It is well demonstrated by Zeiger that the human eosinophils and neutrophils contain histaminase which might modulate the allergic response by inactivating histamine during histamine release. It is also suggested that histaminase is liberated by heparin which is released from the target cells.
Hisamatsu and the author have previously reported on the plasma histaminase activity (PHNA) in nasal allergy and have had a hypothesis that a high level of the plasma histaminase activity (PHNA) in allergic patients might indicate indirectly an increase of histamine release into the blood stream from the target cells. In other words, the level of PHNA may be considered as a parameter of both the extent of histamine release in the histamine sensitive animals including humans and the sensitivity to histamine.
The results obtained in this study were as follows.
1) The levels of PHNA were more highly elevated in 237 allergic patients than in normal individuals.(P<0.01)
2) PHNA and sensitivity of the nasal mucosa to histamine in allergic patients were significantly higher than those in normal individuals.(P<0.01)
3) There was a distinct statistical correlation between the levels of PHNA and the threshold of sensitivity of the nasal mucosa to histamine in both the nasal allergic patients and the normal individuals.(P>0.01)
4) Elevation of the levels of PHNA and increase of the number of peripheral eosinophils were clearly demonstrated in allergic patients as compared with normal individuals. The levels of PHNA and the number of peripheral eosinophils were well correlated statistically in both the allergic patients and the normal individuals.(P< 0.01)
5) An obvious difference between atopic and non-atopic patients in the levels of PHNA and the threshold of sensitivity of the nasal mucosa to histamine was also observed. Atopic nasal allergy patients showed higher levels of PHNA and more accelrated sensitivity of the nasal mucosa to histamine than non-atopic patients.(P<0.01)
Thus, above results suggest that the liberated histaminase may play a significant role in keeping the homeostatic ballance and the levels of PHNA may indicate hypersensitivity of the nasal mucosa to histamine.

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A new method for aerosol nebulizer using electric charge was introduced in this study. Comparison between charged and uncharged methods using benzyl penicillin potassium 14C has been made on absorption in the serum and also in the nasal and tracheal mucous membrane in the rabbits.
The results obtained were as follows:
1. Absorption of the penicillin in the serum by electric charged method was not so different from that by uncharged method.
2. Absorption of the penicillin in the nasal mucous membrane by electric charged method was greater than that by uncharged method.
3. It was not different between electric charged and uncharged methods on absorption in the tracheal mucous membrane.
The general conclusion drawn from these data is that the electron charged nebulizer will be useful for absorption of particles for medical treatment from the nasal mucous membrane within a short term.

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Electrogustometry is a simple electrodiagnostic procedure to examine disorders of gustatory function and pathway and now widely accepted in the clinical practice as a testing method giving a relatively reliable and accurate functional information, although this test itself still has some theoretical and practical problems to be solved.
Gustometry using several taste substances, on the other hand, has been of little value in determining gustatory function and pathway because of poor accuracy in quantitative aspect and of insufficient selectivity to examine gustatory innervation, whatever the testing procedures used.
We have recently developed a qualitative and quantitative gustometric testing method using the filter paper disc of an uniform size which was immersed in several taste substances with various concentrations, and called this procedure as “filter paper disc method ”.
It is the purpose of this paper to study the correlation between the thresholds of quantitative gustometry with “filter paper disc method” and those of electrogustometry. The results obtained in this study were as follows.
1) Threshold elevation in the gustometric measuring with aging was noted in all the three innervated areas in the normal subjects. Among the areas, the threshold elevation with aging was evidently demonstrated in the area innervated by the greater superficial petrosal nerve and therefore the elevated thresholds of the aged individuals in this area were not directly accounted for abnormal or pathologic findings.
2) The thresholds of electrogustometric measurements were, in general, well correlated with those of “filter paper disc method ”, although there was some gap or discrepancy between the values obtained by these two procedures, which might possibly be due to the difference in gustatory perception mechanism.
3) Electrogustometric testing and “filter paper disc method” were applied to examine gustatory function of the patients with facial palsy. As a result of this comparative study, the threshold elevation in the electrogustometric measurement was also generally proportional to the extent of impairment of the responses to all the four taste substances.
It might be reasonable to conclude from these data that a quantitative gustometric method using several taste substances (“filter paper disc method ”) could also be basically useful for the correct diagnoses of gustatory dysfunction and the related disorders together with electrogustometric measurement.

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Pseudomonas infection has been increasing in number these days and pseudomonal otitis media have been found in the otolaryngological practice. Pseudomonal infections are caused by bacterial substitution phenomena, burns, tissue transplantations, major surgeries, endoscopic procedures, intensive radiation therapies and steroid therapy. We have great number of problems to treat this infection.
The author applied hemagglutination (OEP-HA reaction) to 33 patients of pseudomonal chronic otitis media and obtained the results on specific antibody to this bacillus. OEP (=Original Endotoxic Protein) is protective antigen located in cell wall of pseudomonas aeruginosa and is found in the group specific in its protective antigenicity. Antibody titer in normal human sera is under 1: 80. The specific antibody titer in 65 strains (33 patients) was ranged from under 1: 40 to over 1: 2560. The rate of 17 positive strains (over 1: 160) was 26.2 %. The antibody titer of most control strains was within normal limit.

