Electroconvulsive therapy-specific volume changes in nuclei of the amygdala and their relationship to long-term anxiety improvement in depression.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is one of the most effective treatments for depression. ECT induces volume changes in the amygdala, a key center of anxiety. However, the clinical relevance of ECT-induced changes in amygdala volume remains uncertain.

The Heterogeneous Impact of Prediagnostic Folate Intake for Fluorouracil-Containing Induction Chemotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer.

Fluorouracil (FU) exerts its antitumor activity by inhibiting folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism. Evidence that folate may play a role in the carcinogenic process via folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism has given rise to the hypothesis that pre-diagnostic folate intake may induce heterogeneous chemosensitivity to FU-containing induction chemotherapy (IC) in head and neck cancer. To assess this hypothesis, we conducted a cohort study to investigate whether the association between prediagnostic dietary folate intake and cancer survival differed between treatment regimens with and without FU-containing IC in 504 cases of locally advanced (stage III/IV) HNSCC, using an epidemiologic database combined with clinical data.

Frequency-dependent hearing outcomes with or without preservation of intact ossicular articulations.

Objective: To determine the frequency-specific benefits of ossicular chain preservation compared to performing disarticulations and reconstructions in transmastoid facial nerve decompression surgery in patients with an intact ossicular chain.

Methods: A retrospective chart review (January 2007 and June 2018) of patients undergoing transmastoid facial nerve decompression on the intact middle ear for severe facial palsy at a tertiary referral center. Surgery was performed with ossicular chain disarticulation on an as-needed basis using either ossicular chain preservation (without ossicular disarticulation), incudostapedial separation, or incus disarticulation technique.

Mature dendritic cells enriched in regulatory molecules may control regulatory T cells and the prognosis of head and neck cancer.

We previously reported that regulatory T (Treg) cells expressing CTLA-4 on the cell surface are abundant in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The role of expanded Treg cells in the tumor microenvironment of HNSCC remains unclear. In this study, we reveal that the tumor microenvironment of HNSCC is characterized by the high expression of genes related to Treg cells, dendritic cells (DCs), and interleukin (IL)-17-related molecules.

Acoustic neuromas associated with sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Background: Several studies have reported sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SHL) as an initial symptom of acoustic neuromas (ANs).

Aims/objectives: We aimed to retrospectively evaluate the incidence of SHL and the associated rates of post-treatment improvement in patients diagnosed with ANs.

Materials And Methods: We analysed the clinical data of 686 patients with ANs and examined tumour size, correlation with hearing loss, number of episodes of SHL, extent of auditory recovery, and associated audiogram patterns.

Different voltage dependence of I blockade in nonselective I blockers causes their opposite effects on early afterdepolarization in drug-induced arrhythmia.

Several false-positive results in the human ether-à-gogo-related gene test suggest that blockers of the rapid component of delayed rectifier K current (I) do not necessarily produce drug-induced arrhythmias. Specifically, the occurrence of early afterdepolarization (EAD) differs among I blockers, even if the prolonged action potential duration is in the same range. To predict EAD in drug-induced arrhythmias, we proposed a prediction method based on the mechanisms underlying the difference in frequency of EAD among nonselective I blockers.

Intratympanic steroid therapy for Bell's palsy with poor prognostic results.

In Bell's palsy, electrodiagnosis by electroneurography (ENoG) is widely used to predict a patient's prognosis. The therapeutic options for patients with poor prognostic results remain controversial. Here, we investigated whether early intervention with intratympanic steroid therapy (ITST) is an effective treatment for Bell's palsy patients with poor electrodiagnostic test results (≤ 10% electroneurography value).

A Multi-Institutional Study of Older Hearing Aids Beginners-A Prospective Single-Arm Observation on Executive Function and Social Interaction.

Objectives: To obtain new insights into research questions on how executive function and social interaction would be observed to change after the introduction of hearing aids (HAs) in older people with hearing impairment.

Design: Multi-institutional prospective single-arm observational study.

Setting And Participants: Outpatients with complaints of hearing difficulty who visited HA clinics between October 18, 2017, and June 30, 2019, in 7 different university hospitals in Japan.

Oncolytic activity of naturally attenuated herpes-simplex virus HF10 against an immunocompetent model of oral carcinoma.

Prognosis for advanced oral carcinoma remains poor. Oncolytic virotherapy uses replication-competent viruses to infect and kill only the tumor cells. However, it has been difficult to investigate the oncolytic activity of viruses against oral carcinomas in mouse models.

Facial and hearing outcomes in transmastoid nerve decompression for Bell's palsy, with preservation of the ossicular chain.

Objectives: Facial nerve decompression is a salvage treatment for Bell's palsy patients for whom a poor prognosis is anticipated with standard medical treatment. The transmastoid approach is a frequently performed approach, but it remains unknown if this surgery is effective when the ossicular chain is preserved. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of facial nerve decompression using the transmastoid approach in Bell's palsy.

Effect of muscle strengthening on peripheral facial palsy: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of muscle strengthening intervention in peripheral facial palsy (PFP).

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at five hospitals. Fifty-one subjects with PFP who showed a response of less than 20% on electroneurography (ENoG) were enrolled.

Clinical characteristics, the diagnostic criteria and management recommendation of otitis media with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (OMAAV) proposed by Japan Otological Society.

