Hypopituitarism manifesting after invasive dental treatment in a patient with carcinoma of the tongue: a case report.

BACKGROUND: The symptoms of hypopituitarism are not usually discussed in the clinical setting of oral surgery. CASE PRESENTATION: We herein report a case of hypopituitarism that became evident after biopsy and extraction of several teeth in a 68-year-old man with tongue cancer. Three days after biopsy, the patient developed nausea and vomiting, and his serum sodium had fallen to 124 mEq/L. His serum cortisol concentration was low. Although the plasma concentration of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was within the normal range, ACTH stimulation testing showed a lack of cortisol response. Given these findings, we suspected secondary adrenal insufficiency. To investigate the cause of secondary adrenal insufficiency, MRI of the head was performed, which revealed pituitary gland atrophy. The results of pituitary anterior lobe hormone-stimulation tests were compatible with hypopituitarism. Thirty days after biopsy, partial tongue resection was successfully performed under general anesthesia with perioperative hydrocortisone supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: We must be aware of various signs of hypopituitarism when we perform invasive dental treatment.

Primordial Odontogenic Tumor: A case report with histopathological analyses.

Primordial odontogenic tumor (POT) is a benign mixed epithelial and mesenchymal odontogenic tumor included into the current World Health Organization (WHO) classification of Head and Neck tumours in 2017. As far as the authors have confirmed, only eight cases of this tumor have been reported so far. This paper reports a case of POT that occurred in the right mandible of a 5-year-old patient. Panoramic radiograph showed a well-defined homogeneous radiolucency displacing the unerupted second deciduous molar to the deep part of the mandible. Histopathologically, the tumor was composed of cell-rich mesenchymal tissue with myxoid areas, surrounded by columnar epithelium and non-keratinized cuboidal epithelium in the outer layers. The histopathological diagnosis was POT. The expression patterns of cytokeratins (CK) 14, 18, 19, vimentin and CD34 suggested that the grade of differentiation of the POT was approximately equivalent to that of normal primary tooth germ tissues in cap stage to late bell stage.

[Lights and Shadows of Lecanemab: Post-diagnosis Support for People with Dementia Receiving Early Diagnosis].

The advent of lecanemab is a hope not only for people with dementia and their families but also for society as a whole. However, the effectiveness of lecanemab is limited, and the need to inform patients of their dementia may emphasize negative aspects more than ever as "early diagnosis leads to early despair." In this situation, it is important to provide post-diagnostic support to make the "time spent living with dementia," which is prolonged by lecanemab, as meaningful as possible. In this review, the authors introduce the "Peer Support Activities for people with mild dementia and their families," a post-diagnosis support program for those diagnosed early in the course of the disease.

Intramuscular Myxoma of the Intrinsic Muscles of the Tongue: A Case Report with Literature Review.

Myxoma is a benign tumor of mesenchymal origin. It frequently occurs in the muscles of the hip and extremities; however, it rarely occurs in the head and neck region. This report describes the second case of an intramuscular myxoma of the tongue. A 23-year-old woman was referred to our institution for the diagnosis and treatment of a left tongue lesion. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging revealed an 8 × 6-mm mass in the tongue. Based on a clinical diagnosis of a tongue tumor, excisional biopsy was performed under general anesthesia. The histopathological diagnosis was an intramuscular myxoma. The postoperative course was uneventful, and there was no evidence of tumor recurrence 3 years after surgery.

Hypoproteinemia Associated with a Gigantic Odontogenic Tumor: A Report of 2 Cases.

BACKGROUND Hypoproteinemia is caused by a decrease in protein level in the blood. This report describes 2 cases of hypoproteinemia associated with a gigantic odontogenic tumor. CASE REPORT Case 1, a 65-year-old man, visited our hospital with the chief concern of swelling in the right mandible, approximately 100 mm in diameter, and ameloblastoma was diagnosed. Abscess drainage was observed in the fistula of the tumors. Total protein and albumin levels were low before surgery. Hemimandibulectomy was performed under general anesthesia. The final pathological diagnosis based on the specimen was ameloblastic carcinoma. After surgery, the total protein and albumin levels improved and remained stable 6 months after the operation. At 21 months after surgery, there were no signs of recurrence. Case 2, a 60-year-old woman, visited our hospital with a chief concern of swelling in the left mandible, approximately 100 mm in diameter, and ameloblastoma was diagnosed. Abscess drainage was observed in the fistula of the tumors. The patient had a history of hypoproteinemia; preoperative levels of total protein and albumin were low, and edema of the body was observed before surgery. Hemimandibulectomy was performed under general anesthesia. The final pathological diagnosis based on the specimen was ameloblastoma. After surgery, the total protein and albumin levels improved, and remained stable 6 weeks after surgery. There were no signs of recurrence 9 months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS These 2 cases indicate the possibility that hypoproteinemia can be caused by plasma leakage from fistulas associated with gigantic odontogenic tumors.

