This study suggests that neck dissection and/or metastatic cervical lymph nodes might alter the direction of lymphatic drainage to the retrograde fashion, resulting in the unusual metastasis to the retropharyngeal lymph nodes. Although the cases described here are rare, metastasis to the retropharyngeal node should be considered at the follow-up for thyroid papillary carcinoma. Because these metastases will be missed by routine ultrasonography of the neck, periodic CT scan or MRI is recommended for follow-up, especially for patients with a history of neck dissection.

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Objective: To evaluate vestibular function after unilateral acoustic neuroma surgery via a retrosigmoid approach. Methods: Thirty-eight patients were tested using caloric irrigation, static posturography, and the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) before, and one week to nine months after surgery. Results: Twenty-six patients were categorized as a response group and 12 as a no-response group on the basis of preoperative caloric irrigation findings. The posturographic parameters and DHI scores at one week after surgery showed significant deterioration in the response group, but not in the no-response group. However, they recovered to the preoperative baseline at 3 months after surgery. The posturographic parameters and DHI scores for older patients tended to be worse than those for younger patients at 6 and 9 months after surgery. Conclusion: Patients in whom caloric responses are retained preoperatively show a temporary disturbance of balance after removal of acoustic neuroma. Disequilibrium after surgery ameliorates to the preoperative baseline within three months due to vestibular compensation, regardless of preoperative vestibular function. It is possible that poorer vestibular compensation may facilitate incomplete recovery in older patients after surgery.

To further study the effects of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the olfactory epithelium, bFGF was intranasally administered twice a day for 6 weeks to 2.5-month-old and 7-month-old mice. The effects were immunohistochemically examined by using antibodies against proliferating cell nuclear antigen, olfactory marker protein, and GAP43. The number of cells positive for proliferating cell nuclear antigen in the supporting cell layer increased dramatically, and that of GAP43-positive cells, or globose basal cells, increased significantly, especially in aging mice. However, no significant changes were observed in the number of olfactory marker protein-positive cells or mature olfactory receptor neurons. These results suggest that topical application of bFGF promotes proliferation of globose basal cells and supporting cells.

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