Abstract
The swallowing and speech functions in patients with tongue cancer who underwent resection followed by primary reconstruction with free flaps, were examined at many hospitals. The brain activities induced by tongue movement or with taste were also examined by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (f-MRI) which has been developed recently for new imaging. The principle of f-MRI is that the brain activities induce the reduction of the brain venous deoxyhemoglobin and eventually enhance the potentials of MRI. The tongue and laryngeal movement were severely disturbed in the extensively tongue resected patients during swallowing, however, the speech production was not always even in these patients. By f-MRI examination, the tongue movement led to the potential of the healthy motor cortex side in the extensively resected patients, and of both symmetrical activation of motor cortices in hemiglossected patients. As for the gustation, even the oropharyngeal gustatory field was resected, f-MRI examination revealed the activation of the healthy gustatory cortex in all patients.
