Berteșteanu Șerban Vifor Gabriel

By Mihaela Georgescu, Oana Marinas, Marcela Popa, Teodora Stan, Veronica Lazar, Serban Vifor Bertesteanu and Mariana Carmen Chifiriuc

Many plants or plant-derived compounds with high levels of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and antimicrobial properties could be of great benefit for wound healing. Several studies have documented the use of plant extracts for the development of bioactive wound dressings. The purpose of this chapter is to give an update about the vegetal and bee products, which can be used as bioactive substances in wound dressings or in other formulations for wound healing. The adverse effects of plant and bee extracts, such as contact allergies, are also presented. In order to better exploit the huge reservoir of pharmacologically active plant-derived compounds and extracts, standardized methodology and clinical trials are necessary to give more concrete evidence supporting the use of traditional medicine in wound management.

Part of the book: Worldwide Wound Healing

By Oancea Alina Lavinia Antoaneta, Berteșteanu Șerban Vifor Gabriel, Grigore Raluca and Popescu Bogdan

Hypopharyngeal cancer is one of the most challenging pathologies regarding location, evolution, prognosis and functional implications. Since the hypopharynx is a crossroad in the digestive and respiratory pathways malignant pathology located at this site can cause dysphagia, odynophagia, respiratory distress and dysphonia. Complex anatomy and physiology of the hypopharynx make for pathology with a poor prognosis in late stages. Diagnosis and therapy are mandatory for ensuring high survival rates and as little functional impairment as possible. Therapy of hypopharyngeal cancer is a difficult test for both physician and patient. It requires a good collaboration between the ENT surgeon, pathologist, radiotherapist, chemotherapist, nutrition therapist and psychologist. Our approach to the subject is due to that data concerning this pathology is limited and the results of the overall oncology therapy are discouraging. Nonetheless, the technical steps of surgery make it difficult for ENT cancer surgeons to approach it, therefore the surgeons’ experience plays a very important role in decision making and establishing a good doctor-patient relationship, both during initial therapy and follow-up. We will also present an original technique developed in our clinic for restoring the continuity of the pharynx after total circular resection using the synthetic prosthesis.

Part of the book: Pharynx

By Paula Luiza Bejenaru, Raluca Grigore, Bogdan Popescu, Alexandru Nicolaescu, Mihnea Cojocărița-Condeescu, Catrinel Simion-Antonie, Gloria Berteșteanu, Anca Cirstea, Teodora Diaconu, Bianca Taher, Simona Rujan, Dan Popescu and Șerban V.G. Berteșteanu

Patients who are diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the pharynx have a first delayed presentation, with advanced stages of the disease. Therefore, they frequently require a multimodal approach—by surgery, radio, and chemotherapy. Due to anatomic spatial limits and particularities, therapy can imply large organ resection with difficulties in reconstruction. Nowadays, there is a paradigm shift in the management of this pathology, with significant first referral to oncology departments and initiation as the first line of treatment of radio/radio-chemotherapy. As a consequence, salvage surgery may be mandatory in some selected cases. The proposed chapter will address the oncological particularities of the pharynx, with a focus on the oro- and hypopharynx, ways of reconstruction after oncological ablative surgery of these segments, and impact on quality of life (QoL) index. Speech, respiratory, and deglutition rehabilitation of these patients is essential and will be a distinct topic. This paper will have the structure of a literature review with clinical examples of reconstruction from ENT and Head and Neck Surgery Department of Coltea Clinical Hospital, Bucharest. Reconstruction methods used in our clinic are regional flaps and biocompatible prostheses in advanced stages. QoL index in our clinic is assessed with questionnaires developed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer – EORTC QLQ C30.

Part of the book: Pharynx