Nasopharyngeal endoscopic resection in the management of selected malignancies: ten-year experience.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the feasibility of endoscopic surgery in the management of selected nasopharyngeal cancers. Three different types of nasopharyngeal endoscopic resections (NER) are described.


METHODS
From January 1997 to October 2008, 17 consecutive patients (mean age: 50 years) with previously untreated (5) or recurrent nasopharyngeal tumours (12) were treated with curative intent by pure endoscopic resection. The extent of surgical resection was classified as follows: type I NER: resection limited to the postero-superior nasopharyngeal wall; type 2 NER: resection superiorly extended to the sphenoid sinus; type 3 NER: resection with lateral extension including the cartilaginous portion of the Eustachian tube and parapharyngeal space.


RESULTS
Type 1 NER was performed in 4 cases, type 2 in 6, and type 3 in 7. No intra- or post-operative complications were observed. Mean hospitalization time was 4 days (range: 1-7). Follow-up ranged from 10 to 138 months (mean: 41.2±38). At the time of writing, 12 (71/%) patients were free of disease, 3 (17%) alive with disease, and 2 (12%) dead of disease.


CONCLUSIONS
NER is a feasible surgical technique that can be tailored in relation to tumour extension. Larger series and longer follow-up are needed to further validate the long-term results.
Castelnuovo
P
P
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
Dallan
I
I
Bignami
M
M
Battaglia
P
P
Mauri
S
S
Bolzoni Villaret
A
A
Bizzoni
A
A
Tomenzoli
D
D
Nicolai
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004724:Endoscopy; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000601:surgery*