Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32873344›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of laryngology and otology2020

The role of transoral fine needle aspiration in expediting diagnosis and reducing risk in head and neck cancer patients in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era: a single-institution experience.

P Touska, G Oikonomou, R Ngu, A Chandra, A Malhotra, A Fry, R Oakley, A Arora, J-P Jeannon, R Simo

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of laryngology and otology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 47% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

P TouskaDepartment of Radiology, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
G OikonomouDepartment of ENT Surgery, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
R NguDepartment of Dental Maxillofacial Imaging, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
A ChandraDepartment of Cellular Pathology, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
A MalhotraDepartment of Cellular Pathology, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
A FryDepartment of ENT Surgery, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
R OakleyDepartment of ENT Surgery, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
A AroraDepartment of ENT Surgery, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
J-P JeannonDepartment of ENT Surgery, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
R SimoDepartment of ENT Surgery, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust · GBSt Thomas' Hospital · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has necessitated rapid alterations to diagnostic pathways for head and neck cancer patients that aim to reduce risk to patients (exposure to the hospital environment) and staff (aerosol-generating procedures). Transoral fine needle aspiration cytology offers a low-risk means of rapidly diagnosing patients with oral cavity or oropharyngeal lesions. The technique was utilised in selected patients at our institution during the pandemic. The outcomes are considered in this study.

methodDiagnostic outcomes were retrospectively evaluated for a series of patients undergoing transoral fine needle aspiration cytology of oral cavity and oropharyngeal lesions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

resultsFive patients underwent transoral fine needle aspiration cytology, yielding lesional material in 100 per cent, with cell blocks providing additional information. In one case, excision biopsy of a lymphoproliferative lesion was required for final diagnosis.

conclusionTransoral fine needle aspiration cytology can provide rapid diagnosis in patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal lesions. Whilst limitations exist (including tolerability and lesion location), the technique offers significant advantages pertinent to the COVID-19 era, and could be employed in the future to obviate diagnostic surgery in selected patients.

Indexed as

CoronovirusCytologyFine-Needle AspirationOropharyngeal CancerTransoral

Identifiers

PMID32873344
PMCPMC7533497
OpenAlexW3081847631

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.