Facial nerve palsy is a significant complication in parotid gland surgery. To assess the risk of postoperative facial palsy, prediction of the spatial relationship between the parotid gland tumor (PGT) and facial nerve is important. Recent studies have reported that the intraparotid facial nerve could be directly visualized using magnetic resonance imaging techniques, such as fast imaging employing steady state precession cycled phases (FIESTA-C). This study aimed to investigate the preoperative diagnostic accuracy of FIESTA-C in localizing PGT. Twenty-five patients with PGT who underwent surgery and preoperative FIESTA-C sequences from January 2021 to April 2023 were enrolled. Three patients who did not undergo the full extent of extracranial facial nerve evaluation by FIESTA-C, one patient who could not be evaluated due to the presence of artifacts, one patient with recurrent tumor, and one patient who underwent surgery by the local incision procedure were excluded. Finally, 19 patients were included in this study. The mean age of participants was 57 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 12: 7. We identified the PGT and facial nerve using FIESTA-C and generated 3D models using Slicer, an open-source software for medical image processing and 3D visualization. The relationship between the PGT and facial nerve was then evaluated and compared with surgical findings. The histological types included pleomorphic adenoma in 14 patients, Warthin's tumor in three patients, squamous cell carcinoma in one patient, and basal cell adenocarcinoma in one patient. Surgical localization confirmed 15 superficial lesions and three deep lesions. In one patient, the facial nerve was excised because it had been encased by the tumor. The main trunk of the facial nerve was identified in all patients, whereas the temporofacial and cervicofacial divisions were identified in 18 (95%) patients. The diagnostic accuracy of the FIESTA-C sequence for prediction of tumor location was 84%. Our findings suggested that FIESTA-C is a valuable MRI sequence for detecting the facial nerve and preoperatively evaluating the location of PGT.

　　Frailty is an indication for the need for long-term care, and hearing loss is considered to be a risk factor for frailty.

　　We examined the association between frailty and hearing loss among 903 participants (Mean age: 69.8±6.7 years) who participated in the sixth and seventh waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Aging (NILS-LSA) and had no deficits in frailty assessment, pure tone audiometry, or other analyses. In this study, frailty was assessed according to the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) criteria established by Fried et al.

　　In multiple comparisons that considered age and sex, the hearing levels in the sixth wave differed by frailty category in the sixth and seventh waves, with worse hearing levels in the frail group compared to the robust group in both waves (sixth wave: robust; 24.2±0.5dB, frail; 28.0±1.7dB, p=0.022. seventh wave: robust; 24.6±0.6dB, frail; 28.7±1.5 dB, p=0.047). Hearing level was not a significant predictor of worsening frailty.

　　Although the CHS criteria do not include items related to hearing impairment, our study found a probable association between hearing and frailty in the elderly.

　　Bilateral and recurrent facial palsy is observed in 0.3%-0.5% of all cases of facial palsy. We report a case of bilateral and recurrent facial palsy in a patient who had facial palsy eight times after receiving a shot of the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine and experiencing cold and fever. Aside the reactivation of latent herpes simplex infection caused by immunosuppression, demyelination from an autoimmune response to viral infections might underlie the recurrent facial palsy. Recovery from facial palsy tends to become challenging after a recurrence. The patient may possibly present with other symptoms in the future, which may aid the diagnosis of other diseases, such as systemic diseases. Therefore, further appropriate examinations, investigations, and treatments will be needed in the long-term.