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The authors investigated the atmospheric tree pollen dispersion in Ito City, Shizuoka Prefecture for 12 years for the purpose of the prophylaxis and treatment of pollinosis.We set up a Durham sampler on the rooftop of the three-story building in Ito City, and counted atmospheric pollen grouping first, Taxodiaceae and Cupressaceae; second, Pinaceae and Podocarpaceae; third, Betulaceae and Ulmaceae; last, Fagaceae. The counts of atmospheric tree pollen on season and the weather from January to June were treated statistically and analyzed on the computer program Microsoft Excel.Each average and SD of total pollen count was, in order, 7079±6503 count/cm(2), 502±146 count/cm(2), 891±480 count/cm(2), 906±481 count/cm(2). The last summer weather correlates to the atmospheric pollen count of Taxodiaceae, Cupressaceae, Betulaceace and Ulmaceae. The atmospheric pollen count of Taxodiaceae and Cupressaceae in spring is influenced by the weather; their atmospheric pollen count is reduced by a heavy rain or a heavy snow out of season. The atmospheric pollen count of Pinaceae, Podocarpaceae and Fagaceae does not relate to the weather.As a result of having examined the relations between the count of the atmospheric pollen and the weather in Ito City, I recognized relations in Taxodiaceae, Cupressaceae, Pinaceae and Podocarpaceae, but there were not the relations of intentionality in Betulaceae, Ulmaceae and Fagaceae.

Summary Objective Basic fibroblast growth factor promotes wound healing by accelerating healthy granulation and epithelialization. However, the duration of the effects of a single intracordal injection of basic fibroblast growth factor has not been established, and administration intervals and timing have yet to be standardized. Here, we administered a single injection to patients with insufficient glottic closure and conducted follow-up examinations with high-speed digital imaging to determine the duration of the treatment response. Study Design Case series. Methods For treatment, 20 µg/mL recombinant human basic fibroblast growth factor was injected into two vocal cords. The following examinations were performed before the procedure and at 3-month intervals for 12 months starting at 1 month postinjection: Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain (GRBAS) scale assessment, maximum phonation time, acoustic analysis, high-speed digital imaging, glottal wave analysis, and kymographic analysis. Results Postinjection, the GRBAS scale score decreased, and the maximum phonation time was prolonged. In addition, the mean minimum glottal area and mean minimum glottal distance decreased. These changes were significant at 12 months postinjection compared with preinjection. However, there were no significant changes in the vibrations of the vocal cord margins. Conclusions The intracordal injection of basic fibroblast growth factor improved insufficient glottic closure without reducing the vibrations of the vocal cord margins. This effect remained evident at 12 months postinjection. A single injection can be expected to yield a sufficient and persistent long-term effect.

For a period of 10 years, ending in 2010, the authors investigated atmospheric pollen dispersion of Cryptomeria japonica and Cupressaceae in Ito City. We expect this investigation useful in treating patients with pollen allergy.We set up a Durham sampler on a rooftop of the three-story building in Ito City and counted atmospheric pollen day by day. The results and the local weather conditions were treated statistically on the computer program Microsoft Excel.During the 10 years, in average, initial pollen was observed at January 3; pollen began to release was observed at February 6; final pollen was observed at May 12. The spring seasonal total pollen counts was 5683 grain/cm2. This pollen counts and the previous early winter seasonal pollen counts were correlated statistically. The pollen counts were related with the local weather conditions significantly.The investigations of the atmospheric pollen dispersion of Cryptomeria japonica and Cupressaceae and the weather conditions in the local area are useful to treat patients with the pollen allergy.

A number of reports have investigated the relationship between laryngeal papilloma and human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. On the other hand, it is unclear whether the HPV infection is involved in the occurrence of pharyngeal papilloma. We hypothesized that HPV infection was involved in the occurrence of pharyngeal papilloma similarly to laryngeal papilloma. To verify this hypothesis, we investigated the presence of HPV infection. Furthermore, clinical manifestations of pharyngeal papilloma, which had rarely been reported, were discussed. A male-to-female ratio, solitary or multiple occurrences, and koilocytosis were examined in cases with pharyngeal papilloma. HPV DNA was examined with unfixed surgically resected specimens of pharyngeal papilloma. A screening test by the liquid-phase hybridization method was carried out for the HPV high-risk group (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 56, 58, 59, and 68) and HPV low-risk group (6, 11, 42, 43, 44). As a control, 15 cases with laryngeal papilloma for which the same screening test was carried out were employed. Pharyngeal papilloma occurred as a solitary lesion more often, whereas laryngeal papilloma occurred as multiple tumors more frequently. The HPV infection rate was 0% in pharyngeal papilloma cases, which was in stark contrast with 66.7% in the HPV low-risk group in laryngeal papilloma cases. Pharyngeal papilloma occurred as a solitary lesion in females more frequently. Contrary to our hypothesis, the involvement of HPV infection was unlikely in the occurrence of pharyngeal papilloma.

