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The immunohistochemical expression pattern and the physiological role of transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) 4 in the endolymphatic sac were investigated. TRPV4 was expressed predominantly in the apical membrane of mitochondria-rich cells, and cell volume regulation by TRPV4 was observed in a tissue culture of the rat endolymphatic sac. TRPV4 was also present in the endolymphatic sacs of patients with vestibular schwannoma and with Meniere's disease. TRPV4 is assumed to play a role as an osmoreceptor in cell and fluid volume regulation in the human endolymphatic sac., Audiology and Neuro-Otology, 14(3), pp.190-197; 2008

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the validity of cochlear implantation (CI) on prelingually deafened adults who have been trained by auditory-verbal/oral communication since childhood. METHODS: Preoperative and postoperative data was investigated regarding the rehabilitation, hearing level, and educational experience of eight prelingually deafened adults. All eight patients were diagnosed with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss (preoperative hearing levels were over 100 dB). All used hearing aids (HA) before the age of two and were trained by auditory-verbal/oral communication since childhood. The average age of the patients at the time of their CI operations was 23.3 ranging from 18 to 29 years of age. The average postoperative observation time was 55.4 months ranging from 11 to 90 months. RESULTS: Improvement was achieved not only on the pure-tone hearing threshold, but also in speech perception on tests using the Japanese video speech discrimination score (SDS) system. All of them now use CI very well in their daily lives and play important roles in society. CONCLUSION: It was demonstrated that even prelingually deafened adult patients could achieve considerable improvement through CI when they were trained well by auditory-verbal/oral communications since childhood. The indications of CI for prelingually deafened adults must be determined carefully, but all of them do not have to be rejected only because they are prelingually deafened. In other words, CI could be recommended for prelingually deafened adult patients if they received habilitation well with consistent auditory-verbal/oral training using well-fitted HAs., Auris Nasus Larynx, 35(3), pp.349-352; 2008

Bright light at night improves the alertness of night workers. Melatonin suppression induced by light at night is, however, reported to be a possible risk factor for breast cancer. Short-wavelength light has a strong impact on melatonin suppression. A red-visor cap can cut the short-wavelength light from the upper visual field selectively with no adverse effects on visibility. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a red-visor cap on light-induced melatonin suppression, performance, and sleepiness at night. Eleven healthy young male adults (mean age: 21.2±0.9 yr) volunteered to participate in this study. On the first day, the subjects spent time in dim light (

To clarify the usefulness of modified soft-wall reconstruction method by combing with mastoid obliteration, 96 patients (98 ears) with their age ranging from 5 to 82 (average 51.3), including 62 ears with chronic otitis media (COM) with cholesteatoma, 18 ears with non-cholesteatomatous COM, 14 ears with postoperative cavity problem, and 4 ears with adhesive-type COM, who had soft-wall reconstruction of the posterior ear canal and mastoid obliteration using mainly bone powder following mastoidectomy, were evaluated their postoperative conditions more than a year after surgery. Overall success rate was 76.5% (75/98), and fresh cases showed better success rate (84.8%) than those with a history of multiple surgeries (69.2%). Among unsuccessful cases, crust and/or debris accumulation was observed most (nine ears), followed by persistent wet condition (seven ears), and exposure of the obliterated material (five ears), while only two ears showed a retraction pocket formation. The success rates remained almost the same among those who were followed for more than 2 and 3 years (46/61, 75% and 21/28, 75%, respectively). In 60 ears on which postoperative hearing was assessed, 41.7% showed less than 15 dB of air-bone gap (ABG), and 61.7% showed less than 20 dB of ABG. Mastoid obliteration with bone powder in combination with soft-wall reconstruction of the posterior ear canal appeared a useful method for obliterating mastoidectomized cavity especially for prevention of postoperative pocket formation.

Objective: In order to clarify clinical efficacy of commercially available 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) topical cream, a clinical study was conducted. Methods: Two to three cubic millimetres of 5-FU topical cream (Kyowa, Roche) was applied on 50 cases of various types of cholesteatoma (50 patients) two to five times with the interval of 2 weeks, and its clinical efficacy was evaluated by the criteria we developed. Results: In total, 59% of the cholesteatomas showed good effect, 29% of them showed fair effect, and the effect was poor in the remaining 12%. It was particularly effective in cholesteatomas in the EAC, attic cholesteatomas with an aerated mastoid, and in recurrent-type cholesteatomas. Conclusion: 5-FU topical cream appeared effective for the treatment of cholesteatomas.