[LONGITUDINAL EVALUATION OF EFFICACY OF SUBLINGUAL IMMUNOTHERAPY IN PEDIATRIC PERENNIAL ALLERGIC RHINITIS USING LABORATORY EXAMINATIONS AND IN VIVO BIOMARKERS].

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) with house dust mite (HDM) on pediatric perennial allergic rhinitis (AR) based on longitudinal assessment of nasal symptoms, laboratory examination, and in vivo biomarkers.

Method: The subjects included 40 children with perennial AR who had SLIT with HDM for 2 years. Nasal symptoms, medications, skin prick tests, nasal provocation tests, and peripheral blood tests were evaluated before, 6 months, one year and two years after the onset of SLIT.

Development of allergic rhinitis in early life: A prospective cohort study in high-risk infants.

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is the most common allergic disease in children. The development process of AR in early childhood, however, is not well understood. We prospectively investigated the process in regard to not only the nasal symptoms and sensitization but also the nasal cytology, in relation to recurrent wheeze in a high-risk cohort.

Primary cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy and congenital infection: a population-based, mother-child, prospective cohort study.

Objective: This study assessed maternal cytomegalovirus antibodies, and the occurrence of primary and congenital cytomegalovirus infections, and risk factors of congenital infection after a maternal primary infection.

Study Design: We included 19,435 pregnant women in Japan, who were tested for serum cytomegalovirus antibodies before 20 gestational weeks. Immunoglobulin (Ig) G avidity was evaluated in women with both IgG and IgM antibodies; tests were repeated at ≥28 gestational weeks among women without IgG and IgM antibodies.

A pediatric case of productive cough caused by novel variants in DNAH9.

We report the first Japanese case of primary ciliary dyskinesia caused by DNAH9 variations. The patient, a 5-year-old girl, had repeated episodes of productive cough after contracting the common cold at the age of 1 year and 6 months. She did not have a situs abnormality or congenital heart defect.

Comparison of the prevalence and features of inner ear malformations in congenital unilateral and bilateral hearing loss.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to clarify differences in the prevalence and features of bony malformations in inner ear between congenital unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL) and congenital bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (BSNHL).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 378 consecutive infants referred from routine newborn hearing screening in the past 18 years. Clinical background, audiological data, and temporal bone computed tomography (CT) findings were analyzed.

Analysis of Otologic Features of Patients With Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia.

Objective: To evaluate otologic features of primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), especially eardrum features, audiometric findings, and clinical course.

Study Design: Retrospective patient review.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Sonographic diagnosis of acute mastoiditis and subsequent retroauricular abscess in a pediatric cochlear implant recipient: A case report.

When acute mastoiditis occurs in cochlear implant recipients, it can progress to subsequent retroauricular abscess due to the absence of the external mastoid cortex resulting from mastoidectomy performed for cochlear implantation. The management goal is to control infection while preserving the implanted device. A 2-year-old boy with cochlear implants developed acute mastoiditis and a subsequent retroauricular abscess.

Independent exercise for glottal incompetence to improve vocal problems and prevent aspiration pneumonia in the elderly: a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of a self-controlled vocal exercise in elderly people with glottal closure insufficiency.

Design: Parallel-arm, individual randomized controlled trial.

Methods: Patients who visited one of 10 medical centers under the National Hospital Organization group in Japan for the first time, aged 60 years or older, complaining of aspiration or hoarseness, and endoscopically confirmed to have glottal closure insufficiency owing to vocal cord atrophy, were enrolled in this study.

[SYMPTOMS AND HINDRANCES DUE TO PEDIATRIC JCP EVALUATED BY PATIENTS AND THEIR PARENTS].

Background: It is difficult to know how the children with Japanese cedar pollinosis (JCP) recognize their own symptoms and quality of life (QOL). In addition, the adversely impact of pediatric JCP on the QOL of the parents is not understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the symptoms and troubles due to pediatric JCP evaluated by patients and their parents, and analyze the difference.

A mutation in the heparin-binding site of noggin as a novel mechanism of proximal symphalangism and conductive hearing loss.

The access of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) to the BMP receptors on the cell surface is regulated by its antagonist noggin, which binds to heparan-sulfate proteoglycans on the cell surface. Noggin is encoded by NOG and mutations in the gene are associated with aberrant skeletal formation, such as in the autosomal dominant disorders proximal symphalangism (SYM1), multiple synostoses syndrome, Teunissen-Cremers syndrome, and tarsal-carpal coalition syndrome. NOG mutations affecting a specific function may produce a distinct phenotype.

'Benifuuki' green tea containing o-methylated catechin reduces symptoms of Japanese cedar pollinosis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Methylated catechin, one of the active ingredients in green tea, has been reported to ameliorate allergic reactions. We evaluated the efficacy of 'Benifuuki' green tea, which contains O-methylated epigallocatechin-3-O-[3-O-methyl] gallate (O-methylated EGCG), in alleviating Japanese cedar pollinosis (JCP).

Methods: The study was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

'Benifuuki' Green Tea Containing O-Methylated Catechin Reduces Symptoms of Japanese Cedar Pollinosis: A Randomized, Double- Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Background: Methylated catechin, one of the active ingredients in green tea, has been reported to ameliorate allergic reactions. We evaluated the efficacy of 'Benifuuki' green tea, which contains O-methylated epigallocatechin-3-O-[3-O-methyl] gallate (O-methylated EGCG), in alleviating Japanese cedar pollinosis (JCP).

Methods: The study was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

High prevalence of inner-ear and/or internal auditory canal malformations in children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss.

Objective: Radiological and genetic examination has recently advanced for diagnosis of congenital hearing loss. The aim of this study was to elucidate the prevalence of inner-ear and/or internal auditory canal malformations in children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL) for better management of hearing loss and genetic and lifestyle counseling.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of charts and temporal bone computed tomography (CT) findings of 69 consecutive patients 0-15 years old with USNHL.

Comorbidity of GJB2 and WFS1 mutations in one family.

It is rarely reported that two distinct genetic mutations affecting hearing have been found in one family. We report on a family exhibiting comorbid mutation of GJB2 and WFS1. A four-generation Japanese family with autosomal dominant sensorineural hearing loss was studied.

[A case of primary ciliary dyskinesia who had been treated as asthma].

We report a case of 18-old girl with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) who had been diagnosed as asthma. Since birth, she had presented with unexplained productive cough, sputum, rhinorrhea, and stridor with situs solitus. Her familial history was negative for PCD.

Biomarkers for allergen immunotherapy in cedar pollinosis.

To initiate, monitor, and complete effective immunotherapy, biomarkers to predict and visualize the immune responses are needed. First, we need to identify the right candidate for immunotherapy. Secondly, the immune responses induced by immunotherapy should be monitored.

Cochlear implantation in complete remission in a patient with leukemia.

Patients with leukemia have an increased risk of developing sensorineural hearing loss. This is a retrospective review of a profoundly deafened patient with acute myelogenous leukemia who underwent cochlear implantation. The 26-year-old patient was successfully implanted with a Nucleus cochlear implant in the complete remission after peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.