An acetylcholine sensitivity test for nonspecific responsiveness of the nasal mucosa was established using a fluoresceinstained thread to measure the volume of nasal discharge. This test procedure is safe, inexpensive, simple, and therefore, suitable to perform in an outpatient clinic. This sensitivity test was useful to detect nonspecific hyperresponsiveness of the nasal mucosa using acetylcholine chloride at a low concentration level, eliminating the trigeminal nerve triggering. Ten μL of acetylcholine chloride in physiological saline at a concentration of one μg/mL was dripped on the anterior portion of the inferior turbinate after elimination by aspirating retained nasal discharge, and provoked nasal discharge during 1 minute was measured using a fluorescein-stained thread. The mean dye migration distance was 0.87 ± 4.53 mm in normal control subjects, (n = 15), and it was significantly less than that of the house-dust nasal allergy group, 16.90 ± 12.60 mm (n = 16, t = 2.77, P

Objectives:Our purpose was to investigate mucosal cell injury due to the nitric oxide (NO)-superoxide system in otitis media with effusion.Methods:We determined the levels of nitrotyrosine (NT) and NO and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) in 90 middle ear fluid samples.Results:The NT concentration was significantly higher in group A (50 years old; p Conclusions:Our results indicate involvement of the NO-superoxide system in the pathogenesis of otitis media with effusion, showing evidence of protein and/or cell injury in the middle ear.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of the adjustment of expiratory effort in the control of vocal intensity. STUDY DESIGN: An intensity-loading test was performed by using the airway interruption method. Three groups of subjects were used: a control group thought to resemble normal vocal fold closure, a group of patients with Reinke's edema thought to represent increased mass at the level of the vocal folds, and a group with vocal fold paralysis that was thought to represent a group with lack of adequate vocal fold closure. RESULTS: In the control group, expiratory lung pressure and airway resistance slightly increased. In the patients with Reinke's edema, expiratory lung pressure, and airway resistance significantly increased. In this group, the voice intensity was controlled by laryngeal adjustment, but a greater expiratory effort was needed because of a greater increase in glottal resistance. In the patients with vocal cord paralysis, airway resistance did not increase even with a high-intensity voice. Vocal intensity was controlled by expiratory effort. CONCLUSIONS: If there is sufficient ability for laryngeal adjustment, vocal intensity is controlled primarily by laryngeal adjustment and by expiratory adjustment in response to increased glottal resistance. However, vocal intensity is controlled by expiratory effort when laryngeal adjustment ability is poor.

Quality of life can be adversely affected in many patients who suffer phonation disorders such as hoarseness and dysphonia following esophagectomy. The present study investigated postoperative phonation disorders in 15 patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer.None of the patients had signs of hoarseness before or after surgery. Aerodynamic testing to assess phonatory function testing and laryngoscopy for observing laryngeal movements were performed before and after surgery. As a control, the same tests were conducted in 20 patients treated for gastric cancer by gastrectomy.For esophagectomy patients, mean postoperative flow rate was significantly increased and maximum postoperative phonation time was significantly decreased after operation. Laryngoscopy confirmed postoperative paralysis of left laryngeal movements and excessive adduction of the right, unaffected vocal cord during phonation in 8 of 15 esophagectomy patients, although hoarseness was not reported by any patient. No significant changes were observed for mean postoperative flow rate or maximum postoperative phonation time following surgery in gastrectomy patients.Surgical procedures in the vicinity of the recurrent laryngeal nerve appear to be the cause of postoperative phonation disorders in patients undergoing esophagectomy for esophageal cancer, and these disorders can occur in the absence of symptoms such as hoarseness and dysphonia.

We have previously proposed the ‘mora method’ to evaluate the degree of impairment in spasmodic dysphonia (SD) in Japanese-speaking patients. With this method, impairment is judged as the proportion of impaired morae in a 25-mora sentence in a longer passage read aloud. As the mora is the phonologically isochronic unit in Japanese, the proportion of impaired morae in speech can be used to represent the temporal proportion of impaired Japanese speech. This proportional measure of impairment reflects the perceived severity of the impairment, and is a more reliable measure than a 4-point perceptual rating scale completed either by patients or by voice professionals. In this paper, we propose a ‘syllable method’ to characterize the severity of impairment in English-speaking SD patients. Instead of morae, the severity of SD was represented by the proportion of impaired syllables. It should be possible to characterize SD impairments more reliably and precisely with this method than using a 4-point rating scale completed by voice professionals. Ultimately, the syllable method should become a simple and effective method for evaluating the severity of SD. Furthermore, such methods can be applied to other languages, using the appropriate phonological unit (either mora or syllable).

