We reviewed five cases of paranasal sinuses disease with emergency surgery treated between January 2009 and October 2011. Three of the five cases were paranasal sinus cysts with orbital symptoms, and the other two cases were orbital cellulitis from acute sinusitis. All three paranasal sinus cysts were in the posterior paranasal sinus and reduced the visual acuity, regardless of their size. One of these three patients underwent emergency surgery, which resulted in an improvement in his visual acuity despite the long interval (more than a month) between the onset of symptoms and surgery. Both cases of orbital cellulitis were treated surgically as early as possible, which prevented a decrease in the visual acuity. All five patients initially consulted a doctor at the Department of Ophthalmology. Forging a closer connection with the Department of Ophthalmology is important for the early diagnosis and treatment of paranasal sinuses disease.

We retrospectively reviewed 82 patients with progressive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who were treated with induction chemotherapy using docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-FU in our institute from Apr 2007 to Mar 2012, to determine whether a dose reduction could reduce adverse events, and affect the treatment outcome. The study population included patients who were > 70 years of age who could not continue induction chemotherapy with the standard therapeutic dose due to adverse events. A reduction in the dose that was used in the first cycle seemed to be essential for those patients. A 10% dose reduction of 3 agents (docetaxel, cisplatin, 5-FU) was equivalent to a 20% dose reduction of 2 agents (docetaxel, cisplatin) with regard to the therapeutic effect and the tolerability of adverse events, when the dose amount at the second cycle was reduced after grade IV neutropenia in the first cycle.

We herein report the case of a 29-year-old woman complaining of a 3-year history of both ears itching. The local findings revealed papilloma-like masses in the bilateral entrances to the external auditory meatus. We performed a biopsy, and the histopathological diagnosis was squamous papilloma. We performed surgery using a CO₂ laser for intractable vulgaris papilloma that developed in entrance to the external auditory meatus. Five months after the surgery, the symptoms were improved, and the tumor had flattened and disappeared. Given the outcomes of the present case, a CO₂ laser may therefore be effective for treating vulgaris papilloma in the external auditory meatus.

We managed to cure a 42-year-old man with a tracheoinnominate artery fistula after laryngotracheal separation. He was a brain paralysis patient who had repeatedly contracted pneumonia and underwent laryngotracheal separation two years prior. Bleeding from a tracheoinnominate artery fistula occurred suddenly during exchange of a tracheal cannula. The patient was treated by stenting of the subclavian and innominate arteries under fluoroscopic guidance with carotid-subclavian bypass to recover the right cervical blood flow. To maintain good airflow, we inserted an Ajustfit^® cannula for tracheomalacia.

Malignant tumors occurring outside of the head and neck region often metastasize to the lymph nodes or organs of the head and neck region. However, most metastatic tumors are sporadic tumors, and metastasis to plural organs or the lymph nodes of the head and neck region at the same time, as in the present case, is thought to be rare. We experienced a case of multiple metastatic tumors derived from the stomach in the head and neck region. We observed metastasis to the epiglottis and multiple cervical lymph nodes exclusive of the mandibular bone in this case. To our knowledge, metastasis of carcinoma from the stomach to the larynx involving the epiglottis has not been previously reported. The patient was an 80-year-old man. His chief complaint was a mass in the gingiva at the mandibular bone. Because the pathological diagnosis of this tumor was a poor differentiated malignant tumor and there were no symptoms of the abdomen, this tumor at the mandibular bone was resected first. Stomach adenocarcinoma was proven by an abdominal computed tomography scan and endoscopic biopsy after the operation. Although we tried to eliminate the tumor using anti-tumor drugs, the patient died six months from the first findings due to aggravation of the original stomach carcinoma.