Peritonsillar abscess is the most frequent complication of acute tonsillitis and occurs when the infection spreads outside the tonsillar capsule. It is usually situated in the region of the upper pole and involves the soft palate pushing the tonsils forwards and towards the midline. This condition is usually unilateral and mostly affects young male adults [1]. Early diagnosis, with drainage of the abscess, is crucial to prevent perforation into the parapharyngeal space and further spread along the neck vessels to the mediastinum and skull base. Possible aspiration and severe upper airway obstruction may develop if treatment is delayed. We present a young patient who presented with an unusual manifestation of bilateral peritonsillar abscesses imitating bilateral hypertrophy of the tonsils, causing severe upper airway obstruction.

This retrospective study presents the findings of inner ear damage documented in 53 children exposed to impulsive sound emitted by toy weapons and firecrackers. There were 49 boys and four girls aged between four and fourteen years. Thirty-nine children were affected unilaterally while fourteen had bilateral hearing loss (total of 67 ears). Most of the hearing loss (>70%) was sensorineural high frequency hearing loss, while only nine out of the 67 injured ears had sensorineural mid frequency hearing loss. Seven children sustained a traumatic ear drum perforation. Dizziness or tinnitus was reported by twenty children, with pathological ENG findings in four of them. This paper re-emphasizes the possibility of inner ear damage in children from exposure to noisy toys.

Our goal was to document the presence of normal thyroid tissue by non-invasive tools such as ultrasound, rather than to rule out the existence of ectopic thyroid tissue by radionuclide scanning. Radionuclide scanning is justified in cases of lingual thyroid and where a normally located thyroid gland cannot be detected.

Objective: To determine whether CT (computerized tomography) scan of the paranasal sinuses is essential in the diagnosis and medical/surgical management of nasal obstruction. Design: One hundred thirteen adult patients with nasal obstruction but without signs of sinusitis who underwent CT examination prior to surgery, were included in the study. Results: Fifty seven percent of the CI scans revealed a variety of abnormal findings. Of the patients with an abnormal CT scan, surgical planning had to be altered in 16 patients due to significant abnormalities found on the CT scans. Conclusions: We conclude that CT scan of the nose and paranasal sinuses is an effective presurgical planning tool in patients with nasal obstruction.

Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) belongs to a group of mesenchymal tumors,(1) first described as a primary spindle cell tumor of the pleura in 1931.(2) Recently SFT has been reported in various locations with no relation to serosal surfaces. Sites such as the lung,(3) liver,(4) thyroid,(5) sublingual gland,(6) and parapharyngeal space(7) have been reported, SFTs of the upper respiratory tract, including the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, and nasopharynx, are extremely rare, with only 9 previously reported cases.(8-11) Most of the tumors involved the nasal cavity with or without extension to the nasopharynx or the paranasal sinuses. We report the tenth case of SFT of the nasal cavity with extension to the maxillary and ethmoid sinuses.