Staricha, Kelly L.

Background: Facial appearance influences social perception, with laypersons focusing on the central facial triangle; nasal differences may alter gaze patterns, but few studies have quantified this using eye-tracking. Objective: To evaluate how layperson gaze patterns shift in response to different nasal variations as measured by eye-tracking. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, facial images with 30 nasal differences were created using Photoshop to represent a range of phenotypes, such as dorsal hump, crooked nose, and pinched tip, alongside controls. Gaze data were captured via eye-tracking, and linear mixed-effects modeling assessed differences in time spent viewing defined areas of interest, adjusting for participant and image variables. Results: A total of 119 participants (53.8% female) were enrolled. The median age was 40 years, and 82% identified as Caucasian. Among the 30 nasal alterations, only the saddle nose resulted in significantly increased gaze time compared to controls (mean increase: 0.89 s; p < 0.001). Participant age, sex, and gender of the face in the image did not significantly influence gaze behavior. Conclusion: In this study, only the saddle nose attracted greater visual attention from lay observers compared with other nasal variants.

Introduction: Nasal analysis is a challenging skill that otolaryngology trainees must demonstrate competency in on-board examinations. Study objective: To compare where experts and trainees focus their gaze when completing nasal analysis of a patient, as measured by eye tracking software. Methods: Participants of various training levels ( n = 27) were shown photographs of six faces from all standard angles for photographic nasal analysis. Eye-tracking data were collected. Heat and gaze maps, the time to first fixation on areas of interest, duration, and number of fixations were extracted. These metrics were compared between experts and trainees using t -tests and one-way ANOVA. Results: Qualitative comparisons of gaze patterns reveal a more comprehensive and organized approach among experts than trainees. However, quantitative measures of eye-tracking metrics, including the time to first fixations, duration, and number of fixations made by experts and trainees, were similar. Conclusions: Gaze tracking reveals more thorough and efficient eye movements among experts than trainees during nasal analysis. Further study may be useful in the development of learning tools to guide effective nasal analyses.

Background: The role of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) in diagnosing parotid tumors remains debated due to varying accuracy. This study evaluates FNA’s accuracy in diagnosing Warthin’s tumor (WT) and its safety in guiding observational management. Study design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Single institution, Tertiary referral center. Methods: Data from 2010 to 2022 including demographics, cytology, pathology, and surgical outcomes were extracted. Accuracy was assessed using sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). Results: Among 808 patients with parotid tumors, 234 were WTs. Seventy-eight patients underwent surgery with pathology while 156 underwent observation. FNA sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV for WTs were 98.2%, 98.1%, 91.8%, and 99.6% respectively. No observational patients developed clinical signs of malignancy, and the median change in tumor size was 0 cm (range −3.1 to 2.1). Conclusions: FNA is highly specific for WT but limited by nondiagnostic results. Observation is a safe approach with minimal risk of growth, malignancy, or infection.

Objective To analyze the use of electrical field imaging (EFI) in the detection of extracochlear electrodes in cochlear implants (CI) Study Design Retrospective cohort study Setting Tertiary academic medical center Methods EFI patterns from 6 recipients with extracochlear electrodes were compared with 10 recipients with all intracochlear electrodes to identify differences in EFI patterns between these two groups. For the extracochlear group, EFI patterns were analyzed using two methods: visual inspection and calculation of the average impedance difference (AID) between specific EFI curves. These results were then compared with information from CT and plain film imaging, surgical notes, and audiology tests to confirm the placement of the electrodes in each recipient. Results An average AID of 0.06 kΩ was calculated from the EFI patterns for recipients with complete electrode insertion, whereas an average AID of 0.15 kΩ was calculated from the EFI curves measured for the extracochlear electrodes. Visual analysis of the EFI impedance curves for extracochlear electrodes showed a distinct separation from those measured for intracochlear electrodes. Based on AID analysis and visual inspection the EFI, patterns were in close agreement with the number of extracochlear electrodes detected based on either imaging, intraoperative surgical note, or audiological findings. Conclusion EFI is a noninvasive, inexpensive, and time-efficient measurement that can be used to detect extracochlear electrodes and monitor electrode migration from the cochlea.

Objectives Describe a single institution's cochlear implant outcomes for patients with inner ear schwannomas (IES) in the setting of various tumor management strategies (observation, surgical resection, or stereotactic radiosurgery [SRS]). Study Design Single-institution retrospective review. Patients Patients diagnosed with isolated, sporadic IES who underwent cochlear implantation (CI). Interventions CI with or without IES treatment. Main Outcome Measures Speech perception outcomes, tumor status. Results Twelve patients with IES underwent CI with a median audiologic and radiologic follow-up of 12 months. Six patients underwent complete resection of the tumor at the time of CI, four underwent tumor observation, and two underwent SRS before CI. At 1 year after CI for all patients, the median consonant–nucleus–consonant (CNC) word score was 55% (interquartile range, 44–73%), and the median AzBio sentence in quiet score was 77% (interquartile range, 68–93%). Overall, those with surgical resection performed similarly to those with tumor observation (CNC 58 versus 61%; AzBio in quiet 74 versus 91%, respectively). Patients who underwent tumor resection before implantation had a wider range of speech performance outcomes compared with patients who underwent tumor observation. Two patients had SRS treatment before CI (10 months previous and same-day as CI) with CNC word scores of 6 and 40%, respectively. Conclusions Patients with IES who underwent CI demonstrated similar speech performance outcomes (CNC 56% and AzBio 82%), when compared with the general cochlear implant population. Patients who underwent either tumor observation or surgical resection performed well after CI.