Patience pays off for facial implant recipient

photo of Tiffany Meyer with WashU Medicine facioal plastic surgeon Greg Branham, MD, following her most recent visit.

Where others saw a questionable outcome, WashU Medicine facial plastic surgeon Greg Branham, MD, instilled hope in a patient all too accustomed to medical procedures. After three decades of surgeries to overcome bone breaks and deformities caused by fibrous dysplasia, Tiffany Meyer faced a more personal challenge – a facial deformity that threatened to impact […]

Cancer Survivorship Symposium highlights cardiovascular health

A symposium for head and neck cancer survivors  marked the final affair of the Spector Lectureship – a day-long series of events highlighting advances in patient care and research in head and neck cancer. The event was hosted on the medical school campus by Siteman Cancer Center and WashU Medicine Otolaryngology and moderated by head […]

Imaging technology optimizes cancer removal

WashU Medicine voice and airway surgeon Bharat Panuganti, MD, is adapting a fluorescent imaging technology known as confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) to better view cellular detail and optimize laryngeal cancer removal. One of the consistent challenges during surgical removal of any cancer is delineating tumor from surrounding normal tissue. Conservative approaches suggest that to error […]

WashU Medicine experts hope to educate their profession regarding procedure misuse

Xray of sinuses

Since its approval in 2005, balloon sinus dilation procedures have increased dramatically among certain providers, causing concern for some medical experts, including WashU Medicine rhinologist Nyssa Farrell, MD, and comprehensive otolaryngologist Jay Piccirillo, MD. Together, they and collaborators recently published a series of articles in the prestigious JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery that document the […]

Surgery at odds with lifestyle: Matching treatment to one patient’s needs

photo of Matt Rohlfing with WashU Shield

Cecilia K. has undergone two surgeries to correct idiopathic subglottic stenosis, but now that she is primary caregiver for a husband diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease, another surgery is at odds with her lifestyle. WashU Medicine laryngologist Matthew Rohlfing, MD, was able to offer her an alternative, with some rather dramatic results. Idiopathic subglottic […]

Town Hall highlights service and success

photo of Buchman speaking at Town Hall event

On August 15, the Department of Otolaryngology held its annual Town Hall where Lindburg Professor and Chair Craig Buchman, MD, shared highlights of the department’s state of affairs and celebrated service awards for a number of staff members. Buchman shared data that reflected a number of successes throughout the department’s mission areas: Buchman also shared […]

Otolaryngology section, St. Louis VA #1 in national productivity

photo of surgeons reviewing CT scan

Data for FY24 shows that Otolaryngology at the VA St. Louis Health Care System had the highest productivity of the nearly 100 otolaryngology sections in the nation. WashU Medicine providers that offer comprehensive clinical and surgical care at the VA St. Louis Health Care System include Section Chief Paul Zolkind, MD, Matthew Shew, MD, and […]

Intraoperative measure offers hope for cochlear implant optimization

photo of OR during CI surgery

Despite numerous amazing success stories of cochlear implant (CI) recipients, it remains near impossible to predict how well any given patient will understand speech following implantation. The reasons why have been largely unexplained. The Division of Otology/Neurotology at WashU Medicine is working diligently to help answer these questions and provide implant recipients with a better […]

Multidisciplinary clinic offers a voice to patients with spasmodic dysphonia

A retired teacher of 30 years and now a volunteer tour guide at the St. Louis Zoo, Nancy Penrod has had to rely heavily on her voice, a voice that once wasn’t so reliable due to a condition called adductor laryngeal dystonia or spasmodic dysphonia. A multidisciplinary clinic staffed by otolaryngologist Matthew Rohlfing, MD, and […]

Siteman Head and Neck Tumor Center at WashU Medicine dedicated

The Robert Ebert and Greg Stubblefield Head and Neck Tumor Center at Siteman Cancer Center was officially dedicated at a ceremony April 22. The event was held at the Gary C. Werths Building at Siteman Cancer Center and organized by The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Family and friends of the two courageous cancer patients, as […]