In China, beginning with acupuncture anesthesia, various new acupuncture-moxibustion methods such as scalp needle methods, auricular needle methods and penetration methods have been invented. Since several years ago we have been studying the clinical results of these penetration methods, especially in the treatment of facial nerve paralysis, and we'd like to report our results at this time.
Facial paralysis can generally be divided into central nervous system type and peripheral type. In this study we analyzed 70 cases of the latter type. As for the treatment method, using Chinese needles, penetration methods were used and supplemented by electrical acupuncture methods.
The following texts were used as reference texts for point selection and location: Shanghai CHUIGAKUINHEN, SHINKYUGAKU (Jinmineisei Publishers) and Shanghai SHIGAKUINHEN, and Acupuncture-Moxibustion Therapy Handbook.
Penetration methods were used with the following points:
* From GB-14 to GYOYO
* From TH-23, 4cm. in the direction of HT-20
* From ST-7 to ST-19
* From ST-3 to ST-1
* From ST-4 to ST-6
* From ST-6 to GB-2
We verified that using this therapeutic method results of treatment are 80% stronger.

The relation of needles inserted to the points of the posterior neck with the anatomical structures was investigated with dissection of four cadavers. The points investigated here are the five points of “Amon”, “Tenchuu”, “Fuuchi”, “Kankotsu”, and “Eifu”. The needles inserted to the respective points of the former three were found to penetrate the posterior atlantooccipital membrane and then the dura mater, and finally to reach the medulla oblongata. The depth from the inserted spots on the surface of the skin to the dura mater are 50, 51, and 49mm in the Amon, Tenchuu, and Fuuchi, respectively, in a cadaver with 39.1cm of circumference of the neck. Furthermore, it was found that the vertebral, the occipital, and the external carotid and the maxillar arteries were penetrated by or located near the needles which were inserted to the Fuuchi, Kankotsu, and Eifu, respectively.

The positional relation between the dorsal sacral foramina and a needle inserted in the point “T, ze-Liao” according to the method of Takenouchi-Hamazoe, and the projection positions of the respective foramina to the body surface were anatomically and bilaterally examined using fifteen cadavers. The results were as follows. (1) The needles inserted in the point “T, ze-Liao” missed the second dorsal sacral foramen caudally or latero-caudally in many cases. (2) In the mediolateral direction, the first to fourth dorsal sacral foramina were located in the middle zone between the dorsal median line and the posterior superior iliac spine. (3) In the rostro-caudal direction, the first dorsal sacral foramen were, approximately located at the same level as that of the posterior superior iliac spine. The second to fourth foramina corresponded to three points which divided the rostro-caudal distance between the posterior superior iliac spine and the sacral cornua equally into four.

The positional relation between the point Jingei and the bifurcation of the common carotid artery was investigated with dissection of the neck after inserting a needle into the bilateral Jingei, using nineteen Japanese cadavers. We determined first the position of the point Futotsu as a point in the sternocleidomastoid lying about 10cm lateral to the laryngeal prominence along the neck wrinkle, and defined the location of Jingei in the cadavers as the mid-point between the laryngeal prominence and Futotsu mentioned above. The common carotid artery shows a dilatation, termed the carotid sinus, at its point of division into the external and internal carotid arteries. The needle did not prick the carotid sinus in all of the thirty-eight cases of insertion; it pricked the common carotid artery at a lower level than the carotid sinus in four of these cases, and in the other cases the needle did not prick the vessel, but rather a portion of the neck medial to the vessel at the lower level, similarly as in the former cases. The points of division of the common carotid arteries of the cadavers dissected were all located at a considerably higher level than the laryngeal prominence; the average level was 32.8mm higher than the prominence on the left, with maximum and minimum values of 52 and 11mm, respectively, and 29.9mm upper on the right (maximum and minimum values: 45 and 8mm). Furthermore, it was suggested that the insertion of a needle at the level of the hyoid bone has a higher possibility of reaching the carotid sinus than that at the level of the laryngeal prominence in acupuncture of the sinus.