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) is a form of necrotizing vasculitis with few or no immune deposits. It primarily affects small and medium blood vessels. AAV is classified into three categories, granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangitis (EGPA), and two major ANCAs, proteinase 3 (PR3)-ANCA or myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA are involved in their pathogenesis.

Data for temporal facial nerve recovery in Ramsay Hunt syndrome following intratympanic steroid therapy.

This article contains data related to the research article entitled "Concurrent treatment with intratympanic dexamethasone improves facial nerve recovery in Ramsay Hunt syndrome" (Akira Inagaki, Toshiya Minakata, Schiyo Katsumi, Shingo Murakami) [1]. This data article reports the protocol for a clinical trial investigating the benefit of intratympanic steroid therapy on facial recovery in Ramsay Hunt syndrome and temporal facial recovery. The data included in this article are as follows: inclusion and exclusion criteria, the treatment protocol of steroids and antiviral therapies, facial recovery as assessed by the House-Brackmann scale in all enrolled patients, House-Brackmann scores in patients with a poor electrophysiological result, and House-Brackmann scores after propensity score matching.

Concurrent treatment with intratympanic dexamethasone improves facial nerve recovery in Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

Objective: To determine whether early intervention with intratympanic steroid injections, known as concurrent intratympanic steroid therapy (ITST), is an effective supplement to systemic steroid therapy for moderately-severe to severe Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

Methods: Forty-six patients with Ramsay Hunt syndrome (House-Brackmann grade IV or higher) who received either concurrent ITST with standard systemic steroid therapy (ITST group, n = 12) or standard systemic therapy alone (control group, n = 34) with antivirals starting within 7 days of onset. Patients in the concurrent ITST group received the standard systemic dose of prednisolone (410 mg in total) and intratympanic dexamethasone (16.

An Unusual Tumor of the Ear: Pilomatricoma in a Middle-Aged Woman.

Pilomatricoma is a benign tumor arising from hair follicle matrix cells, presenting as an asymptomatic, firm, slow growing, mobile, superficial skin nodule typically in children. This lesion with an atypical clinical presentation is frequently misdiagnosed as other skin lesions and even as malignant entities regardless of detailed cytological, imaging examinations; the site of occurrence is one of the keys to accurate diagnosis. Here, we present a case of pilomatrixoma involving the ear, the cymba conchae of the auricle, which is an extremely rare site for the lesion in a 52-year-old woman.

Clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of chronic tinnitus in Japan.

Clinical practice guidelines in Japan for tinnitus were published in May 2019. Effective treatment of tinnitus contributes to quality of life and may improve depression, anxiety, and cognitive function. The highest priority of treatment recommended by this guideline involves educational counseling, including an explanation of the mechanisms of tinnitus.

Oncolytic activity of HF10 in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

Recent developments in therapeutic strategies have improved the prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Nevertheless, 5-year survival rate remains only 40%, necessitating new therapeutic agents. Oncolytic virotherapy entails use of replication-competent viruses to selectively kill cancer cells.

Concurrent Treatment With Intratympanic Dexamethasone for Moderate-Severe Through Severe Bell's Palsy.

Objective: To determine whether early intervention with intratympanic steroid injection, known as concurrent intratympanic steroid therapy, is effective as a supplement to systemic steroid therapy for treating moderate-severe to severe Bell's palsy.

Design: An open-label historical control trial.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Clinical and Radiological Characteristics of Malignant Tumors Located to the Cerebellopontine Angle and/or Internal Acoustic Meatus.

Objective: Metastatic lesions to the internal auditory meatus (IAM) and/or the cerebellopontine angle (CPA) are rare and may appear like a vestibular schwannoma (VS). We herein raise the issue of the diagnosis and treatment of nine malignant cases of the CPA and IAM among three referral centers in France and Japan. The aim of this study was 1) to report malignant lesions of the CPA, their diagnosis and treatment, 2) to review the literature, 3) to propose criteria of suspicion for malignant tumors of the CPA.

Calcium-Sensing Receptor Is Functionally Expressed in the Cochlear Perilymphatic Compartment and Essential for Hearing.

Maintaining Ca homeostasis in lymphatic fluids is necessary for proper hearing. Despite its significance, the mechanisms that maintain the cochlear lymphatic Ca concentrations within a certain range are not fully clarified. We investigated the functional expression of calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR), which plays a pivotal role in sensing extracellular Ca concentrations for feedback regulations.

Normalization of breathing with adenotonsillectomy in Japanese pediatric OSA.

Objective: Since reports on surgical results for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in Japan are insufficient for debate, this study aimed to evaluate the feature of Japanese OSA children and surgical result and document whether is obesity and affecting factor similar to non-Asian countries.

Methods: This is a retrospective study. A total of 242 children with OSA at the Department of Otolaryngology and the Good Sleep Center, Nagoya City University Hospital and the Toyohashi Mates Sleep Disorders Center were included in the study.

Identification of a chemical modulator of EZH2-mediated silencing by cell-based high-throughput screening assay.

Dysregulation of enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2), a methyltransferase component of polycomb repressive complex 2, is found in many types of cancers especially those that are highly progressive and aggressive. Specific catalytic inhibitors of EZH2 have high anti-tumour activity, particularly in lymphomas with EZH2 activating mutations. However, the clinical benefits of EZH2 catalytic inhibitors in tumours overexpressing EZH2 are still limited.