Purpose; Recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis (RLNP) is often observed in terminal cancer patients. It causes hoarseness of voice, and this interferes with a patient's communication skills. Moreover, RLNP causes aspiration, which decreases the joy of eating, and pneumonia. Although it is important to control the symptoms of RLNP in terminal cancer patients, there are few methods for their control. In this study, 3 terminal cancer patients suffering from RLNP were treated using percutaneous intrafold silicon injection. Methods; The injection was administered under local anesthesia through cricothyroid membrane monitoring fiberscopy. The amount of silicon to be injected was determined on the basis of fiberscopic findings; 0.4 to 2.0 ml of silicon was injected. Results; As a result of this treatment, a marked improvement in voice hoarseness and swallowing ability was observed in all 3 cases. No complications were observed during and after treatment. Conclusion; Thus, percutaneous intrafold silicon injection is a very useful and safe treatment for RLNP in terminal cancer patients.

A 22-year-old man shot himself with a nail gun. He was admitted to a local hospital with chest pain. Chest x-ray film and chest computed tomography showed 5 nails penetrating the left thorax and some of these nails were considered to reach the pericardium. He was transferred to our hospital for intervention. Left thoracotomy was performed. Three nails reached the left ventricle and one nail was embedded the left lung. The last nail was found by transesophageal echocardiography to be completely buried in the left ventricle wall. All nails were removed and the left ventricular wounds were repaired with felt 4-0 surgipro mattress sutures. He made an uneventful postoperative recovery with a normal postoperative echocardiography and he was discharged on postoperative day 12 in good condition.

A survey was carried out on how the To-no District is coping with the need of first aid for patients requiring life-supporting treatment before hospitalization. Although there were cities in this district where statistics on first aid were not available, the survey found that, during the 4-year period from 1994 through 1997, bystander CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) saved 11.2% of the lives of patients with CPA (cardiopulmonary arrest). Incidentally, 11.3% of the population attended CPR courses offered by public institutions. Gifu Prefecture has helicopters for use in rescue work, but the survey found that some cities had not ever sponsored drills using helicopters in life-saving operations. Our findings revealed the indifference of the general public as well as administrators in this district toward emergency care. Public recognition of the importance of the care of suddenly ill or injured patients must be gained. Furthermore, acquisition of skills required for first aid by lay people and technical improvement of these skills in professional rescuers are necessary. The authors think that these are the community educational responsibility of hospitals and other medical institutions.

Methods: We observed 141 patients (61 men, 80 women; average age, 65.8 years) who had undergone PLIF and checked for the presence of L5/S interbody fusion. We investigated factors such as age, gender, the presence of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), fusion level, and grade 2 osteotomy, as well as pre-, post-, and post−preoperative L5/S disk height and angle, lumbar lordosis, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score, Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, and pelvic incidence (PI), comparing those with and without L5/S interbody fusion. In addition, we analyzed the patients classified into short-level (n=111) and multi-level fusion groups (n=30). Results: Overall, the L5/S interbody fusion rate was 70% (short-level, 78%; multi-level, 40%). Age and pre- and post−preoperative L5/S disk angle were significantly different in each fusion level group. DISH presence, grade 2 osteotomy, and postoperative VAS and JOA scores were significantly different in the short-level fusion group, whereas PI was significantly different in the multi-level fusion group. Conclusions Incomplete union after L5/S PLIF correlates with advanced age, many fusion levels, and a large value of preoperative and a small value of post−preoperative L5/S disk angles.

Methods: A total of 400 patients (175 men, 225 women) who underwent PLIF were observed for >1 year. Factors investigated included the frequency of cage retropulsion and surgical revision. In addition, physical (age, sex, disease), surgical (fusion and PLIF levels, cage number, grade 2 osteotomy), and comorbid (DISH, existing vertebral fracture) factors were compared between patients with and without cage retropulsion. Factors related to surgical revision during the observation period were also considered. Results: Cage retropulsion occurred in 15 patients and surgical revision was performed in 11. Revisions included the replacement of pedicle screws (PSs) with larger screws in all patients and supplementary implants in 10. Among the patients with cage retropulsion, the average PLIF level was 2.7, with DISH present in nine patients and existing vertebral fractures in six. Factors affecting cage retropulsion were diagnoses of osteoporotic vertebral fracture, multilevel fusion, single-cage insertion, grade 2 osteotomy, presence of DISH, and existing vertebral fracture. Multivariable analysis indicated that retropulsion of a fusion cage occurred significantly more frequently in patients with DISH and multilevel PLIF. Conclusions DISH and multilevel PLIF were significant risk factors affecting cage retropulsion. Revision surgery for cage retropulsion revealed PS loosening, suggesting that implant replacement was necessary to prevent repeat cage retropulsion after revision.

