Cat cry syndrome (cri-du-chat syndrome) is an extremely rare condition characterized by a high shrill cry during infancy, resulting from either the deletion of the short arm of chromosome 5 or unbalanced translocation inherited from a parent. We report the case of a 1-year-old girl with cat cry syndrome associated with cleft lip. The patient showed a ventricular septal defect, cleft lip, growth and mental retardation, micrognathia, ptosis of the eyelids, hypertelorism, epicanthal folds, and a preauricular tag on the right side. A chromosomal study revealed the terminal deletion of chromosome 5 (46, XX, del(p14.2)ish del(5)). Repair of the cleft lip was carried out concurrently with resection of the preauricular tag, and the patient's postoperative course was uneventful.

To develop an osseointegration analyzing system for dental implants, a new analyzing system which can assess the level of osseointegration between an implant and trabecular bone was constructed using digital radiography with morphological filter and node-strut analysis. For assessment of this system, a grayscale test chart that simulates six levels of an osseointegration was created. In addition, digital implant images were made in which the trabecular pattern around the implant was varied over a total of five levels. Implant osseointegration was evaluated on the basis of seven parameters related to the number of nodes (Nd) and terminuses (Tm) of the skeleton bound to the implant (Im) and the skeletal length. The seven parameters were as follows: the number of struts connecting the Im with the Nd and Tm (N.ImNd, N.ImTm), the total number of N.ImNd and N.ImTm (N.Im), the strut length connecting the Im with the Nd and Tm (ImNd, ImTm), and the ratios of the struts connecting the Im with the Nd and Tm (ImNd/TSL, ImTm/TSL), where TSL is the total strut length.Strong correlations (R² = 0.971-1.0) between the theoretical values from the test charts and the measured values were demonstrated. N.ImNd showed the strongest correlation, R² = 0.948, from the digital implant images, followed by N.Im and ImNd, with correlations of R² = 0.86 and R² = 0.84, respectively. This new system for evaluating implant osseointegration by applying morphological processing and node-strut analysis could be useful for computer-assisted diagnosis of digital dental implant images.

This study was intended to determine whether mouth-opening exercise reduces pain sensitivity in remote regions as well as in the trigeminal region. Seven female subjects with disk displacement with reduction were asked to perform a three-minute repetitive mouth opening and closing exercise (exercise A) and a three-minute continuous mouth opening exercise (exercise B) on two separate days. Sensory/nociceptive perception thresholds were measured at the point over the right masseter and the skin overlying the volar aspect of the right forearm immediately after exercises A and B, and were compared to data in which no exercise was performed (baseline). Significant elevation in the heat-induced pain threshold was seen as a result of both exercises in the cervical region and in the trigeminal region. Also, a significant elevation in the cold-induced pain threshold was seen after exercise B in the cervical region. Further, there was a tendency toward a higher warm sensation threshold after exercise A in the cervical region. These results indicate that mouth opening training produces non-segmental analgesic effects mediated by C fiber and A-delta fiber.