The study demonstrated that bFGF combined with an atelocollagen/silicone bilayer membrane is effective for the conservative treatment of tympanic membrane perforation.

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The effect of hypothermia on ischemic injury of the cochlea in gerbils was studied with particular regard to glutamate efflux in the perilymph. Under normothermic conditions interruption of the blood supply to the cochlea for 15 min caused a remarkable elevation of the compound action potential (CAP) threshold, and an increase in perilymphatic glutamate. The CAP threshold recovered to some extent with reperfusion, but not to preischemic levels. CAP thresholds, under hypothermic conditions and with reperfusion, recovered promptly to near pre-ischemic levels, while glutamate concentration did not change. These results, together with electron microscopy studies, suggest that hypothermia prevents hearing loss primarily through reduction of glutamate efflux at the synopses between inner hair cells and primary afferent auditory neurons.

We investigated the protective effects of edaravone, a free radical scavenger, against ischemic damage of inner hair cells (IHCs) in gerbils. Cochlear ischemia was induced in the animals by occluding the vertebral arteries bilaterally for 15 min. Edaravone (1 mg/kg, i.v.) or saline was administered 1 h after ischemia. Hearing was assessed by auditory brain response (ABR). In animals treated with saline, the ABR threshold shift was 24.1 dB and there was a 26.5% decrease in the number of IHCs. By contrast, in animals treated with edaravone, the threshold shift was 7.5 dB and only 8.8% of IHCs was lost. These results suggest that edaravone protects against damage to the inner ear following transient ischemia.

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Despite new catheter designs (1,2), improved dialysis techniques (3), and various prophylactic strategies with antibiotic cream applied to the nose or the exit site (4,5), peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheter exit-site and tunnel infections remain important factors affecting patient morbidity. Since the early 1990s, rates of PD-related peritonitis in Japan have tended to decrease to approximately 1 episode in 70 patientmonths, while rates of exit-site infection (ESI) have remained the same, at approximately 1 episode in 30 patient-months.An ESI is defined by the presence of purulent drainage (6,7). Redness or serous drainage may not always indicate an ESI (8-10). Clinical judgment is therefore required to decide whether to initiate therapy or to carefully follow the patient (6,7).