The toxic effects of the human eosinophil granule major basic protein (MBP), reduced and alkylated, were studied on human nasal mucosa in vitro. With a microscope coupled with a television monitor (magnification x 2500) and videotape recorder, we investigated the effects of MBP on the mucosa and the ciliary activity of single cells. In nasal mucosal specimens from normal individuals, MBP, 5 mumol/L and 10 mumol/L, significantly inhibited (p less than 0.01) ciliary activity by 4 and 1 hours of exposure, respectively. At these same MBP concentrations, the mucosal surface profiles were altered by 4 hours of exposure, and ciliostasis was 75% to 100% complete by 9 and 6 hours, respectively. In a mucosal specimen from a patient with nasal allergy, 1 mumol/L of MBP significantly inhibited (p less than 0.01) ciliary activity by 1 hour; alteration of the mucosal surface profile appeared by 3 hours of exposure, and ciliostasis was 75% to 100% by 13 hours. Similar alterations of the mucosal surface profile were observed with specimens from a second patient with allergies; in contrast, 1 mumol/L of MPB had no effect on specimens from a nonallergic patient. These results indicate that MBP damages human upper respiratory epithelium, causing ciliostasis and alteration of the epithelial surface at concentrations likely achieved in vivo. Furthermore, the mucosal specimens from two allergic patients were damaged by concentrations of MBP that had no effect on mucosal specimens from a normal individual.

Since the mora is the phonologically isochronic unit in Japanese, the proportion of impaired morae may be used as an indicator of the temporal impairment of speech. In spasmodicdysphonia (SD), symptoms occur sporadically and at three levels: (1) voice quality, (2) phonological, and (3) fluency. In previous work [Kumada et al., Jpn. J. Logoped. Phoniatr. 38, 176–181 (1997)], the ‘‘Mora Method’’ was proposed to evaluate the severity of SD in Japanese‐speaking patients, with the severity represented by the proportion of impaired morae in a 25‐morae sentence. Since counting aloud is a fairly rhythmic task, this paper studies using a proportion of impaired syllables in a counting task to characterize the severity of impairment in English‐peaking SD patients. In addition to perceptual syllable‐by‐syllable judgments, the paper also examines timing relations of number‐to‐number and syllable‐to‐syllable intervals for comparison with syllable‐impairment and overall‐quality rating scale judgments. These comparisons should help establish the usefulness of perceptual syllable‐by‐syllable judgments to represent the severity of fluency impairment in English‐speaking SD patients. [Work supported by NIH DC‐00865 to Haskins Laboratories and by St. John’s University.]

Recently, acute suppurative thyroiditis and acute cervical abscess resulting from infection through the piliform sinus branchiogenic fistula have been reported. We presented 4 acute cervical abscess. In this paper, the complete fistulectomy for a parmanent cure were performed for these cases.The cases were one girl aged 11 years, two women aged 22 and 27 years and one boy aged 12 years. Clinical symptoms were sore throat, fever, and recurrent cervical swelling with severe pain. These cases were diagnosed based on fluororadiography with barium, and fistula originating from the apex of the left piriform sinus were disclosed. All cases underwent fistulectomy after acute inflammation was abated.From these cases, we suspect that acute cervical abscess without obvious route of infection must have resulted from infection through the piriform sinus fistula and commplete removal of the fistula is essential for a permanent cure.

In order to study changes in serum histaminolytic enzyme activity in allergic individuals following allergen challenge, serum histaminase activity was measured using the o-dianisidine peroxidase method in patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis. Significantly higher serum histaminase activity was detected in pollen season than out of season and a significant relationship was recognized between serum histaminase activity and the severity of nasal symptoms.

It is well known that histamine is the most important chemical mediator of nasal allergy, and histamine hypersensitivity of the nasal mucosa has been also recognized in the patients with nasal allergy. Therefore, the degradation or inactivation of histamine released from basophilic cells following reaginic antigen-antibody reaction is very important in the patients from a view point of the defence mechanism of the body. The purpose of this study is to investigate the levels of plasma histaminase of allergic patients both in pollen season and in season without pollen of Japanese cedar. The patients have developed clear symptoms due to allergen challenge during the pollen season. Higher plasma histaminase activity was revealed in pollen season than that out of season. Furthermore, close relations were recognized among the plasma histaminase activity and nasal symptoms, local findings, eosinophils in nasal secretion, and histamine sensitivity of nasal mucosa during the pollen season.