Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship of sinonasal anatomic variations (SAVs) with maxillary sinus retention cysts (RCs) on paranasal sinus tomography. Methods: Our study included 202 patients who applied to the ENT outpatient clinic with fascial pain, nasal obstruction and postnasal drip complaints between September 2014 and February 2016 and underwent CT of paranasal sinus on coronal plane. The patients who had maxillary RCs in their CT scan comprised the study group while the patients who did not have RCs in their CT scan comprised the control group. The CT scans of these two groups were examined and recorded for the SAVs. The statistical analysis of the SAVs for these two groups was conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: The presence of septal deviation from SAVs and pneumatized uncinate in patients found to have maxillary sinus retention cyst was considered statistically significant (p<0.05). The sex in patients with right maxillary sinus RCs was considered statistically significant (p<0.05). The presence of pneumatized uncinate in patients with left maxillary sinus RCs was considered statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: In our study, the statistical relationship between SAV and maxillary sinus retention cysts may show that SAVs may be effective in the etiology of maxillary sinus retention cysts. This result has to be verified by more detailed studies.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the different factors that may affect graft success in tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy. Methods: Patients who underwent tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy between September 2004 and July 2010 were included in this study. Patient data were collected retrospectively. The effects of the epitympanic patency, duration of the dry period of the ear, presence of preoperative otorrhea, location of the perforation, status of the middle ear mucosa, and status of the tympanic membrane on the rate of postoperative graft success in patients who underwent tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy were investigated. The chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 130 patients, 74 male and 56 female, with an average age of 35.7 (range: 11 to 56) years were included. The overall success rate for full postoperative graft success was 75%. A >3-month dry period of the ear, absence of preoperative otorrhea, preoperative normal middle ear mucosa, and presence of epitympanic patency significantly increased the postoperative success rate of graft (p<0.001). The presence of preoperative otorrhea and granulation tissue in the middle ear mucosa, presence of preoperative myringosclerosis, and lack of epitympanic patency were significantly associated with graft failure after tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy (p<0.001). Conclusion: Epitympanic patency, middle ear infection, and the morphology of the tympanic membrane and middle ear mucosa should be considered prognostic factors in patients who undergo tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy.

Objective: Recent studies point to a relationship between allergic diseases and vitamin D deficiency. This relationship seems to be associated with immune-modulator effects of the derivatives of vitamin D. However, there are limited number of studies on the relationship between allergic rhinitis and derivatives of vitamin D. We planned our study to investigate this issue. Methods: The study group was composed of 30 patients diagnosed with allergic rhinitis according to ARIA (Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma) Criteria. The control group included 30 patients of the same age and gender without any allergic rhinitis disease. The patients with an underlying disease which may cause deficiency of calcium and vitamin D were excluded. The significance of the difference between study and control groups in terms of serum 25-hydroxy (OH) vitamin D levels was also evaluated. Results: It was determined that the levels of vitamin D were within normal (10-90 ng/mL) limits in both groups. It was found out that the mean serum 25(OH)vitamin D level (15.39 ng/mL) of the study group was significantly lower than the control group (53.80 ng/mL) (p=0.00). No significant difference was found between the genders in terms of vitamin D levels (p=0.398). Conclusion: It is necessary to do more researches on the effects of vitamin D derivatives on allergic rhinitis. This study indicates that a vitamin D deficiency should be taken into consideration during the treatment for resistant allergic rhinitis patients.

Amac: Calismanin amaci ultrason destekli jet igne biyopsisinde hipovaskuler ya da hipervaskuler tiroid nodul tercihinin prosedur verimliligine etkisinin incelenmesidir. Yontem: Bu prospektif calismada hipovaskuler ve hipervaskuler tiroid nodulleri olan 60 hasta degerlendirilmistir. Renkli Doppler sonografik yonlendirme altinda 22 numara igne ile jet igne biyopsisi gerceklestirmistir. Radyolojik ve sitolojik faktorler ve numunelerin yeterliligi degerlendirilmis ve karsilastirilmistir. Bulgular: Sonografik olarak 25 nodul (%41.7) heterojen ve kalsifiye, 21 nodul hipoekoik (%35), 10 nodul izoekoik (%16.7) ve 4 nodul (%6.6) hiperekoik olarak tanimlanmistir. Yalnizca hipervaskuler ve hipovaskuler noduller degerlendirildiginde yeterli orneklem orani %81.7 ve %83.3 olarak olculmustur. Her iki grup beraber degerlendirildiginde toplam yeterli orneklem orani %91.7 olarak bulunmustur. Orneklerde endotelyal hucrelerin bulunmasinin ya da bu hucrelerin dagiliminin prosedurun teshis degerini etkilemedigi gorulmustur. Sonuc: Elde ettigimiz sonuclara gore renkli Doppler sonografisi ile tiroid nodullerinin vaskularitesinin incelenmesinin jet igne biyopsisinin etkinligini optimize edebilecegi gorulmustur. Hipovaskuler ve hipervaskuler bolgelerde yapilan biyopsiler birbirini tamamlayicidir ve bu verilerin birlikte kullanilmasi teshis dogrulugunu arttirmaktadir.