancers. Nevertheless, a number of issues are still under debate. The purpose of this review is to discuss the reasonable limits for TLM in laryngeal cancer to highlight...

Introduction: One persistent drawback in surgical systems for laser phonomicrosurgery impacting even modern "robotic" devices is the mechanical joystick for laser control. This interface is currently the major limiting factor for improved surgical precision, quality and safety, requiring extensive practice and dexterity from the surgeon....

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the importance of a micropulse program in determining the success of piezoelectric stapedotomy. Methods: A total of 112 patients (group A) affected by primary otosclerosis underwent piezoelectric stapedotomy for otosclerotic stapes fixation. A specific operative program was created to perforate...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of sulphurous thermal water in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Eighty patients with CRS were included and randomly assigned into two groups. Patients underwent a 12-day course of warm vapour inhalations and nasal irrigations with sulphurous thermal water in group A, and a...

Piezosurgery ® is a recently developed system for cutting bone with microvibrations. The objectives of the present study were to report our experience with the piezoelectric device in the intact canal mastoidectomy, and to compare the results with traditional method by means of microdrill. A non-randomized controlled trial was undertaken on 60...

CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirm the induction of specific and nonspecific immune responses of the upper respiratory tract mucosa and the consequent improvement of its physiology, through an oral ribosomal therapy in patients with pharyngolaryngeal reflux disease (PLRD). OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency and...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an oral ribosomal immunotherapy in the management of children with recurrent acute adenoiditis (RAA). 60 children with RAA were included and randomly assigned into two groups (group A and B). Group A children underwent ribosomal prophylaxis, while group B received a placebo. Before, at the...

Innovative advances have recently occurred regarding instrumentations, energy sources, and devices aimed at facilitating surgical procedures in terms of efficient hemostasis, dissection, safety, and reduction in surgical time. In the present chapter, we introduce to the practice of otologic surgery a new ultrasound instrument: the Piezosurgery®...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of a water-soluble formulation of CoQ10 (Q-TER) in subjects with presbycusis. METHODS: Sixty patients with presbycusis were included and divided at random into three numerically equal groups. For 30 days, group A underwent therapy with Q-TER, group B underwent therapy with...

Robotics has a significant potential to enhance the overall capacity and efficiency of healthcare systems. Robots can help surgeons perform better quality operations, leading to reductions in the hospitalisation time of patients and in the impact of surgery on their postoperative quality of life. In particular, robotics can have a significant...

This paper describes an innovative robot-assisted system for transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) of the larynx. It transforms and greatly advances the state of the art of TLM equipment, offering a more ergonomic, intuitive, and programmable laser control system based on a tablet interface with dynamic intraoperative planning capabilities. The...

Purpose: The aim of this study has been to compare the Harmonic Scalpel (HS) and the "cold knife" dissection in the treatment of snoring by uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP). Materials and methods: The investigation included 40 adult males with snoring. Patients were assigned to two homogeneous groups (A and B) and UPPP was performed using HS or...

An automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) method, the Maico MB-11 with BERAphone®, has been developed for hearing screening in newborns. The aim of this study was to test the validity of this automated ABR screening method in a multistage newborn hearing screening (NHS). We applied a "five level" protocol using transient evoked...

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the efficiency and applicability of the Kay CSL 4500 system with the Sona-Speech II software model 3650 (Kay Pentax, Lincoln Park, NJ) in the voice therapy of patients affected by hypofunctional dysphonia. Design: The study evaluated the effect of visual biofeedback, obtained with the Sona-Speech...

The deterioration of hearing function, particularly at high frequencies, is a process that inevitably accompanies aging in humans as well as in other mammals. The etiology of the disease remains unknown, although, as in other age related diseases, histopathological abnormalities can be identified. The knowledge of the neurobiological mechanisms...

This is a retrospective case series study in two Academic Institutions (Departments of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University of Genoa and Brescia). Between February 2005 to October 2013 we have analyzed 56 patients affected by previously untreated T3 laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas of the glottis (34/56) and supraglottis...

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency and applicability of a water-soluble formulation of CoQ10 (Q-TER®) in subjects with presbycusis. Methods: A total of 60 patients with presbycusis were included and divided into three numerically equal groups. Group A underwent therapy with Q-TER®, 160 mg, once a day for 30...

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and the effect of sulphurous thermal water inhalations in the treatment of the recurrent upper respiratory tract (RURT) infections in children. Methods: A total of 100 children with RURT infections were included. All children underwent a 12-day course warm vapour inhalations. For...

Robot-assisted surgical procedures, such as Laser Phonomicrosurgery (LP), suffer from susceptibility to variation in surgeon skill and equipment characteristics. Ergonomic and human-centered approaches acquire increased importance in the design of surgeon-machine interfaces. This paper proposes a protocol for comparative evaluation of...

Objective: The high rate of positive margins after transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) remains a matter of debate. This study investigates the effect of intraoperative narrow band imaging (NBI) examination on the incidence of positive superficial surgical margins in early glottic cancer treated by TLM. Methods: Between January 2012 and October...