[Acute onset Wegener's granulomatosis presenting as otitis media; a case report].

We report the case of a 57-year-old woman with Wegener's granulomatosis who presented with otitis media. The patient presented with a 2-month history of bilateral hearing loss and dizziness. Antibiotic treatment was not effective, and the patient was confirmed to have bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Serum was positive for cytoplasmic anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody [C (PR3)-ANCA] but negative for P(MPO)-ANCA (perinuclear ANCA). While the test results were pending, the patients' general condition worsened ; in particular, signs of active inflammation, cardiorespiratory failure and scleritis developed suddenly. Emergency chest computed tomography revealed evidence of lung involvement and hydrothorax; thus, the patient was diagnosed to have the generalized form of Wegener's granulomatosis. The patient was started on pulse methylprednisolone therapy at 1000mg/day for 3 days, which resulted in marked clinical improvement, and then, the drug therapy was switched to prednisolone 60mg/day and cyclophosphamide 50mg/day and gradually tapered. Early diagnosis of Wegener's granulomatosis is often difficult because of atypical manifestations of the disease; particular attention must be paid to acute onset of the disease, such as in our case. ANCA is a very useful marker for early diagnosis, but about one week is needed to obtain the test results. We believe that early steroid and cyclophosphamide therapy is an effective therapeutic option for patients with signs of severe inflammation and generalized involvement.

Effects of low-intensity focused ultrasound on the mouse submandibular gland.

Ultrasound is expected to make a considerable contribution to drug delivery systems (DDSs). We tested the hypothesis that low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) increases vessel permeability in the mouse submandibular gland without causing parenchymal damage. In a preliminary study, LIFU at 3 W/cm2 with a 50% duty cycle for 2 minutes did not cause histologic damage. We therefore applied LIFU to mouse submandibular gland at these conditions before and after injecting horseradish peroxidase. Single labeling laser scanning confocal microscopy revealed positive horseradish peroxidase staining around the excretory ducts in the mucous-producing part of the gland, but absence of staining in control glands. Immunostaining for fibrinogen was positive in the same region. Fibrinogen is an intravascular protein that does not pass through intact vessels. These findings suggest that LIFU increases vessel permeability and disruption without destruction. It is anticipated that this process will be useful in establishing a DDS that uses LIFU.

Immunohistochemical detection of cervical lymph node micrometastases from T2N0 tongue cancer.

CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that extensive, multiple cervical micrometastases occurred from an early stage in patients with T2N0 tongue cancer. The presence of micrometastases suggests the necessity of preventive neck dissection for Level I-IV nodes as a radical treatment. OBJECTIVE: Cervical lymph node metastases occur with a relatively high frequency in patients with T2N0 squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, and control of the metastases greatly influences the prognosis of patients. In this study, micrometastases in the cervical lymph nodes were investigated to clarify the necessity and required extent of preventive neck dissection. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We investigated micrometastases in 24 subjects who had previously been diagnosed with T2N0 tongue cancer. We performed immunostaining with anti-cytokeratin antibody cocktail AE1/AE3 of sections of 401 paraffin-embedded lymph nodes obtained from these patients. RESULTS: Micrometastases were observed in 14 patients (58%) and were most abundant in Level II nodes (n=11; 46%). Micrometastases were observed in the Level IV nodes of 3 patients (13%), and upstaging to pN2b occurred in 7 patients (29%).

Primary lymphoma of bilateral external auditory canals.

We report a rare case of primary lymphoma originating in the bilateral external auditory canals. A 49-year-old man presented with cauliflower-like tumors on both of his external auditory canals. Immunohistopathologic examination and immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement studies led to a diagnosis of B-cell lymphoma. He had no other systemic involvement. After chemotherapy, total gross tumor removal by surgery was achieved, and no recurrence has been detected during 1 year of follow-up. To our knowledge, this is the third case of malignant lymphoma originating in the external auditory canal to be reported in the literature, and this is the first report that includes immunohistochemical findings of fresh tissue.