Cochlear Implantation in Children with Cochlear Malformation.

Cochlear implantation (CI) has proven to be an effective treatment for severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Inner ear malformation is a rare anomaly and occurs in approximately 20% of cases with congenital SNHL. In cases with cochlear malformation, CI can be successfully performed in nearly all patients, the exceptions being those with complete labyrinthine and cochlear aplasia. It is important to evaluate the severity of inner ear deformity and other associated anomalies during the preimplantation radiological assessment in order to identify any complication that may potentially occur during the surgery and subsequent patient management.

Nasal Mucosal Expression of the Receptors for Inflammatory Chemical Mediators.

The nasal allergic response is a complex process involving interactions between many chemical mediators such as histamine, bradykinin, cysteinyl leukotrienes, platelet-activating factor, prostaglandin D2 and thromboxane A2. The actions of these chemical mediators are facilitated by specific cell surface receptors that are coupled to G-proteins. Current therapeutic strategies against nasal allergic responses are mainly based on drugs that target these chemical mediators. To understand the role of these chemical mediators in allergic rhinitis, determining the identity and distribution of their receptors is of considerable interest. We have examined the expression and localization of the receptors for these chemical mediators in human nasal mucosa. Here, we review our data on the expression and localization of these receptors in allergic rhinitis, and we discuss the roles of chemical mediators in allergic rhinitis.

Clinical Review of Cochlear Implantation Performed at Sapporo Medical University Hospital.

More than 20 years have passed since cochlear implantation (CI) was first introduced in Japan. We began CI at the Sapporo Medical University Hospital in 1988; since then, up to the first half of 2015, we have performed CI on 280 ears. In patients aged less than and those aged over 18 years, 121 and 159 ears, respectively, have undergone surgery. This report presents typical cases of CI, such as an adult case, a bilateral case, a case where both hearing and vision were impaired, a pediatric case, a case with multiple handicaps, a case with a genetic mutation leading to severe hearing loss, and a complicated case. In addition, complications with CI cases experienced during extended follow-up periods are also summarized.

Outcomes of visually impaired patients who received cochlear implantations.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with multiple sensory deficits, including hearing loss and visual impairment, present a unique problem. We evaluated the clinical outcomes of cochlear implantation in patients with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss and visual impairment. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed eight patients with severe sensorineural hearing loss and visual impairment who underwent cochlear implantation at our institution between 1993 and 2014. The follow-up period was between 2 and 20 years. We evaluated the case histories, etiologies of hearing loss and visual impairment, pre- and postoperative pure-tone thresholds, speech perception rates after CI using the Japanese CD speech discrimination scoring system (CI-2004 test) for words and sentences, and pre- and postoperative communication means. Postoperative speech discrimination scores were compared between patients with and without visual impairment who underwent cochlear implantation. RESULTS: The outcomes of cochlear implantation were good in all patients, with seven showing the ability to hold a conversation with others. The average proportion of correct answers for words and sentences in the CI-2004 test was 72.3 ± 19.1% and 86.0 ± 16.1%, respectively, for the patients with visual impairment and 62.1 ± 21.7% and 78.5 ± 20.9%, respectively, for those without visual impairment (based on auditory senses only). There were no significant differences in results between the patients with and without visual impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Cochlear implantation is important for the rehabilitation of patients with severe auditory loss and visual impairment. Medical staff members require additional skills to perform auditory evaluations and rehabilitate patients with multiple sensory deficits.

[A relationship between birch pollen counts and meteorological factors in Sapporo].

Occurrence of airborne pollen in Sapporo has been studied for 19 years during the period between 1995 and 2013. There are wide year-to-year variations in the quantities of birch pollens. A simple linear regression with the least squares method was used for studying correlations between the annual quantities of birch pollens and the meteorological factors. A significant positive correlation was found between the hours of sunlight in June of the preceding year and the annual birch pollen concentrations with the correlation coefficient, R = 0.667. Also, we found the significant positive correlation between the hours of sunlight in March and the annual birch pollen concentrations with the correlation coefficient, R = 0.684. These results suggest that the atmospheric birch pollen counts can be predicted from meteorological factors.

Cochlear implantation in a patient with Paget's disease.

Paget's disease of the temporal bone can cause hearing loss that eventually develops into profound deafness. However, the treatment options for hearing loss associated with Paget's disease are limited. Thus far, only 3 cases of cochlear implantation in patients with Paget's disease have been reported. In this study, we describe a 62-year-old woman who underwent cochlear implantation for progressive bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The patient gained useful open-set speech perception over a 5-year postoperative period. Cochlear implantation can be beneficial in patients with profound hearing loss associated with Paget's disease.