Kazunori Okamoto

Wound Healing of Canine Vocal Folds after Phonosurgery

To develop phonosurgical techniques, the authors investigated the healing mechanisms of wounds on the vocal folds of canine larynges, and devised a method to cover the raw surfaces of such wounds. To restore the normal physiologic properties of the vocal folds, the normal mucosa should be removed as little as possible in phonosurgery. When the mucosa of the vocal folds is extensively removed by surgical intervention and the raw surface cannot be covered with the local pedicle flap, it should be covered with a free mucosal flap. We found an activated human fibrinogen concentrate, which is a biologic tissue adhesive, to be suitable for adhering a free mucosal flap to the raw surface by a laryngomicrosurgical approach.

Otitis media with effusion in routine medical examinations of one and a half-year-old children. Follow-up studies.

During the past 4.5 years screening tests using tympanometry (TM) for otitis media with effusion (OME) were performed as part of the routine medical examination of 13, 315 children at one and a half-years of age in Matsuyama City.1) In the first screening, B or C type TM was recorded in 3, 969 of the 13, 315 children (29.8%).2) In the second screening, B or C type TM was found in 1, 475 of the 3, 969 children (11.1%).3) In the third screening, 1, 067 (1, 804 ears) of the 1, 475 children could be followed in detail at the Ehime Prefectural Rehabilitation Center for the Physically Handicapped.4) In 1, 015 of the 1, 804 ears, B or C type TM was noted at the first examination in the center.5) Examinations were performed without treatment on 534 of the 1, 015 ears (52.6%). TM and ear drum abnormalities returned normal spontaneously in 526 of the 534 ears (51.8%).6) 481 of the 1, 015 ears (47.4%) were treated in the offices of other otorhinolaryngists. The TM and ear drum findings were later restored to normal in 393 of the 481 ears (38.7%).7) In the children who were followed for longer than three years, TM and ear drum findings were restored to normal within six months in 65.0%. However, 7.6% of those children have not yet been cured.