Zygomatic Mastoiditis with Extracranial Complications: An Extremely Rare Cause of Cheek Swelling / 대한이비인후과학회지

Zygomatic mastoiditis is an extremely rare cause of an inflamed, swollen cheek. We encountered a 10-year-old girl with left preauricular swelling, pain, and mild trismus. Temporal bone computed tomography revealed a zygomatic root abscess with bone defects and a scanty amount of soft tissue lesion in Prussak's space. After antibiotic therapy for 2 weeks, her pain subsided, but the swelling persisted. All inflamed air cells, including the lesion in the zygomatic root, were eradicated. The swelling subsided after the surgery. The patient has not experienced any postoperative complications or shown any evidence of relapse for more than 1 year.

Zygomatic Mastoiditis with Extracranial Complications: An Extremely Rare Cause of Cheek Swelling / 대한이비인후과학회지

Zygomatic mastoiditis is an extremely rare cause of an inflamed, swollen cheek. We encountered a 10-year-old girl with left preauricular swelling, pain, and mild trismus. Temporal bone computed tomography revealed a zygomatic root abscess with bone defects and a scanty amount of soft tissue lesion in Prussak's space. After antibiotic therapy for 2 weeks, her pain subsided, but the swelling persisted. All inflamed air cells, including the lesion in the zygomatic root, were eradicated. The swelling subsided after the surgery. The patient has not experienced any postoperative complications or shown any evidence of relapse for more than 1 year.

Intrahippocampal injection of a lentiviral vector expressing neurogranin enhances cognitive function in 5XFAD mice

Progressive cognitive declines are the main clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Cognitive impairment in AD is directly correlated with amyloid beta (Aβ)-mediated synaptic deficits. It is known that upregulation of neurogranin (Ng), a postsynaptic protein, contributes to the enhancement of synaptic plasticity and cognitive function. By contrast, downregulation of Ng expression results in learning and memory impairments. Interestingly, Ng expression is significantly reduced in the parenchyma of brains with AD. However, the pathological role that downregulated Ng plays in the cognitive dysfunctions observed in AD remains unclear. Therefore, the present study examined whether enhancing Ng expression affected cognitive functions in 5XFAD mice, an animal model of AD. We found that the Ng reductions and cognitive decline observed in 5XFAD mice were restored in mice that were intrahippocampally injected with an Ng-expressing lentiviral vector. Furthermore, overexpression of Ng upregulated expression of postsynaptic density protein-95 in the hippocampus of 5XFAD mice. These results suggest that the cause of cognitive decline in AD may be at least partially associated with reduced Ng levels, and thus, supplementation of Ng may be an appropriate therapeutic strategy for individuals with AD.

The radial forearm free flap head and neck reconstruction

The free flaps have been used for reconstruction of the head and neck because of their superior results comparing with other types of flaps. Among them, radial forearm free flap has many advantages, its thinness, pliablilty, long vascular pedicle, large sensory flap, and compound flap including tendons and bone. We report 28 cases of head and neck reconstruction with radial forearm free flap between March 1991 and March 1997. Patient's age ranged from 21 to 76 years(mean 50.5 years). There were 23 men and 5 women. Mean follow-up period was 14 months. The most common cause was malignant tumor of the head and neck, especially squamous cell carcinomas(18 cases). We used this flap to reconstruct the oral cavity in 13 cases, the hypopharyngoesophagus in 6 cases, external surface of the head and neck in 7 cases, and the orbit in 2 cases. All of these flaps survived without complication. Two cases of fistula developed, in which forearm flaps were used for tongue and hypopharyngoesophageal reconstruction, and they were treated with conservative manners. Partial losses of skin graft at donor site of the forearm developed in 3 cases. They healed with split-thickness skin graft or local flap. The function of reconstructed upper aerodigestive tract and eye socket was good. The cosmetic result was not good in cases of reconstruction for external surface of the face with this flap, but it was better than other free flaps. So, we concluded the radial forearm free flap is available for reconstruction of the head and neck.