Clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of acute sensorineural hearing loss.

Objective: Acute sensorineural hearing loss represents a spectrum of conditions characterized by sudden onset hearing loss. The "Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Acute Sensorineural Hearing Loss" were issued as the first clinical practice guidelines in Japan outlining the standard diagnosis and treatment. The purpose of this article is to strengthen the guidelines by adding the scientific evidence including a systematic review of the latest publications, and to widely introduce the current treatment options based on the scientific evidence.

Efficacy of the pretreatment geriatric nutritional risk index for predicting severe adverse events in patients with head and neck cancer treated with chemoradiotherapy.

Objective: The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) is a simple and well-established nutritional assessment tool. Although concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), particularly cisplatin-based CCRT, is a standard treatment for locoregional advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the predictive factors of adverse events related to CCRT remain to be elucidated. The present study aimed to determine the association between GNRI and CCRT-related adverse events in patients of all ages with head and neck cancer (HNC) who underwent CCRT.

The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index as a Prognostic Factor in Patients with Advanced Head and Neck Cancer.

Objective: The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) is a simple and well-established nutritional assessment tool and is a significant prognostic factor in various cancers. However, the role of the GNRI in predicting clinical outcomes in patients with advanced head and neck cancer (AHNC) has not been investigated. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between the GNRI and prognosis in patients with AHNC.

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.

Associations between self-reported hearing loss and outdoor activity limitations, psychological distress and self-reported memory loss among older people: Analysis of the 2016 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan.

Aim: To investigate the associations between self-reported hearing loss and outdoor activity limitations, psychological distress and self-reported memory loss among older people.

Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study using the data from the 2016 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan. The study population included people aged ≥65 years living at home, without a clinical diagnosis of dementia.

Modified combination of platelet count and neutrophil "to" lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic factor in patients with advanced head and neck cancer.

Background: We evaluated the prognostic potential of the combination of platelet count and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (COP-NLR) in patients with advanced head and neck cancer.

Methods: We proposed a modified COP-NLR scoring system defined as follows: score 0 (platelet count level <300 × 10 /L and NLR <3); score 1 (platelet count level ≥300 × 10 /L and NLR <3); and score 2 (NLR ≥3). We assessed whether the modified scoring system had better performance as an indicator of prognosis than the existing COP-NLR scoring system (original and 4-group scores).

Differences between acoustic trauma and other types of acute noise-induced hearing loss in terms of treatment and hearing prognosis.

Objectives: To evaluate the differences between acoustic trauma (AT) and other types of acute noise-induced hearing loss (ANIHL), we performed a literature search and case reviews.

Methods: The literature search based on online databases was completed in September 2016. Articles on ANIHL and steroid treatment for human subjects were reviewed.

[Cooperation between Otolaryngologists and Occupational Health Support Centers].

Although prevention of noise-induced hearing loss is important, the risk of exposure to high-level sounds is not well recognized at workplaces. Occupational health support centers are expected to provide care resources for workers, wherein the workers can see an otolaryngologist to prevent noise-induced hearing loss. The Committee of Occupational and Environmental Health in the Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Society of Japan was planned to promote cooperation with occupational health support centers by means of registration of otolaryngologists as occupational health advisors.

Time Trends in Histological Features of Latent Prostate Cancer in Japan.

Purpose: The incidence of prostate cancer is reported to be increasing in Asia, including Japan. Although this trend has been attributed partly to a more Western diet, this assumption may involve variable confounders. Thus, we examined the histological features of contemporary vs historical latent prostate cancer.

Outcome of T4 (International Union Against Cancer Staging System, 7th edition) or recurrent nasal cavity and paranasal sinus carcinoma treated with proton beam.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical features, prognostic factors, and toxicity of treatment for unresectable carcinomas of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinus (NCPS) treated with proton beam therapy (PBT).

Methods And Materials: Seventeen patients (13 men, 4 women) with unresectable carcinomas of the NCPS who underwent PBT at the University of Tsukuba between 2001 and 2007 were analyzed. The patients' median age was 62 years (range, 30-83 years).

[A case of recurrent metastatic testicular cancer, successfully treated with paclitaxel, ifomide and cisplatin].

