Auditory or aural rehabilitation was performed to improve inner ear and cognitive decline in patients who wear hearing aids and have hearing difficulties. The participants included 10 patients with presbycusis who requested auditory rehabilitation and completed 3 months of training between July 2021 and April 2022. The three men and seven women had a mean age of 81±6.8 years, mean binaural hearing level of 71 dB (quadrant), mean bare aural good hearing level of 63.4±10.2 dB, and mean hearing aid fitting sound. The mean binaural threshold was 35.4±5 dB, and the highest speech intelligibility was 48.3±27% with hearing aids. Cognitive function tests (Raven Color Matrix Test: RCPM, Trail Making Test: TMT), 67-S word chart, CI2004 word and short sentence listening comprehension, and “Hearing Questionnaire 2002” were used to evaluate psychological aspects. Auditory rehabilitation was performed either by individual training with a speech-language pathologist at the clinic or independent training at home, mainly with family members. Individual training was conducted once a week for about 40 minutes. During voluntary training, patients listened to CDs of classical music and speed speech (ear training) and performed oral reading and calculation tasks (cognitive training) daily at home, and the implementation was checked once a week during individual training. Reexamination was conducted approximately 3 months after the start of auditory rehabilitation. The results showed improvement in speech intelligibility with hearing aids, CI2004 word comprehension, and the “Listening to Words” section of the “Hearing Questionnaire 2002”. The results suggest that auditory rehabilitation that integrates ear training and cognitive training to maintain inner ear function and cognitive function necessary for speech comprehension may be helpful for the effective use of hearing aids in communication.

　 Mask-wearing was universal during the COVID19 pandemic in Japan. Most people not only those with bilateral hearing loss but also those with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) experience difficulty in auditory communication under a mask.

　 We comparatively investigated the listening difficulties in the classroom faced by children with UHL and with normal hearing using a questionnaire before and after the mask-wearing life, and tried to prescribe hearing aid (HA) for children with UHL to wear as needed. A total of 31 children with UHL were included in this study (age: 10-19 years old); of these, 25 children had slight-to-moderate unilateral sensorineural or conductive hearing loss, and 6 children had severe hearing loss Eleven children wanted to wear HA, and their speech-in-noise perception was measured one month after they began to wear HA. In addition, they were asked to answer a questionnaire regarding their listening difficulties they faced in school life before and after the mask-wearing era, and with/without HA. The result of the questionnaire survey suggested that most children with UHL experienced difficulties in auditory communication after the start of the mask-wearing era. Nine out of the 11 children were satisfied with their HA and their scores on the questionnaire items improved after they began wearing HA. The speech-in-noise perception also showed the efficacy of HA. It is important to understand the situation of school children with UHL to improve their quality of theid school life, in particular, under the lifestyle of mask-wearing.

　 Posterior glottic stenosis (PGS) is caused by trauma or inflammation, such as occurs in endotracheal intubation. Although curable, PGS is often misdiagnosed as bilateral vocal fold paralysis and left without surgical interventions. In this report, we discuss two cases of PGS.

　 Patient 1 is a 44-year-old woman who had an endoscopic finding of a bridging scar between the vocal processes, leading to the diagnosis of Bogdasarian classification Type I (vocal process adhesion) PGS. We separated the adhesions under the guidance of a direct laryngoscope. Patient 2 is a 61-year-old man who was diagnosed with bilateral vocal fold paralysis and underwent tracheotomy. Although no adhesive lesion could be found by conventional endoscopic observation from the oral side, observation through the tracheal stoma showed a bridging scar between the posterior commissure. Additionally, a scar was found at the right cricoarytenoid joint, leading to the diagnosis of PGS Type III (posterior commissure stenosis with unilateral cricoarytenoid ankylosis). Since we struggled to obtain sufficient surgical views through the oral approach, we severed the adhesion using a CO₂ laser through the tracheal stoma under the guidance of a rigid endoscope. The choice of an adequate surgical approach is important for the treatment of PGS according to adhesion type.

　 Detailed case reports that thoroughly discuss diagnosis and pathophysiology have the potential to contribute to high-quality research and evidence in the future, while also holding educational value for medical trainees. With the recent advancements in AI translation software, writing case reports in English has become significantly easier now than 10 years ago. However, few English journals actively accept case reports, making the determination of suitable submission outlets challenging for physicians. In addition to their lack of experience in manuscript submissions, physicians face difficulties due to varying submission requirements among different journals and the absence of consolidated information on manuscript preparation and publication processes. While desiring PubMed indexing even without impact factor (IF), many journals nowadays demand expensive publication fees and some journals demand additional open-access fees. Aiming to publish in prestigious journals may waste authors' substantial time and effort if the submission is rejected. Therefore, beginners are advised to avoid engaging in such attempts. To assist medical trainees and supervising physicians who are considering submitting their first case reports, we discuss potential submission outlets and provide guidance on selecting appropriate journals, taking into consideration the costs, IF, acceptance rates, and open-access policies.