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Authors conducted basic studies of endolymphatic flow induced by caloric stimulation using squirrel monkeys.
Following results were as obtained.
1) Well defined relationship was found to exist between the onset of nystagmus and temperature difference between the ampulla and crus of the horizontal semicircular canal.
2) Endolymphatic flow on onset of nystagmus was 7.8 to 9.2 X 10^-5cm/sec.

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A case of the localized infarction to the cerebellar vermis were studied neuro-otologically. The patient was a 22 years old male whose chief complaint was paroxysmal positional vertigo, accompaning with occipital headache, nausea and vomiting in the left lateral position (left ear downward). Neurological examination was within normal limits, while neuro-otological examination revealed several important findings suggesting the clinical diagnosis of cerebellar injury.
Characteristics of neuro-otological findings were: lateral gaze nystagmus, down beat vertical spontaneous nystagmus when eyes closed, hyperactive caloric response, downbeat vertical positioning nystagmus of small amplitude and high frequency with vertiginous sensation. On the other hand, the eye tracking test and the optokinetic nystagmus test showed almost normal pattern.
In this case of vascular disorder of cerebellar vermis, the Bruns syndrome (malignant paroxysmal positional vertigo) was considered to be as important as the archicerebellar syndrome.

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It is the well known fact that the sensory hairs or the stereocilia of the outer hair cells of the cochleae in higher mammals are arranged in a W-formation and that the peripheral or lateral row of the tall hairs of the W-form is shallowly but quite firmly embedded in the tectorial mambrane, making the distinct W-form auditory hair imprints at the undersurface of this membrane.
An attempt to measure the open angle of W-arrangement of the sensory hairs has been made in the guinea pig, cat, human and bat cochleae under the phase contrast microscope from both the surface view of the organ of Corti and the undersurface observation of the tectorial membrane (auditory hair imprints).
The results of the authors' observation showed the open angle of the “W” was wide at the base of the cochlea and gradually diminished toward the upper-half of the basal turn and the lower middle turn where the open angle of the “W” became minimum. Toward the apex of the cochlea, the open angle of the “W” arrangement of the outer sensory hairs again very slowly increased in width, and became maximum at the apical end. Such a transition pattern in the open angle of the “W” of the auditory hairs was most clearly demonstrated in the guinea pig cochlea, less evident in the cat and the human cochleae. On the other hand, in the bat cochlea, the open angle of the “W” was widest at the basal turn of the cochlea and slowly reduced toward the apex. In addition, a conspicuous feature of the outer sensory hairs in the bat cochlea was that the open angles of the “W” were extremely wide throughout the cochlea, as compared with those of the other three mammals.

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The isolation of varicella-zoster virus from the vesicles of the external ear of 13 patients with HUNT'S syndrome was attempted. Among above patients, the CSF of 3 cases was also used in this study. Varicella-zoster virus was isolated from the vesicles of the external ear of twe patients (30-year-old female and 56-year-old male), whose antibody titers against the same virus significantly elevated in the paired sera. Thus, we have directly confirmed the fact that HUNT'S syndrome could be caused by varicella-zoster virus infection, as predicted by the authors and the other investigators.

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The cases of peripheral facial palsy were studied with a Chronax CX-2 that was semi-automatic apparatus disigned to clarify the prognosis or degree of nerve degeneration and the recovery process of the palsy.
A comparative study on strength-duration curve (S-D curve) and nerve excitability test (NET) was performed in the 68 cases with the facial palsy.
The result obtained in this study were as follows:
1) Proportional relationship between S-D curve and NET was demonstrated.
2) S-D curve was well documented on each nerve branches for degree of degeneration or recovery process of the nerve.

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The muco-ciliary function of the respiratory tract plays one of the most important role in defense mechanism against inhaled microorganisms and other foreign substances.
It was thought that the ciliary system of the maxillary mucosa was functionally distorted in patients with chronic sinusitis since the excretive function of the maxillary sinus with chronic inflammation was usually disturbed. However, little work has been done to study on direct visualization and measurement of the ciliary activity of the chronically inflamed nasal and maxillary mucosa of the human materials.
The authors have undertaken an in vitro investigation on the ciliary activity of the human nasal and paranasal mucosa using the photo-electric method, which was composed of the phase-contrast microscope, photo-electric cells, oscilloscope and Rose chamber. The ciliary activity, therefore, has been shown as the in vitro beat rate of the cilia in this apparatus.
The following results in this study were obtained.
1) In the nasal mucosa, a linear relationship was found to exist between the ciliary beat rate and the temperature of the medium until 40°.
2) The ciliary activity of the nasal mucosa was affected when the pH of the medium was lower than 6 and higher than 9.
3) Various degrees of the ciliary dysfunction were observed in the chronically inflamed mucosa of both the nasal and paranasal mucosa, although the severest dysfunction of the ciliary activity was usually found in the maxillary sinus mucosa.

