Social anxiety disorder in adolescents who stutter: A risk for school refusal.

Background: Stuttering is a childhood-onset fluency disorder. Part of the counseling for middle and high school students with persistent stuttering is related to school refusal. Anxiety disorders are known to contribute to school refusal.

Type I Thyroplasty Is Safe in Patients Undergoing Antithrombotic Therapy.

Introduction: Type I thyroplasty is one of the most useful surgeries for unilateral vocal fold paralysis. The study objective was to determine whether type I thyroplasty is safe and perioperative antithrombotic management is acceptable in patients undergoing antithrombotic therapy.

Methods: This is a single-hospital retrospective cohort study.

Long-term effectiveness, safety, and quality of life outcomes following endoscopic posterior nasal neurectomy with submucosal turbinectomy for the treatment of intractable severe chronic rhinitis.

Objective: In recent decades, posterior nasal neurectomy (PNN) with submucosal inferior turbinectomy (ST) has been increasingly used for the treatment of intractable severe rhinitis; however, to the best of our knowledge, there have been few studies regarding its long-term therapeutic effects or its influence on patient quality of life (QOL). Therefore, this study examined the long-term therapeutic effects in patients who underwent PNN with ST, as well as their QOL and medication use after surgery.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study initially included 16 consecutive patients who underwent PNN with ST from January 2010 to December 2011.

Awareness of stuttering in Japanese children aged 3-7 years.

Background: Boey et al. (2009) devised a questionnaire for measuring children's awareness of stuttering and showed that even very young children were often aware of their stuttering. There has been no replication of studies using Boey et al.

Clinicopathological analysis of sinonasal malignant lymphoma in an HTLV-1 endemic area in Japan -special focus on primary sinonasal diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

The present study investigated histological subtypes of lymphoma in patients newly diagnosed with malignant lymphoma in the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) endemic area of Japan, and further analyzed the clinicopathological features and clinical outcomes of patients with primary sinonasal lymphoma. We retrospectively examined 151 patients aged 18-90 years in Fukuoka, Japan. Subtypes of lymphoma were determined according to the WHO classification.

Oral phase dysphagia in facial onset sensory and motor neuronopathy.

Introduction: Facial onset motor and sensory neuronopathy (FOSMN) is a rare disease whose cardinal features are initial asymmetrical facial sensory deficits followed by bulbar symptoms and spreading of sensory and motor deficits from face to scalp, neck, upper trunk, and upper extremities in a rostral-caudal direction. Although bulbar involvement is frequently observed in FOSMN, dysphagia in these patients has not been fully described. In this study, we aimed to characterize dysphagia as a prognostic factor in FOSMN by investigating our institutional case series.

A case of multiple system atrophy-parkinsonian type with stuttering- and palilalia-like dysfluencies and putaminal atrophy.

Both developmental and acquired stuttering are related to the function of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical loop, which includes the putamen. Here, we present a case of stuttering- and palilalia-like dysfluencies that manifested as an early symptom of multiple system atrophy-parkinsonian type (MSA-P) and bilateral atrophy of the putamen. The patient was a 72-year-old man with no history of developmental stuttering who presented with a stutter for consultation with our otorhinolaryngology department.

Kinematic evaluation of penetration and aspiration in laryngeal elevating and descending periods.

Objectives: It is important to evaluate swallowing movements by dividing them into periods of laryngeal closure and release. The purpose of this study was to evaluate penetration-aspiration (PA) according to human pathophysiology and to identify the factors for predicting PA.

Study Design: Case-control study.

Safety and efficacy of short-term oral immunotherapy with Cry j 1-galactomannan conjugate for Japanese cedar pollinosis: a randomized controlled trial.

Current allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) for pollinosis requires long-term treatment with potentially severe side effects. Therefore, development of an AIT that is safe and more convenient with a shorter regimen is needed. This prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial randomized 55 participants with Japanese cedar pollinosis (JCP) to active or placebo groups to test the safety and efficacy of short-term oral immunotherapy (OIT) with Cry j 1-galactomannan conjugate for JCP.

Clinical management of squamous cell carcinoma associated with sinonasal inverted papilloma.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features and prognosis of patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) associated with sinonasal inverted papilloma (IP).

Methods: The medical records of 95 patients who were diagnosed with IP or SCC associated with IP were retrospectively reviewed. Out of 95 patients, 15 were diagnosed with SCC associated with IP.

Effect of short-term oral immunotherapy with Cry j1-galactomannan conjugate on quality of life in Japanese cedar pollinosis patients: A prospective, randomized, open-label study.