The posional relation of the bifurcation of the common carotid artery to the needle which was inserted to the position of the bifurcation presumed from the level of the hyoid bone, as well as its relation to the hyoid bone and the transverse process of the cervical vertebra, has been studied bilaterally with dissection of 19 cadavers.
Though most of the inserted needles missed medially from the bifurcation of common carotid artery, all of them were located about the level of the bifurcation in the up-to-downward direction, with two cases directly pricking the bifurcation.
The bifurcation of the common carotid artery was mostly located about the level of hyoid bone. Thus, 17 cases out of 19 on the right side and 13 cases out of 18 on the left side were within a range of 1.0mm above or below the hyoid bone.
The height of the bifurcation of the common carotid artery against the cervical vertebrae was mostly located between the transverse process of the 3rd and that of the 4th cervical vertebra, 21 cases out of 28 being included within this range.

The Research Committee for the Meridian Point held its third workshop at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Kyoto. Evaluations and reports were presented on two topics.

The first topic:Study of PSC in Japan and China.
1) Literature search on PSC in China (Wang):A literature search on major studies on PSC in China since 1979 was conducted. The report introduces the definition, characteristics and the mechanism of PSC development together with meridian phenomena.

2) PSC in reference to the ryodoraku (Morikawa):Development of the reactive ryodo point in patients under hemodialysis or those who have had a total gastrectomy and the cases in which reactive ryodo points or needle sensation developed when specific regions were stimulated were reported. The relationship between reactive ryodo points and PSC was examined.

3) The mechanism by which PSC develops (Yamada):Neurotransmitter substances are released from sensory nerve endings during acupuncture stimulation. Absorbed by lymphatic vessels, these substances stimulate the smooth muscle of these vessels, thus causing the PSC. Based on factors such as transmission velocity and inhibitory factors, the mechanism by which PSC develops was investigated.

The second topic:Specific locations of meridian points and clinical effects of the meridian point.
1) Anatomical regions for GB 30 huantiao (Ozaki and Matsuoka):In establishing the international standard for the meridian points under the guidance of WHO, both Chinese and Japanese proposals were listed for GB 30. The clinical effects-presumably emanating from the subcutaneous structure when acupuncture stimuli are applied to these points in a direction perpendicular to the body surface-were comparatively evaluated.

2) Transition in the regions and main effects of GB 30 (Sakaguchi):As stated above, both Japanese and Chinese definitions were cited in establishing the international standard for GB 30 under the guidance of WHO. By quoting the classic literature from China and Japan, changes in the regions and main effects of GB 30 were comparatively evaluated.

In China, for years they have been studying the PSC to investigate scientifically the substance of traditional meridians. As we had been to there, we learned how to investigate it. According to their method we did it in Japan.
Objects were 340 healthy youths. The stimulated points were the well points in each meridian. The low frequency electroacupuncture (5-20Hz) was given to these points 30 minutes. Objects showed us their sensation or orally or by gesture.
We divided the result into 4 stages according to the chinese method;
salient…5 (1.5%)
comparatively salient…3 (0.9%)
slightly salient…7 (2.0%)
Non-salient…325 (95.6%)
In China, by the way, objects were 1, 000 people and it was 1.3%, 1.8%, 15.2% and 81.7%.
In this study, though it showed a low incidence of about 4.4% (about 18% in China), it was found that there was a phenomenon of the PSC.

