[The Significance of Resection of the Cricoid Cartilage as a Surgical Procedure in Laryngotracheal Surgery].

The cricoid cartilage has been regarded as an extremely important organ because it plays important role in both of phonation and breathing. We herein report on two different types of surgical procedure for laryngotracheal diseases with aggressive resection of the cricoid cartilage. The first procedure is a tracheostomaplasty by partial resection of the cricoid cartilage.

[Stapes surgery performed for congenital stapes foot plate fixation--comparison of prosthesis fixation to the malleus vs. the incus].

We report the surgical results of stapes surgery using the Schukneht-type wire piston prosthesis performed on 30 ears with fixation of the stapes footplate and absence of the long process of the incus. The prosthesis was reformed to avoid dislocation and fixed to the handle of the malleus. The surgical results in another 49 ears, the comparator group, in which the prosthesis was fixed to the long process of the incus because the anomaly was restricted to fixation of the footplate without other associated anomalies, were also analyzed for comparison.

[Immunohistochemical and clinical features of patients with benign middle ear tumors].

The middle ear is a rare site for benign tumors. We report six patients with benign middle ear tumors surgicaly removed: three with carcinoid, one with adenoma, and two with paraganglioma. These tumors showed similar histological features in trabecular and glandular architecture, so further immunohistochemical study was needed to make a definitive histopathological diagnosis.

Effectiveness of instillation of triamcinolone acetonide into the middle ear for eosinophilic otitis media associated with bronchial asthma.

Background: Eosinophilic otitis media (EOM) is a newly recognized middle ear disease found in asthmatic patients. EOM is characterized by a highly viscous middle ear effusion that contains many eosinophils and is extremely unresponsive to conventional treatments for common otitis media. To our knowledge, no systemic study regarding the efficacy of treatments for EOM has been performed.

Clinical characteristics of so called eosinophilic otitis media.

Objective: Although "eosinophilic otitis media" is not as uncommon a condition as was previously believed, its cause and pathogenesis are not yet fully understood. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics in patients with "eosinophilic otitis media" to clarify its pathogenesis.

Methods: Seven adult patients with persistent and intractable otitis media with viscous middle ear effusion containing many eosinophils, who were also under treatment for bronchial asthma, were studied.