A 30-year-old man was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and underwent a radical orchiectomy. Pathological diagnosis was a mixed type nonseminomatous germ cell tumor. We diagnosed him as having stage I testicular cancer and decided to forgo adjuvant therapy.

The importance of postoperative radiotherapy against polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma of the parotid gland: case report and review of the literature.

Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (PLGA) of the salivary gland is a disease entity that is a recently described form of adenocarcinoma. PLGA most commonly arises in the minor salivary glands. We report two cases of PLGA of the parotid gland.

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary sinus: a report of two cases.

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) is a highly aggressive neoplasm and a histologically distinctive variant of squamous cell carcinoma. Since the first description by Wain et al. in 1986, only 18 cases with BSCC in the nasal cavity or in the paranasal cavity have been reported in the English literature.

Successful treatment of eosinophilic otitis media using ramatroban: report of two cases.

Objective: The pathogenesis of eosinophilic otitis media is not yet fully understood. The purpose of this paper is to describe the clinical course of our two patients with eosinophilic otitis media and to discuss the pathogenesis and treatment of this intractable condition.

Methods: Two cases of eosinophilic otitis media were treated with ramatroban.

Preoperative evaluation of ossicular chain abnormality in patients with conductive deafness without perforation of the tympanic membrane.

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of pure-tone audiometry, tympanometry, and liquid and acoustic reflex (AR) tests in the differential diagnosis of ossicular fixation and discontinuity.

Design: A prospective clinical trial.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

[Complete neurological recovery in a patient with decerebrate rigidity following cardiac arrest from acute airway obstruction by advanced laryngeal cancer].

A 59-year-old man presented with severe dyspnea caused by advanced laryngeal cancer. As he had disregarded the dyspnea for a month, we did not have enough information about the extent of the tumor. The pulse oximeter showed 88% with oxygen inhalation.

Flutamide-induced hepatic dysfunction in relation to steady-state plasma concentrations of flutamide and its metabolites.

The frequency, severity, and outcome of flutamide-induced hepatic injury were prospectively evaluated in 55 patients with prostate cancer who received 125 mg of flutamide 3 times a day (daily dose: 375 mg) combined with an agonistic analogue of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone. In addition, we examined plasma and urine concentrations of flutamide and its major metabolites 4 weeks after the beginning of flutamide therapy, and evaluated their significance in predicting flutamide-induced hepatic dysfunction. Hepatic function could be assessed in 50 patients and hepatic dysfunction during therapy was observed in 9 patients (18%); 3 patients (6%) were classified as having moderate liver dysfunction and 6 (12%) were classified as having mild liver dysfunction.

Xanthogranulomatous cystitis.

Xanthogranulomatous cystitis (XC) is a rare benign chronic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology. Herein we report a case of a 70-year-old woman who presented with frequent, postmicturition pain and lower abdominal discomfort. Cystoscopy revealed a mass at the dome of the bladder near the left wall.

Glucocorticoids and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate ameliorate ischemia-induced injury of the cochlea.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of steroidal drugs on the functional recovery of the cochlea after transient ischemia. Albino guinea pigs were subjected to transient cochlear ischemia of 30 min duration, and the threshold shifts of the compound action potential (CAP) from the pre-ischemic values were evaluated 4 h after ischemia. Pre-ischemic administration of a glucocorticoid, prednisolone or methylprednisolone, significantly ameliorated the post-ischemic CAP threshold shifts as compared with control animals at a relatively wide range of doses.

[Decrease in anticoagulant factors in patients with prostate cancer treated with diethylstilbestrol diphosphate].

Purpose: Estrogen has been highly evaluated as one of the most potent endocrine agents for the treatment of prostate cancer. Unfortunately, a high risk of cardiovascular complications is a clinically important adverse effect of estrogen therapy, and occasionally the complications are fatal. In recent years a high incidence (55%) of thrombotic events has been reported in patients with congenital protein S (PS) deficiency.

[Clinical study of bladder injury].

Since bladder injury has no specific clinical symptoms, accurate diagnosis at first consultation is relatively difficult. To elucidate the clinical characters type of injury, clinical symptoms, laboratory findings, methods of therapy and diagnosis, we reviewed 15 patients with bladder injury over a 9-year-period 1990-1998 (10 were traumatic injuries and 5 spontaneous injuries). We found no specific clinical symptom of bladder injury.