Nasal cycle duration during sleep is longer than in wakefulness. Changes in laterality of nasal cycle frequently coincide with switches in posture, tend to occur in REM sleep, never occur in slow-wave sleep, and may be absent in subjects with severe nasal septal deviations.

Acinic cell carcinoma of minor salivary gland of the base of tongue is very rare. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common tumor in the base of tongue. We present a patient with gigantic acinic cell carcinoma of the base of tongue. This patient required emergency tracheotomy before surgery, because he had dyspnea when he came to our hospital. We removed this tumor by pull-through method and performed reconstructive surgery using a rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap. It was a case that to preserved movement of the tongue and swallowing function by keeping lingual arteries and hypoglossal nerves. This case was an extremely rare case of ACC of the base of tongue that required reconstructive surgery.

No abstract

Objective: Over 20 million people in Japan suffer from hay fever caused by cedar pollen, and every year, they are disturbed with severe symptoms during a season of just 2 to 3 months. Clinically, there is a big problem with quality of life, including daytime sleepiness and sleep problems. Method: To clarify the influence of hay fever on sleep and daytime sleepiness subjectively, 22 patients with hay fever caused by cedar pollen were enrolled. We evaluated sleep architecture and objective sleepiness before the season and during the season using PSG and MSLT. Results: Wake time after onset (WASO) showed significant increase during the season compared to before the season: from 16.4 to 29.7 min. AHI does not change for the worse during the season. In 11 patients with nasal obstruction, total nasal resistance was >0.3pa/cm/sec, out of 22, rate of REM-sleep decreased (from 24.2 to 20.8%), and mean MSLT decreased (from 12.4 to 8.5 min) significantly. Especially 4 out of 11 showed severe sleepiness that was recognized as disease (MSLT <5 min) during the season. Conclusion: There are strong associations between nasal symptoms, especially nasal obstruction, sleep quality, and daytime sleepiness.