XHANCE Allows a Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patient to Avoid Surgery
Ken Kaltwasser was well on his way to surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis when Martin J. Citardi, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, suggested a new medical treatment – an exhalation…
A Patient Benefits from the Carolyn’s Window Approach to Unilateral Frontal Sinus Surgery
In 2024, after years of nasal symptoms, bouts of atypical pneumonia, and treatment with antibiotics, 65-year-old Houstonian Lisa Wood developed a bacterial sinus infection that continued to worsen. Her ENT in Cypress, Texas, referred her to Xiaoyang Hua, MD, PhD,…
Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery During Pregnancy Gives a Medical Student Relief
Becka Czyz suffered recurrent sinus infections from an early age, with difficulty breathing, persistent nasal drainage, and trouble sleeping. She underwent an adenoidectomy at the age of 10 but continued to struggle with head and face pain, which led to…
John Lawrence Finally Gets a Diagnosis
On Sept. 28, 2024, at age 65, John Lawrence broke the USA Powerlifting Texas State Raw Bench Press Championship record in his age class. Four years earlier, he was diagnosed with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), formerly known as Churg-Strauss…
Repair of a Right Sphenoid Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak
In 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, clear watery fluid started running from Julia Ayala’s right nostril during the day and down her throat at night. A resident of Weslaco, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, Ayala saw her primary…
In-Office Temperature-Controlled Radiofrequency Remodeling of the Nasal Airway
Julio Avelar suffered from severe nasal congestion on the left side and had difficulty breathing, particularly at night. “To be honest, I’d had the problem for almost 10 years,” he says. “Some time before that, I saw a doctor who…
After Extensive Testing for Rare Disorders, An Adenoidectomy Provides a Cure
By the time Borris Akins’s mother found Zhen “Jane” Huang, MD, MBA, CPO, a pediatric otolaryngologist in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Borris had seen specialists from A to Z for a range of…
Facelift and Removal of a Parathyroid Adenoma with Hidden Scar
Asia Mohsin, MD, a Houston-area obstetrician / gynecologist, suffered from insomnia, fatigue, excessive thirst, recurrent urinary tract infections, and gastroesophageal reflux disease beginning in 2017. In the years that followed, she presented twice in an emergency department with severe chest…
A Patient Benefits from Transnasal Endoscopic Surgery for a Sphenoid Inverted Papilloma
The sphenoid sinus is a rare location for an inverted nasal papilloma, a usually benign but occasionally invasive and locally destructive tumor. Primary treatment is almost always surgery, made complex by difficult access and proximity to the internal carotid artery…
81-Year-Old Jo Anne Jones Returns to Barrel Racing After Surgery for a Sphenoid Mucocele
The first time it happened, Jo Ann Jones was competing in a barrel race in Glen Rose, Texas. “We ran down that alleyway and had a good first barrel, and I remember heading toward the second. Then I blacked out…