Carotid chemodectoma (“chemodectoma caroticum”, a carotid glomus tumor) is a benign slow-growing, vascularized tumor that is one of the most common paragangliomas of the head and neck. The ultrasound examination of 18 000 patients referred for various reasons revealed 2 cases of carotid chemodectoma verified by angiography. The paper gives the current ideas of the rate, etiology, pathomorphology, and clinical manifestations of chemodectoma, as well as its major ultrasound differential diagnostic criteria.

The fates of 450 patients with different defects of the upper jaw and midfacial tissues were traced after maxillofacial replacement were traced. The follow-up was 1 to 15 years. The immediate and late results of orthopedic treatment were studied using the follow-up and assessed from both the underlying disease and the degree of functional and cosmetic efficiency of orthopedic apparatuses.

Speech quality was evaluated in 188 patients with acquired maxillary defects. Prosthetic treatment of 29 patients was preceded by pharmacopsychotherapy. 63 patients had lessons with a logopedist and 66 practiced self-tuition based on the specially developed test. 30 patients were examined for the quality of speech without preliminary preparation. Speech quality was assessed by auditory and spectral analysis. The main forms of impaired speech quality in the patients with maxillary defects were marked rhinophonia and impaired articulation. The proposed analytical tests were based on a combination of “difficult” vowels and consonants. The use of a removable prostheses with an obturator failed to correct the affected speech function but created prerequisites for the formation of the correct speech stereotype. Results of the study suggest the relationship between the quality of speech in subjects with maxillary defects and their intellectual faculties as well as the desire to overcome this drawback. The proposed tests are designed to activate the neuromuscular apparatus responsible for the generation of the speech. Lessons with a speech therapist give a powerful emotional incentive to the patients and promote their efforts toward restoration of speaking ability. Pharmacopsychotherapy and self-control are another efficacious tools for the improvement of speech quality in patients with maxillary defects.

In February to August 2011, the Chelyabinsk District Clinical Oncology Dispensary performed combined radiotherapy using conformic HDR brachytherapy (BT) with daily dose fractionaton on a Multisource apparatus in 10 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral mucosa. An algorithm for planning conformic BT was developed, by combining the data of multislice spiral computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, by using the inverse procedures for dose calculation, and by choosing the parameters of plan assessment. No complications or severe toxic reactions were noted. The immediate results of the treatment were studied. A complete effect was obtained in 4 patients with Stages I−II. There was process stabilization in 2 patients and continued tumor growth in 1 case. Recurrent tumor was diagnosed in 2 cases following 3 and 9 months. The enhanced efficiency of BT was associated with the increased accuracy of tumor imaging.

Our investigation has demonstrated the high efficiency of combined chemotherapy (CT) including procarbazine + lomustine or procarbazine + lomustine + vincristine in patients with anaplastic oligodendrogliomas. Postoperative CT has been recently recommended for patients with deletion of chromosomes 1p and 19q, by taking into account the good prognosis of a therapeutic effect, better parameters of time till progression in this patient group, and a risk for cognitive impairments after brain radiotherapy.

The paper gives information on the proposed procedure for wrapping around the reconstruction plate with a pectoralis muscle flap in case of segmental resection of the lower jaw and recovery of its continuity with a titanium plate if there is a sufficient area of integuments (skin and mucosa) and soft tissue shortage.

The Medical Radiology Research Center Clinic performed photodynamic therapy (PDT) in 57 patients with cancer of the oral mucosa in the independent fashion. Pretreatment recurrent tumors were diagnosed in half (50.9 %) of the patients. Spectroscopy showed the therapeutic accumulation of the drug, which was 1.8–3 times greater than that in the skin and intact mucosa in the presence of a malignant neoplasm. Complete and partial tumor regression was achieved in 50 (87.7 %) and 4 (7 %)  patients, respectively; stabilization was seen in 3 (5.3 %) patients. Three-year overall survival was 86.7 ± 5.2 % and three-year relapse-free survival was 70.5 ± 7.1 %. PDT has an organ-saving directionality, without causing functional and cosmetic impairments, thus showing its rather high effectiveness.

Cancers remain a priority for modern society. According to the WHO estimates, global cancer morbidity  and mortality rates will triple in the period 1999 to 2030: from 10 to 30 million new cases and from 6 to 17 million deaths recorded every year, which will exceed deaths from cardiovascular diseases and injuries. The efficiency of treatment in cancer patients and their prediction are determined by timely disease diagnosis, tumor extent estimation, and adequate therapeutic measures. So search for ways to cardinally improve the early recognition of cancer is one of the major tasks in the study of the problems of cancer patients, those with throat cancer in particular.

This clinical trial comparatively analyzed the frequency of postoperative neurological complications due to damage to motor (facial, recurrent, laryngeal, and accessory) nerves after head and neck operations using the traditional procedure or intraoperative neuromonitoring. Neuromonitoring made during operations on the thyroid and level VI central neck could reduce the rate of recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis by more than twice (OR = 0.32; 95 % CI 0.11–0.86; p = 0.028). The author considers the absolute indication for intraoperative neuromonitoring to be high-risk surgery for nondeliberate damage to the motor nerves and impossibility of their visual detection.

This trial was undertaken to examine 3 patients aged 7 months to 13 years with esthesioneuroblastoma were examined to evaluate the possibilities and efficiency of an endoscopic endonasal approach in its surgical treatment in pediatric practice. Additional orientation was provided by a Vector Vision Compact system (Brain Lab, USA). The trial has established that the endoscopic endonasal approach to creating an isolated transnasal and combined transnasal/transethmoidal corridor and a transcribriform approach is highly effective and reasonably safe for the treatment of children with esthesioneuroblastoma: no intra- and postoperative complications were recorded in the trial; analysis of the immediate results of surgical interventions has shown a clinical regression in all the patients. Fatal outcomes and recurrent tumor were absent in the late (1–5-year) period. The additional employment of the navigation equipment allowed one to more accurately use surgical tools in the narrow anatomic spaces and to more thoroughly affect an abnormality, which was eventually shown in more conservative surgery.

The given paper attempts to objectify the course of a tumor process in patients diagnosed as having throat cancer during radiation or chemoradiation therapy. The authors propose a diagnostic algorithm which enables one not only to see the actual extent of a tumor, but also to estimate the degree of its resorption; hence, to more accurately plan special treatment and to timely change the treatment policy.

The paper outlines the possibilities of surgical treatment in patients with generalized skin cancer of the head and neck. The use of different types of free revascularized flaps can yield acceptable functional and cosmetic results.