Brain structural alterations and clinical features of cognitive frailty in Japanese community-dwelling older adults: the Arao study (JPSC-AD).

Cognitive frailty (CF) is a clinical condition defined by the presence of both mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and physical frailty (PF). Elderly with CF are at greater risk of dementia than those with MCI or PF alone, but there are few known clinical or neuroimaging features to reliably distinguish CF from PF or MCI. We therefore conducted a population-based cross-sectional study of community elderly combining physical, cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and multisequence magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluations. The MRI evaluation parameters included white matter (WM) lesion volumes, perivascular and deep subcortical WM lesion grades, lacunar infarct prevalence, microbleed number, and regional medial temporal lobe (MTL) volumes. Participants were divided into 4 groups according to the presence or absence of MCI and PF-(1) no MCI, PF (n = 27); (2) no PF, MCI (n = 119); (3) CF (MCI + PF) (n = 21), (4) normal controls (n = 716). Unique features of CF included shorter one-leg standing time; severe depressive symptoms; and MRI signs of significantly more WM lesions, lacunar infarcts, small-vessel disease lesions, microbleeds, and reduced MTL volumes. These unique deficits suggest that interventions for CF prevention and treatment should focus on motor skills, depressive symptoms, and vascular disease risk factor control.

Impact of age on the cerebrospinal fluid spaces: high-convexity and medial subarachnoid spaces decrease with age.

BACKGROUND: Impaired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics may contribute to the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases, and play a crucial role in brain health in older people; nonetheless, such age-related changes have not been well elucidated. Disproportionately enlarged subarachnoid-space hydrocephalus (DESH) is a neuroimaging phenotype of idiopathic normal-pressure hydrocephalus, originating from impaired CSF dynamics, and closely associated with aging. This study aimed to investigate the pathophysiology of DESH and determine age-related changes in CSF dynamics. METHODS: Using magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the pathophysiology of DESH by quantitatively evaluating the volumes of DESH-related regions (ventricles [VS], Sylvian fissure [SF], and subarachnoid spaces at high convexity and midline [SHM]) and brain parenchyma in community-dwelling individuals aged ≥ 65 years. DESH-related regions were assessed using a visual rating scale, and volumes measured using voxel-based morphometry. Brain parenchyma volumes were measured using FreeSurfer software. RESULTS: Data from 1,356 individuals were analyzed, and 25 (1.8%) individuals had DESH. Regarding the relationships between the volume of each CSF space and age, VS and SF volumes increased with age, whereas SHM volume did not increase. VS and SF volumes increased as the whole brain volume decreased, whereas SHM volume did not increase even if the whole brain volume decreased; that is, SHM did not expand even if brain atrophy progressed. Moreover, lower Mini-Mental State Examination scores were significantly associated with lower SHM volume and higher VS volume. These associations remained significant even when individuals with DESH were excluded. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the volume of high-convexity and medial subarachnoid spaces did not expand and tended to decrease with age; the human brain continuously progresses toward a "DESH-like" morphology with aging in community-dwelling older persons (i.e., DESH might be an "accelerated aging stage" rather than an "age-related disorder"). Our results indicated that brain atrophy may be associated with the development of "DESH-like" morphology. In addition, this morphological change, as well as brain atrophy, is an important condition associated with cognitive decline in older adults. Our findings highlight the importance of investigating the aging process of CSF dynamics in the human brain to preserve brain health in older people.

Radiation Esophagitis in a Patient with Oral Carcinoma and Bone Metastasis.

