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Biomedical subjects

K Kitajima

Publications and source records attributed to K Kitajima.

371 records · Page 21Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Intraoperative mitomycin C in endolymphatic sac surgery for Ménière's disease: A pilot study.

The long-term results of endolymphatic sac (ES) shunt surgery in Ménière's disease have been reported to be unsatisfactory compared to the short-term results, probably because of fibrosis and/or reclosure of the incised ES. To solve this problem, we tried to apply mitomycin C (MMC) intraoperatively to the incised ES as used in trabeculectomy for glaucoma. MMC has an antiproliferative effect as well as an antineoplastic effect. Thus, it is expected that MMC would have a benefit to prevent rapid fibrosis and/or reclosure of the ES. MMC did not show any ototoxicity in our animal study and we started a clinical trial after being approved by the Ethics Committee for Human Research at our university. Fourteen patients with Ménière's disease underwent ES mastoid shunt surgery with intraoperative application of MMC and they were followed up more than 6 months. No patients experienced vertigo, although some complained of slight dizziness. Five patients out of 14 showed remarkable hearing improvement by more than 10 dB, accompanied with decrease of tinnitus.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical outcome of laryngotracheal separation for intractable aspiration pneumonia.

OBJECTIVES: To confirm that laryngotracheal separation (LTS) is a satisfactory treatment for patients with intractable aspiration pneumonia, even though it does not require tracheoesophageal anastomosis. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective. METHODS: Nine patients with intractable aspiration pneumonia underwent LTS at our institution from 1996 to 1999. Two patients underwent postoperative barium swallow radiography. RESULTS: Neither halitosis nor stimulation of the cough reflex occurred due to pooled secretions in the blind pouch of the proximal tracheal segment. Barium swallow radiography confirmed that the secretions drained within 40 min by swallowing or a change in patient position. CONCLUSION: LTS is a satisfactory solution to the problem of chronic aspiration. Neither pooled secretions in the proximal tracheal segment nor fistula formation were significant postoperative problems.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of effectiveness of maneuvers and medication in the treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

In this paper, the treatment by medication together with two maneuvers-the particle repositioning maneuver (PRM) reported by Parnes and Price-Jones and the liberatory maneuver (LM) reported by Semont et al.-were compared with treatment by medication alone. Fourteen of 15 cases (93.3%) treated with the PRM and 11 of 14 cases (78.6%) treated with the LM showed improvement after 2 weeks. These results were better than that obtained by medication alone, in which 8 of 26 cases (30.8%) showed improvement after 2 weeks. The most important benefit of these maneuvers seemed to be the speedier recovery than with medication alone, as there was no significant difference in the late success rate after 3 months between the maneuvers and medication alone.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Laryngeal phonatory reflex. The effect of anesthetization of the internal branch of the superior laryngeal nerve: Acoustic aspects.

Summary--The laryngeal phonatory reflex through the internal branch of the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) was investigated by means of anesthetization of the nerve, after which acoustic signals were subjected to computer analysis to determine how anesthesia affected basic vocal parameters. Results showed that the anesthetization did not affect the abrupt cycle-to-cycle frequency changes and also did not influence the gross control of the fundamental frequency. But slower fluctuation of the fundamental frequency increased following anesthesia. From these results, it is suggested that the anesthetization of the internal branch of the SLN may derange the fine control mechanism of the larynx without affecting overall or gross performance of the phonatory apparatus.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Vocal shimmer in sustained phonation of normal and pathologic voice.

Vocal shimmer during sustained phonation was measured in normal subjects and patients with laryngeal polyps, using the mean amplitude difference between consecutive cycles expressed in dB. A small laboratory computer was then used for measuring each discrete amplitude and for data processing. The results showed some overlap between the values for two groups studied, but nevertheless it appears that the measured value may be a useful index in screening for laryngeal disorders and for definitive diagnosis of such disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cricothyroid distance and vocal pitch. Experimental surgical study to elevate the vocal pitch.

To establish an experimental basis for surgical approximation of the anterior cricothyroid distance which aims at raising the vocal pitch, the relationship between vocal pitch and the cricothyroid distance was analyzed in voices produced with excised human larynges (four male and two female larynges). Within the framework of the experimental conditions, the following conclusions were drawn: 1) The vocal pitch expressed in semitones was almost linearly related to the cricothyroid distance, with an increase of 0.15 to 0.90 semitones per milimeter of cricothyroid approximation. 2) The rise in vocal pitch reached a plateau when the force applied to shorten the cricothyroid distance reached 30 to 50 gm.

Cricoid Cartilage↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Airflow study of pathologic larynges using a hot wire flowmeter.

Two aspects of laryngeal airflow, constant flow rate (DC) and alternating flow rate (AC), were examined in patients with vocal cord paralysis, acute laryngitis, and vocal cord polyps using the hot wire flowmeter. Vocal cord paralysis was characterized by a large DC with a small AC/DC percentage, and acute laryngitis showed a normal DC in spite of a small AC/DC percentage. No consistent finding was observed for the laryngeal polyp. Simultaneous measurement of both parameters was thought to better define the physiologic correlates of hoarseness in various laryngeal disorders.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Estimation of subglottal pressure with intraoral pressure.

A method of estimating subglottal pressure through intraoral pressure has been reported in the literature. In order to determine its clinical usefulness, however, the method should be tested against direct measurements made on subjects with pathologic larynges. The present study was designed to compare intraoral pressure versus subglottal pressure, as measured with a sensing tube inserted through a tracheal stoma. Results showed that intraoral pressure of /i:pi:/ was almost equivalent to subglottal pressure of /i:/ when the latter was smaller than about 25 cmH20. When subglottal pressure exceeded this value, however, the intraoral pressure was smaller than the subglottal pressure. We conclude that the magnitude of subglottal pressure is not invariably identical with intraoral pressure.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Immunohistochemical localization of phosphoinositide 3-kinase in brains with multiple system atrophy.

Oligodendrocytes have been shown to display some morphological characteristics of apoptosis in MSA. The accumulated evidence shows that phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) is closely associated with the regulation of apoptosis. Thus, we examined immunohistochemically PI3K in the cerebellum and pons from autopsy samples with MSA. In control tissues, PI3K was immunostained in some neurons and a few oligodendrocytes. In MSA samples, the larger number of oligodendrocytes was observed in the pons and cerebellum. Furthermore, some neurons were strongly immunolabeled in MSA samples. The recent study has shown that PI3K phosphorylates PKB/Akt which phosphorylates BAD resulting in the cessation of apoptotic process. The present results suggest that PI3K is upregulated in oligodendrocytes and some neurons in MSA, possibly in response to the apoptotic signals to these cells.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mitogenic activity of pine cone extracts against cultured splenocytes from normal and tumor-bearing animals.

An acidic pine cone extract, Fr. V. of Pinus parviflora Sieb. et Zucc. significantly stimulated DNA synthesis of isolated splenocytes from both mice and rats, but only marginally affected the DNA synthesis of leukemic cell lines. The maximum stimulation level attained by Fr. V slightly exceeded that of plant lectins, whereas much weaker stimulating activity was found in natural and chemically modified antitumor polysaccharides, sialic acid-rich glycoproteins, and polyphenolic compounds such as lignin and tannic acid. In mice with subcutaneously transplanted sarcoma-180, responses of splenocytes against Con A declines in the terminal stage of tumor development, whereas responses against Fr. V remained relatively constant throughout all periods of tumor progression. The suppression of Fr. V activity by acetylation or methylation suggests the importance of the hydroxyl group in the expression of its stimulation activity.

Animals↗