Submandibular gland cancer are rare, accounting for 25% of major salivary gland cancer. We evaluated the management and outcomes of submandibular gland cancer treated at Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital from 1999 to 2021. Our study population of 31 patients included 23 men and 8 women with a median age of 65 years. The most common histological type was adenoid cystic carcinoma and salivary duct carcinoma, followed by mucoepidermoid carcinoma and carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma. High-grade tumors were observed in 19 (61%) patients. The Kaplan Meier 5-year estimated disease-specific survival was 59.2% in all cases, and 100%, 71.1%, 100%, and 25.0% for stage I to IV, respectively. The cases with high stage, node positive, advanced T, and high-grade were poor prognosis. Advanced stage, node positive, and advanced age were proved to be significant predictors of recurrent cases. The survival rate of the submandibular gland cancer was poor compared with the parotid gland cancer because there were the cases with the submandibular gland cancer have no low/intermediate-grade types in such as basal cell carcinoma, secretory carcinoma, and epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma, which are major type in the parotid gland cancer.

　At present, there is no consensus on the optimal treatment policy for odontogenic maxillary sinusitis. We conducted this prospective study jointly with the department of dentistry to determine the optimal treatment policy for preserving the causative tooth as much as possible. Between 2018 and 2022, 43 cases of odontogenic maxillary sinusitis were enrolled in this prospective study conducted to determine the optimal treatment policy for preserving the causative tooth as much as possible. In the field of otorhinolaryngology, treatment is begun with antibiotic therapy, while in the dentistry field, root canal treatment is performed first. The effect of these conservative treatments were evaluated by CT after 3 months. Endoscopic sinus surgery was performed in cases that failed to show improvement with the above conservative measures. If no improvement was noted even after endoscopic sinus surgery, tooth extraction was performed. This treatment policy allowed the causative tooth to be preserved in 77% of cases. All cases showed improvement after endoscopic sinus surgery. For cases that do not improve with conservative treatment, endoscopic sinus surgery is considered as being a useful surgical option to avoid tooth extraction.

　To combat the increase in the cases of refractory acute otitis media (AOM) caused by drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (DRSP) since 2000, penicillin antibiotics (PCs) were proposed as first-choice drugs for the treatment of childhood acute upper respiratory tract infections. The 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was subsequently introduced in 2010, and it was followed by the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in 2013. Since then there have been reports of decreases in the number of AOM cases, in detections of S. pneumoniae and DRSP involvement in AOM, and in severe AOM cases requiring myringotomy. Attending group child care and/or having a sibling attending group care (group care factor) and age below 2 years (age factor) are regarded as background factors for DRSP detection, but there has been only a handful of reports on the change of these background factors. We therefore targeted the 794 AOM cases from which S. pneumoniae was isolated during 2005-2009 (period I) before the introduction of PCVs and the 382 AOM cases from which it was isolated during 2016-2020 (period II) after the introduction of PCVs, and retrospectively investigated the frequency of DRSP detection and background factors. PCs were the first-choice drugs for the treatment of childhood upper respiratory tract infections in both my hospital and surrounding medical institutions throughout periods I and II. The results showed that the frequency detection of DRSP was significantly lower in period II than in period I, and there were no significant differences between the frequency of DRSP detection according to whether the group care factor or age factor was present or absent in period II. Similar results have been reported in a pediatric survey, suggesting the efficacy of introducing the PCVs.

　 To evaluate the usefulness of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine polymer (MPCP) as a gargle, we investigated the bacterial adherence inhibitory effect, moisturizing effect, and anti-inflammatory effect of MPCP37, one of the formulations of MPCP. In an in vitro experiment we counted the numbers of Streptococcus pneumoniae adhering to cultured pharyngeal epithelial cells after exposing the cells to MPCP37. We then counted the numbers of bacteria adhering to the mucosal epithelial cells of 15 healthy subjects three hours after gargling with MPCP37 and various commercially available gargles. The moisturizing effect of MPCP37 was assessed by measuring the humidity of the tongue surface with an oral moisture meter after gargling with MPCP37 and other gargles and absorbing tongue surface water with a paper towel. The anti-inflammatory effect of MPCP37 was assessed by measuring the levels of IL-8 produced by cultured pharyngeal epithelial cells in response to the stimulation with Pam3CSK4 after exposure to MPCP37. The results showed that the numbers of bacteria adhering to the epithelial cells had markedly decreased after exposure to MPCP37 and gargling with MPCP37, even with a 0.05% MPCP37 solution. The change in tongue surface moisture was significantly smaller in the group that had gargled with MPCP37. In addition, IL-8 production by cultured pharyngeal epithelial cells was significantly suppressed by exposure to MPCP37. These findings suggested that MPCP37 possesses moisturizing and anti-inflammatory effects in addition to an inhibitory effect on bacterial adherence and that it might be able to serve as a formulation of a new gargle.

　 This study aimed to provide a comprehensive classification system for benign parotid tumors. Multiple techniques for parotidectomies have resulted in confusion regarding surgical procedures. Parotidectomies were divided into 10 procedures based on the tumor size, location, and the facial nerve relationship into the following; total, subtotal, total superficial (deep), upper-partial superficial (deep), lower-partial superficial (deep), extracapsular dissection (ECD), and enucleation. In our department, 1179 parotid surgeries were performed during the past 23 years. They all corresponded to this classification. In upper-superficial tumors, upper-partial superficial parotidectomy was performed in 89% of patients, while in upper-deep tumors, upper-partial deep parotidectomy and ECD were performed in almost similar. In the histopathological type, partial superficial parotidectomy was performed in cases with 64% pleomorphic adenoma, while in Warthin tumor, lower-partial parotidectomy was performed in cases with 55%. The rate of post-operative transient facial nerve paralysis at upper-superficial, upper-deep, lower-superficial, and lower-deep tumors was 15.4%, 36.4%, 12.8%, 21.3%, respectively. Surgical procedures were meant to include not only the difficulty of operation, but also the basic important information concerning clinical research for parotid tumors.