Objective: We have recently reported that a new regimen of short-term oral immunotherapy (OIT) with the Cry j1-galactomannan conjugate for Japanese cedar pollinosis (JCP) is effective to the improvement in the symptoms and medication use during the pollen season and relatively safe. The effect of OIT on quality of life (QOL) of JCP patients has not been assessed. Therefore, we evaluated for the first time the effect of OIT on QOL during the Japanese cedar/cypress pollen season.

Safety and efficacy of a new regimen of short-term oral immunotherapy with Cry j 1-galactomannan conjugate for Japanese cedar pollinosis: a prospective, randomized, open-label study.

Background: Short-term oral immunotherapy (OIT) using the Cry j1-galactomannan conjugate for Japanese cedar pollinosis may be effective and relatively safe. However, a treatment regimen has not been established. In the present study, we examined a new OIT regimen with a build-up phase and extended the maintenance phase of OIT to the peak period of the pollen season to enhance the therapeutic effect and safety of OIT.

Phase I/II study of oral immunotherapy with Cry j1-galactomannan conjugate for Japanese cedar pollinosis.

Objective: Among many immunotherapeutic approaches, oral immunotherapy (OIT) is thought to be an effective route for desensitization against a variety of allergens. However, there is little evidence that OIT is effective for airway allergic diseases such as pollen allergy. Thus, in the present study, we assessed the safety, efficacy and immune response of OIT using the Cry j1-galactomannan conjugate for Japanese cedar pollen allergy.

Neuromagnetic detection of the laryngeal area: Sensory-evoked fields to air-puff stimulation.

The sensory projections from the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx are crucial in assuring safe deglutition, coughing, breathing, and voice production/speaking. Although several studies using neuroimaging techniques have demonstrated cortical activation related to pharyngeal and laryngeal functions, little is known regarding sensory projections from the laryngeal area to the somatosensory cortex. The purpose of this study was to establish the cortical activity evoked by somatic air-puff stimulation at the laryngeal mucosa using magnetoencephalography.

Videofluoroscopic assessment of pharyngeal stage delay reflects pathophysiology after brain infarction.

Objectives/hypothesis: The pathophysiology of dysphagia caused by brain infarction varies with the site of the lesion in the brain. Patients with suprabulbar lesions have demonstrated delayed triggering of pharyngeal stage including delayed laryngeal elevation. Patients with severe pharyngeal stage delay have a high risk of intractable aspiration to the lower respiratory tract.

Benign osteoblastoma of the ethmoid sinus.

Osteoblastoma is categorized as a benign bone-forming tumor, which occurs rarely in the craniofacial region. We report a case of osteoblastoma developed in the nasal cavity and ethmoid sinus in a 14-year-old girl whose chief symptom was nasal obstruction and exophthalmos on the right side. CT revealed the lesion having the same density as bone and a ground-glass border, expanding to the nasal and paranasal cavities.

Evaluation of volitional and reflexive swallowing in elderly patients with a history of pneumonia.

Objectives: Precise assessment of the risk of aspiration is critical in older patients with a history of pneumonia. However, the currently popular videofluoroscopic and videoendoscopic examinations of swallowing only evaluate volitional swallowing. A method for quantitative analysis of reflexive swallowing is not yet available.

Age-related changes in the hyoepiglottic ligament: functional implications based on histopathologic study.

Purpose: The study aimed to identify age-related changes in the hyoepiglottic ligament associated with function of the epiglottis during swallowing and respiration.

Materials And Methods: Normal postmortem laryngeal tissue samples were obtained at autopsy from 20 individuals with no history of laryngeal disease. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: those aged 81-91 years (elderly group, n = 11) and those aged 31-48 years (non-elderly group, n = 9).

Identification of a novel human cancer/testis antigen, KM-HN-1, recognized by cellular and humoral immune responses.

Purpose: We used serologic screening of a cDNA expression library of human testis to identify novel cancer/testis antigens that elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses in cancer patients.

Experimental Design And Results: We identified a novel gene designated KM-HN-1 the expression of which is testis-specific among normal tissues; it contains coiled coil domains and a leucine zipper motif and encodes a putative protein consisting of 833 amino acids. KM-HN-1 expression was observed in various cancer tissues and cancer cell lines at both mRNA and protein levels.

Head and neck cancer antigens recognized by the humoral immune system.

Head and neck cancer in advanced stages are difficult to treat. Therefore, development of new treatment modalities and preventive measures are required. We now report the identification of human head and neck cancer antigens recognized by the humoral immune system.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lacrimal gland with wide and severe myoepithelial differentiation.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the lacrimal gland is the second most common epithelial tumor for which different biologic courses can be predicted by histologic criteria. Three main types of growth patterns, cribriform; tubular; and solid have been identified. Tumors with solid components frequently follow a more aggressive clinical course and show worse prognosis than those with other patterns.