title: Tumours of the posterior pharyngeal wall: the use of the platysma flap.
abstract: Posterior pharyngeal will tumours are infrequent neoplasms with a very poor prognosis. The 5 year survival rate range from 3% to 32%. Most authors agree that the treatment of choice is surgery with post-operative radiotherapy. The results of treatment of 36 patients (tumour excision plus bilateral neck dissection and post-operative radiotherapy) in which the posterior pharyngeal wall defect was closed with a platysma myocutaneous flap were compared with other forms of repair (13 patients). The 5 year survival rate was 17.2% in the whole group. Laryngeal voice was achieved in 79% of patients having a platysma flap reconstruction. The platysma myocutaneous flap is very satisfactory for the repair of the posterior pharyngeal wall as it is easy to perform, it is oncologically safe and its functional results match well with other forms of reconstruction, with the advantage of laryngeal preservation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Central de Asturias, University of Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Suárez
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sota
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rodrigo
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Llorente
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Diaz
mesh_terms: D000206:Actuarial Analysis; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011379:Prognosis; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000379:methods*; D015996:Survival Rate