Objective:
There have been a few reports on the specificity of the meridians and Acupuncture-points. In order to identify the specific effects of the meridians and Acupuncture-points, the functional relations between “the gallbladder Meridian and gallbladder” were investigated using the gallbladder's form as an index.
Materials and Methods:
Ten healthy male adult volunteers participated in the experiments in fasting conditions. The target organ was the gallbladder, and its form was measured with the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus (Toshiba SSA-90A). The images of the gallbladder form were taken at the point when the major long axis of the cross-section of the gallbladder reached the peak. The cross-sectional area of the gallbladder was measured with the image analyzer. The measurement of the gallbladder form was conducted after 15 minutes lying on the back, taking images for 10 minutes before stimulation, for 30 minutes during and after stimulation, every two to five minutes. The acupuncture stimulation was given at the points of G34, G36, G37, G40 and G44 on the right side of the body. After getting the deqi, 1 minute of sparrow pecking needle technique and 1 minute of leaving needle technique were conducted three times. The effect of the G40 under the egg yolk loading were also investigated.
Results:
1) The stimulation of the G34, G36, G37, and G44 showed no effects on the gallbladder form. 2) The stimulation of the G40 caused the distension of the gallbladder form. 3) The stimulation of the G40 showed the suppressive effect on the contraction of the gallbladder due to the load of egg yolk.
As described above, the results of this study showed that there is an acupuncture-point on the gallbladder meridian to cause the distension of the gallbladder specifically. It suggests the existence of the specificity of acupuncture-point.

A 69-year-old woman with a medical history of mitral valve replacement for infective endocarditis 14 years previously was recently admitted after being given a diagnosis with multiple cerebral infarction along with headache and speech disturbance. After emergency admission, both transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiographies revealed multiple, extensive vegetation on the mitral prosthetic valve. Based on these findings, we diagnosed prosthetic valve endocarditis with cerebral septic embolization ; and immediate mitral valve re-replacement surgery was performed. During the operation, a complication occurred when the left ventricular posterior wall ruptured during withdrawal from the cardiopulmonary bypass after mitral valve re-replacement. After a second cross-clamp and resection of the mitral prosthetic valve, we repaired the myocardial laceration and repeated the mitral valve re-replacement. We selected the following two methods from different approaches to repair the left ventricular rupture : (a) exclusion of the myocardial laceration using a bovine pericardial patch (intracardiac approach) ; and (b) direct suturing of the bleeding epicardium (extracardiac approach).Seven days after the surgery, computed tomography (CT) revealed a pseudoaneurysm in the left ventricular posterior wall. Several follow-up examinations using CT and echocardiography revealed gradual enlargement of the pseudoaneurysm. At 112 days after previous surgery, we successfully repaired the pseudoaneurysm through left lateral thoracotomy using the femorofemoral bypass with hypothermia. In the final surgery, we closed the orifice of the pseudoaneurysm using bovine pericardium. This case highlighted that left thoracotomy using a femorofemoral bypass with hypothermia could be a useful approach to address a left ventricular posterior wall pseudoaneurysm.

In C1–C2 posterior fixation, the C1 lateral mass and C2 pedicle/translaminar screw insertion under spine navigation have been used frequently. To avoid the risk of neurovascular damage in atlantoaxial stabilization, we assessed the safety and effectiveness of a preoperative computed tomography (CT) image-based navigation system with intraoperative independent C1 and C2 vertebral registration. It is ideal when a reference frame can be linked directly to the C1 posterior arch for C1-direct-captured navigation, but there is a mechanical challenge. A new spine clamp-tracker system was implemented recently, which allows reliable C1- and C2- direct-captured navigation in nine patients with traumatic C2 fractures. In this way, there was no misalignment of C1–C2 screws. C1 lateral mass screws were used except for one case, and translaminar screws were primarily used as an anchor for C2. The C1 lateral mass screw locations, which are 19 mm laterally from the C1 posterior arch’s center, are taken to be constant. However, there is one unusual circumstance in which using a C1 laminar hook instead of a C1 lateral mass screw appears to be a beneficial substitute. The increase of surgical accuracy for posterior C1–C2 screw fixation without cost constraints is significantly facilitated by intraoperative C1- and C2-direct-captured navigation with preoperative computed CT images.