Radiation esophagitis requiring endoscopic evaluation occurs quite rarely, affecting <1% of patients undergoing radiation treatment. Acute radiation esophagitis develops within 3 weeks of radiation therapy. We describe herein a case of radiation esophagitis in a patient with oral carcinoma with multiple general bone metastases. Cisplatin, fluorouracil, and cetuximab were given for 3 cycles. Radiation therapy (30 Gy) to the thoracic vertebrae and lumbar vertebrae was prescribed to prevent worsening of bone metastases and relieve pain. Neutropenia was also observed due to chemotherapy. After the end of radiation therapy, the patient experienced chest pain, heartburn, and dysphagia. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed severe radiation esophagitis of endoscopic Fukui Acute Radiation Esophagitis grade 4. Oral food was discontinued and an intravenous proton-pump inhibitor was administered. After 3 weeks, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed improvement of radiation esophagitis, with scars. The symptoms of chest pain, heartburn, and dysphagia had also disappeared. This is the first case to be reported of acute radiation esophagitis in a patient with oral carcinoma with bone metastasis who experienced dramatic improvement of endoscopic findings. Neutropenia appears to be associated with more severe acute radiation esophagitis.

Cystadenoma of the tongue: report of a case with long-term follow-up.

Cystadenoma is a rare benign salivary gland neoplasm characterized by a predominantly multicystic growth pattern. The parotid gland is involved in about 45-50% of cystadenoma cases, with the minor glands of the lip and buccal mucosa being the next most common sites. The tongue is rarely involved; only one congenital case is reported in the literature. Here, we report a 63-year-old man who was referred to our hospital for a nodule on the right edge of his tongue that developed into an elastic soft mass, 4 mm in diameter. It was clinically diagnosed as a benign tumour and removed under local anaesthesia. Microscopically, the lesion was composed of multiple cysts of various sizes and shapes, with or without papillary intraluminal short projections. It was diagnosed as cystadenoma. The postoperative course was uneventful, and we found no evidence of recurrence at the postoperative 14-year follow-up.

Cerebral Microbleeds Are Associated with Cerebral Hypoperfusion in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Although cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are commonly observed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), their clinical relevance for AD remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the significance of CMBs in AD by examining the relationship between CMBs and cerebral blood flow (CBF) in patients with AD. METHODS: Thirty-four patients (aged 77.9±7.6 years; 17 men) with probable AD and multiple (≥8) CMBs were selected from 394 consecutive patients. For each lobe of the brain, the correlation between the number of CMBs observed on susceptibility-weighted images and the decrease in CBF observed on single-photon emission computed tomography was assessed. RESULTS: The number of microbleeds was significantly correlated with the severity of decrease in the occipital lobe (Spearman's r = 0.531, p < 0.001) and temporal lobe (r = 0.437, p < 0.001) but not in the frontal lobe (r = 0.201, p = 0.101) and parietal lobe (r = 0.178, p = 0.146). These results were unchanged in the partial correlational analysis after controlling the effect of other small vessel disease such as lacunars and white matter hyperintensities. CONCLUSION: Multiple CMBs are associated with cerebral hypoperfusion in AD. The effects of CMBs on CBF differed according to brain location, possibly reflecting different distributions of the underlying cerebral amyloid angiopathy and AD-related histopathology, such as neurofibrillary tangles.

Clinical Features of Auditory Hallucinations in Patients With Dementia With Lewy Bodies: A Soundtrack of Visual Hallucinations.

OBJECTIVE: Auditory hallucinations are an important symptom for diagnosing dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), yet they have received less attention than visual hallucinations. We investigated the clinical features of auditory hallucinations and the possible mechanisms by which they arise in patients with DLB. METHODS: We recruited 124 consecutive patients with probable DLB (diagnosis based on the DLB International Workshop 2005 criteria; study period: June 2007-January 2015) from the dementia referral center of Kumamoto University Hospital. We used the Neuropsychiatric Inventory to assess the presence of auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, and other neuropsychiatric symptoms. We reviewed all available clinical records of patients with auditory hallucinations to assess their clinical features. We performed multiple logistic regression analysis to identify significant independent predictors of auditory hallucinations. RESULTS: Of the 124 patients, 44 (35.5%) had auditory hallucinations and 75 (60.5%) had visual hallucinations. The majority of patients (90.9%) with auditory hallucinations also had visual hallucinations. Auditory hallucinations consisted mostly of human voices, and 90% of patients described them as like hearing a soundtrack of the scene. Multiple logistic regression showed that the presence of auditory hallucinations was significantly associated with female sex (P = .04) and hearing impairment (P = .004). The analysis also revealed independent correlations between the presence of auditory hallucinations and visual hallucinations (P < .001), phantom boarder delusions (P = .001), and depression (P = .038). CONCLUSIONS: Auditory hallucinations are common neuropsychiatric symptoms in DLB and usually appear as a background soundtrack accompanying visual hallucinations. Auditory hallucinations in patients with DLB are more likely to occur in women and those with impaired hearing, depression, delusions, or visual hallucinations.