With the advancement and complexity on present society it has been called the “age of depression”. One gets the feeling that depression, following a singular path of increase in recent years is one sort of “sickness of the era”. This time we conducted a screening test for masked depression, selected those showing such a tendency, and here report the remarkable improvement in a short period of time the condition of depression using acupuncture.
Method: Nakajima's test for masked depression (abbr MD test) was carried out on students from Meiji special school of Oriental Medicine and Meiji Junior College of Acupuncture and Moxibustion and screened 65 subjects with depression tendencies. Twenty-seven of these 65 subjects were randomly selected and divided into two groups of 16 in “actual group” and 11 in “placebo group”. Acupuncture method: In the actual group six acupoints that commonly applied on the psychic disease were used as follows; HYAKUE (GV 20), SHINCHU (GV 12), SHIN-YU (BL 15), KOKETSU (CV 14), SHINMON (HT 7) and SAN-INKO (SP 6) and the other hand in the placebo group five acupoints close to these in the former group but which are not directly related to psychic disease were applied as follows; TOH-DO (GV 13), FU-MON (BL 12), SUIBUN (CV 9), GEREN (LI 8) and KENSYO (GB 39). Acupuncture was performed for 10 minutes stationally by using gold needle (0.20mm wide, 40mm length) and was undertaken three times in a week for four weeks. Its clinical effect was evaluated by the MD test and the CMI test every two weeks.
Results: 1) In the actual group the score on the MD test averaged out to a return to normal range within two weeks whereas in the placebo group even after four weeks the score still remained in the sphere of depression.
2) In the actual group a 80% of the subjects showed in area IV (the sphere of neurosis) on the CMI test was resistant to the therapy. Even they did not relieve into the sphere of normality.
3) The acupuncture therapy indicated a tendency to the improvement of both physical and psychic symptoms in the actual group.
Conclusion: It was demonstrated that the acupuncture therapy applying acupoints suitable for psychic disease brought rappydly improvement of not only psychic symptoms but also physical symptoms and then gave a relief from the condition of depression.

Acupuncture to Gaohuang carries a risk of causing pneumothorax because it reaches the lungs at deep portion. This study was designed to consider a safe depth for acupuncture to Gaohuang.
1) We inserted a needle to Gaohuang on both sides of a cadaver to examine the location of the needle tip and measure the distance from the body surface of the left Gaohuang to the pleura. The tip was located at the fifth intercostal region on both sides, and the distance was 44 mm with a rib thickness of 10 mm. 2) Using 104 students, we inserted a needle to the left Gaohuang until the tip reached the rib, and measured the distance between the bodysurface and rib. The minimal distance was 14 mm. 3) We inserted a needle to Gaohuang on both sides of two males and took CT-radiographs to examine the location of the needle tip and measure the distance from the body surface of Gaohuang to the pleura. In a man of standard body size, the needle reached the rib on the left and the intercostal region on the right. The thickness of the left rib was 10.9 mm, and the distance from body surface to pleura was 33.6 mm on the left and 28.4 mm on the right. In a man of thin body size, the needle reached the rib on both sides, with the rib thickness was 9.8 mm on the left and 8.8 mm on the right. The distance from body surface to pleura was 29.4 mm on the left and 31.8 mm on the right. The above results showed that needle insertion within 19 mm (the minimal value of the measured distance between the body surface and rib + the half thickness of the rib) is safe.

The projection region of the dome of the pleura to the surface of the anterior neck was investigated in 31 domes of 17 cadavers. The point “Tentotsu”, and a line connecting that point and the most lateral edge of the acromion were adopted for a basis of measurement of the projection region. The mean length of the Tentotsu-Acromion line was 185mm on either side of the body. Its upward angle to the horizontal plane was 22° and 23° in average on the right and left sides, respectively, while its backward angle to the frontal plane was 23° on the right and 25° on the left. The right pleural domes (17 cases) were included within a range 0-58mm lateral to the Tentotsu and lower than 44mm above, and on the left side (14 cases), these values were 5-58mm and 49mm, respectively. On the other hand, when adopting the Tentotsu-Acromion line as the basis, the pleural domes were located within the medial one-third of the line. Their summits lay on the point of its medial one-fourth in medio-lateral direction, and were situated at levels lower than about 35 (on the right) or 32mm (on the left) above the line.