The purpose of this study was to investigate the complication rates and effectiveness of extracapsular dissection compared with superficial parotidectomy for pleomorphic adenomas of the parotid gland from 2002 to 2012. The authors carried out a retrospective cohort study of 198 patients with pleomorphic adenomas of the parotid gland. Extracapsular dissection (ED) or superficial parotidectomy (SP) was performed. The recurrence rate and complications of the two surgical techniques were measured with a univariate analysis of each variable using the appropriate statistical analysis (chi-squared test ort-test). A total of 198 patients were enrolled between January 2003 and December 2012. The study included 97 females (48.99%) and 101 males (51.01%) whose mean age was 50.97 years (range 14–75). The type of surgery performed was ED in 153 patients (77.27%, 80 males and 73 females) and SP in 45 patients (22.73%, 21 males and 24 females). The mean follow-up time was 61.02 +/− 4.9 months for the patients treated with ED and 66.4 +/− 4.5 months for the patients treated with SP. Transient facial nerve injury and facial paralysis were significantly more frequent after SP than after ED (P=0.001andP=0.065, resp.). No significant differences in capsular rupture, recurrence, and salivary fistula were observed after SP or ED: 2.2% versus 3.9%, 2.2% versus 3.3%, and 2.2% versus 0.65%, respectively. Extracapsular dissection may be considered the treatment of choice for pleomorphic adenomas located in the superficial portion of the parotid gland because this technique showed similar effectiveness and fewer side effects than superficial parotidectomy.

The aim of this work was to demonstrate the advantages of using telemedicine (TM) in the management of the outpatients with maxillofacial surgical pathologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted at the MaxilloFacial Surgery Unit of “Magna Graecia” University of Catanzaro, on two different groups of patients: a group of follow-up patients (A₁: patients in oncological follow-up after surgical treatment performed before the COVID-19 pandemic; A₂: suffering from chronic lesions such as precancerous lesions), and a group B of patients with first urgent visits (B₁: patients with suspected oncological pathology; B₂: patients with suspected urgent disease such as medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (MRONJ), odontogenic abscesses, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dislocation, etc.). Participation in the study required possession of a smartphone with Internet access, e-mail and the use of a messaging service (WhatsApp or Telegram) to send photos and messages; completion by the patient of a COVID-19 screening questionnaire; submission of a satisfaction questionnaire by the doctors and patients. A total of 90 patients were included in this study. A high percentage of satisfaction emerged from the analysis of the satisfaction questionnaires of both patients and doctors.TM thus represents an excellent opportunity to improve accessibility to oncological and non-management activities, reducing the risk of Covid-19 dissemination and should be promoted and implemented in the post-pandemic era.

Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) has been recognized as one of the most disabling comorbidities associated to the assumption of bisphosphonates (BPs) and antiresorptive drugs. To date, several classifications identify the stages of this pathology to propose different protocols for a better management way. This pilot retrospective study aims to compare two of the most used MRONJ classifications (AAOMS vs SIPMO-SICMF), analyzing CT scans and clinical features of patients with documented MRONJ. For each patient, clinical features and radiological findings were analyzed before any therapeutic procedure. The diagnostic differences between the AAOMS and SIPMO-SICMF classification were recorded and analyzed according to the treatment outcomes. These findings highlight different approaches for the patient’s treatment related to the MRONJ stages. Our results suggest a continuous update of the international guidelines to uniform the treatment for the improvement of the patients’ quality of life.