A pilot study of the clinical evidence for the methodology for prevention of oral mucositis during cancer chemotherapy by measuring salivary excretion of 5-fluorouracil.

Objective to re-examine measures to prevent oral mucositis caused by drugs in head and neck cancer patients during cancer treatment by measuring salivary excretion of 5-fluorouracil. Saliva, blood, and urine were simultaneously collected from oral cancer patients and breast cancer patient at the point in time of before, during, and after the administration of 5-FU, then the 5-FU levels of the samples were quantitatively analysed using LC-MS/MS. In all patients, the 5-FU levels in saliva and serum peaked at 30 min to 3 h after the start of 5-FU treatment, and high levels were maintained throughout the administration of the drug. With regard to urinary 5-FU levels, they remained high from 3 to 120 h after the start of 5-FU treatment. After the completion of 5-FU treatment, even though it not appeared in the patients' serum and urine promptly, 5-FU was detected in saliva at 12 h after the completion of 5-FU treatment in one oral cancer patient and at 48 h after the completion of 5-FU treatment in the breast cancer patient. It was suggested that the level of hydration after the completion of chemotherapy may be involved in the differences in 5-FU excretion.

[A case of secondary hyperparathyroidism with an ectopic intrathyroid gland successfully diagnosed and controlled by percutaneous ethanol injection therapy (PEIT)].

Secondary hyperparathyroidism (II HPT) is a major complication in chronic dialysis patients, and percutaneous ethanol injection therapy (PEIT) has become a useful alternative treatment for II HPT. However, the existence of ectopic parathyroid glands is a major problem when conducting PEIT. Ectopic parathyroid gland accepts 10-35% of II HPT, and the missing glands cannot be detected consistently by any imaging techniques, including scintigraphy. Intrathyroid parathyroid gland is as rare as about 1% and recurrence of missing glands after parathyroidectomy (PTx) has been reported in some cases. We report here a 52-year-old female in whom an ectopic parathyroid gland was defected successfully and intact-PTH controlled by tentative PEIT. At the first examination, a left parathyroid adenoma and a right thyroid goiter were pointed out by ultrasonography, CT and scintigraphy. PEIT was applied twice to the left parathyroid adenoma, but intact-PTH was not decreased. Ultrasonography, CT, 201Tl-99mTc subtraction scintigraphy and fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) were performed again to search for the existence of ectopic glands. The results suggested that the right intrathyroid tumor was an ectopic parathyroid gland. Consequently, tentative PEIT was applied to the right intrathyroid tumor, and successful control of intact-PTH and serum Ca was eventually achieved. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of secondary hyperparathyroidism with an ectopic intrathyroid gland that was successfully controlled by PEIT. In this case, it was suggested that tentative PEIT of intrathyroid tumor was a useful method for detecting an ectopic parathyroid gland.

Intensive rehabilitation for dementia improved cognitive function and reduced behavioral disturbance in geriatric health service facilities in Japan.

AIM: To examine the efficacy of rehabilitation for elderly individuals with dementia at intermediate facilities between hospitals and home, based on the policies for elderly individuals to promote community-based care at home and dehospitalization. METHODS: Participants were older adults with dementia newly admitted to intermediate facilities. A total of 158 in the intervention group who claimed Long-Term Care Insurance for three consecutive months, and 54 in the control group were included in the analysis. The interventions were carried out in a tailor-made manner to meet individual needs. The personal sessions were carried out three times a week for 3 months after admission by physical, occupational or speech therapists. Outcome measures were cognitive tests (Hasegawa Dementia Scale revised [HDS-R] and Mini-Mental State Examination), and observational assessments of dementia severity, activities of daily living (ADL), social activities, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) using a short version of the Dementia Disturbance Scale (DBD13), depressive mood, and vitality. RESULTS: Significant improvement in the intervention group was shown in cognitive function measured by HDS-R (interaction F[1, 196] = 5.190, P = 0.024), observational evaluation of dementia severity (F[1,198] = 9.550, P = 0.002) and BPSD (DBD13; F[1,197] = 4.506, P = 0.035). Vitality, social activities, depressive mood and ADL were significantly improved only in the intervention group, although interaction was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Significant improvement by intervention was shown in multiple domains including cognitive function and BPSD. Cognitive decline and worsening of BPSD are predictors of care burden and hospitalization, thus intensive rehabilitation for dementia was beneficial for both individuals with dementia and their caregivers.