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 […]
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 […]
Several hearing specialists from the Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at WashU Medicine offered their expertise and advances in research at the annual ACIA meeting on cochlear implantation in Boston, April 30-May 3. The American Cochlear Implant Alliance (ACIA) is a non-profit organization created in 2010 with the goal to advocate for cochlear implantation […]
Faculty and trainees from the Department of Otolaryngology at WashU Medicine will share their expertise and advancements in research and patient care at the upcoming Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings (COSM) in New Orleans, May 14-18. The annual meeting brings together the membership of the nine COSM societies, otolaryngology residents and fellows in training, medical students, […]
Larry Sims was known for his big smile. But a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma in his parotid gland – the largest of three salivary glands – would change that forever. Or, would it? A team of surgeons in the Department of Otolaryngology, led by facial plastic surgeon Eric Barbarite, MD, thought otherwise. The multidisciplinary […]
The Midwestern Women in Otolaryngology Symposium, hosted by WashU Medicine on March 10, addressed some of the unique challenges faced by women in medicine. The second annual meeting was held at the Eric P. Newman Education Center. Co-organizers Jennifer Brinkmeier, MD, and Nyssa Farrell, MD, were assisted by a planning committee of fellow WashU Med […]
It has long been said that when it comes to cancer, “the treatment is worse than the disease.” At WashU Medicine, a multidisciplinary team of head and neck surgeons, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists is trying to change that. Treatment of head and neck cancers like squamous cell carcinomas, typically utilizes a multidisciplinary approach that […]
WashU Medicine laryngologist Bharat Panuganti, MD, is expanding the surgical options available to his specialty. The adaption – transoral robotic surgery or TORS – is not new but is rarely used for laryngeal procedures due to the lack of instruments suitable for the size of the larynx. Panuganti recently used the technique on a patient […]
Washington University head and neck surgeon Ryan Jackson, MD, recently spent time in Germany and Sweden, promoting the implementation of recent advances in transoral robotic surgery. Transoral robotic surgery or TORS is a minimally invasive procedure that uses a robot to provide greater precision in the surgical treatment of tumors in the mouth and throat. […]
A thyroid nodule is a small firm lump or growth of abnormal tissue in the thyroid gland. The condition likely affects between 50 and 65% of the population, but most are benign and go undetected because they don’t cause symptoms. For those that do, a new nonsurgical procedure – called radiofrequency ablation or RFA – […]