Sialendoscopy: An Innovative Minimally Invasive Approach to the Treatment of Sialolithiasis
When Vida Smith Compton first saw otorhinolaryngologist Sancak Yuksel, M.D., in late summer 2013, she had pain and swelling beneath the ventral surface of her tongue on the right side, and in her neck under the mandible. “I looked like…
Physicians’ Mission Satisfied
Jim Finley, who has been in the newspaper business for more than 30 years, writes a humor column for the Baytown Sun, a community newspaper published five days a week in Baytown, Texas, 25 miles east of Houston. In September…
A Second Pair of Ears
Jack Perrell* had no idea what he was missing until he was fitted with hearing aids. The 46-year-old information technology professional and his wife have been fostering cats for 15 years, and it wasn’t until last October, when he was…
TORS-L: Transoral Robotic Surgery with CO2 Laser Offers Greater Precision for Surgeons and De-intensification of Adjuvant Therapies for Patients
Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) has recently emerged as an alternative to comprehensive chemoradiation in the treatment of mucosal aerodigestive tract malignancies. In a presentation made last fall to the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, otolaryngologist Ron J. Karni,…
UTHealth Audiology Offers Widex Zen Therapy for Tinnitus Management
Tinnitus can’t be cured, but patients with the condition can reduce its impact on their lives through device-driven habituation therapy. A new rehabilitation program at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and UTHealth Audiology provides comprehensive evaluation of the disorder and an…
Simultaneous Bilateral Cochlear Implants in an Infant After Meningitis
In April 2010, eight-month-old Antonio Campos contracted bacterial meningitis that led to a two-week stay at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. After a pre-discharge vision and hearing test, his mother Giovana Blas was told that the…
Laryngotracheal Reconstruction Using Anterior Cricoid Suspension in a Three Year Old
When Cameron Chan was delivered at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital on June 16, 2009, he was – at 24 weeks gestation – the youngest baby born to date at the hospital. “He was struggling,” recalls his mother Mandy Chan….
Single-Incision Minimally Invasive Parathyroidectomy
Board-certified otorhinolaryngologist Ron Karni, MD, was the third ENT whom Rosemary Sauceda saw after routine blood work performed by her oncologist revealed hypercalcemia. A former renal cell carcinoma patient, Sauceda was concerned that her cancer had metastasized. When her oncologist…
Multidisciplinary Virtual Pre-surgical Planning Optimizes the Outcome for an Ameloblastoma Patient
By the time 27-year-old Reginald Durden saw oral and maxillofacial surgeon Nagi Demian, DDS, MD, the ameloblastoma had destroyed his lower jaw. Three surgeries later, Durden has a normal appearance, with scars that are barely visible, and he can talk…
Transoral Robotic Surgery for the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
When the da Vinci® Surgical System was approved by the FDA in 2009 for transoral robotic surgery (TORS) for resection of tumors of the pharynx, otorhinolaryngologists affiliated with the University of Texas Medical School at Houston (UTHealth) and Memorial Hermann-Texas…