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We analyzed and discussed 39 cases of combined disorders of taste and smell.
As to causes concerning this condition, the majority 17 cases were due to obvious decrease or boundary level of serum zinc. This was the only cause or the main cause combined other causes. Other causes were the common cold, brain disorders, i. e. head trauma, drugs and idiopathy. Their incidences of occurrences were about the same in number.
Effectiveness of therapy was seen generally in gustatory disorders more than in olfactory disorders.
It was found that the earlier the therapy was started, the better were the results. Good effects were seen in cases where therapy was started within a month in the cases of olfactory disorders and within five months in cases of gustatory disorders.
In idiopathic combined disorder, or in cases of serum zinc deficiency and a probable olfactory mucous membrane disorder, good effects were obtained using combination therapy, peroral zinc use and nasal drop administration of steroid.
Good therapy effects were not obtained in anosmia in cases of combined disorders of taste and smell after head trauma.
However, ageusia in the same cases showed favorable effects with oral zinc administration when there was secondary alteration in zinc metabolism.
Taking into account these above conditions and recent studies of central passways, a discussion concerning injured portion of combined gustatory and olfactory abnormalities after head trauma is mentioned.

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A 2-month-old boy who had abnormal elevation of the tongue and some difficulty in swallowing, was first sent to our clinic on June 20, 1979. Examination revealed a cystic mass at the midline of the mouth floor, where the cyst considerably raised his tongue superiorly. This cystic lesion was entirely removed by blunt dissection on July 6. His deglutition improved immediately after awaking from general anesthesia for the surgery.
The cyst measured approximately 3 × 2 × 1cm and had a thick fibrous capsule. Histologically, the cyst had a slender lumen lined by the small intestinal tract layers such as typical intestinal villi, Lieberkühn's glands, Paneth's cells, goblet cells and the intestinal musculature. Furthermore, underneath the small intestinal layers, there was the pancreatic tissue characterized by typical zymogen-rich glandular structure containing scattered Langerhans' islets.
According to the Authors' review of the world literature, there was no such a case report of the oral heterotopic or choristomatic cyst containing both the intestinal tract and the pancreatic tissues, although there were approximately 20 case reports on the heterotopic oral cysts containing merely gastric or intestinal mucosa.

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Cysts in the parotid gland represent a small percentage of benign masses. Especially cysts of the deep parotid gland are very uncommon. Two cases reported here, the first exists in the superficial lobe; and the second is a deeply located cyst. The aetiology, diagnosis and management of parotid cysts are discussed. Parotidectomy is, in general, recommended as the treatment of choice.

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A case of laryngeal oncocytoma occurred in the left false cord of a 43 years old woman was reported. We reviewed 53 cases of laryngeal oncocytoma appeared in the world literature, in comparison with our patient. The result of the case of analysis were as follows.
1. The sex difference of this rather rare tumor, larngeal oncocytoma, was almost equal.
2. The majority of cases of laryngeal oncocytoma was found within 50-70 years of age, although our case was younger than the statistical average.
3. Laryngeal oncocytoma commonly arose from the false vocal cord and the laryngeal ventricle.
4. In same cases (approximately 11%), the local recurrence after surgery and bilateral occurrence of this lesion have been reported in the literature.

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An antiserum against human thymocytes was prepared in rabbits and absorbed with RBC, aceton liver powder, serum and human B cell line. We investigated the distribution pattern and degree of T cells in tumor tissue using immunoperoxidase technique with ATS. The results obtained in this study might be summarized as follows.
1. A majority of the lymphocytes consisting of T cells was observed along the layer of the tumor margins.
2, There were no significant correlation between the degree of local T cell infiltration and the number of peripheral blood T cells. Therefore, we should pay attention to local lymphocytic distribution when the head and neck malignancy was examined from the immunological point of view.
3. There were no significant correlations between the degree of T cell infiltration in tumor tissue and clinical and laboratry data, i. e, the staging of the tumor, the prognosis of the patients, metastasis, skin sensitivity testing, lymphocytic response to phytohemagglutinin, etc.

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A 62-year-old female, of chylothorax after a left aided radical neck dissection was reported.
The chylothorax was treated with pressure dressings and frequent thoracocentesis. The mechanism of production of chylothorax, the diagnosis (roentgenologic, biochemical) and the therapy were discussed.

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