The age of the patient and duration of intubation were significant factors in the duration of hoarseness after tracheal intubation. In addition, the incidence of arytenoid cartilage dislocation was 0.097%.

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Objectives/Hypothesis: Severe vocal fold lesions such as vocal fold sulcus, scars, and atrophy induce a communication disorder due to severe hoarseness, but a treatment has not been established. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) therapies by either four-time repeated local injections or regenerative surgery for vocal fold scar and sulcus have previously been reported, and favorable outcomes have been observed. In this study, we modified bFGF therapy using a single of bFGF injection, which may potentially be used in office procedures.Study Design: Retrospective chart review. Methods: Five cases of vocal fold sulcus, six cases of scars, seven cases of paralysis, and 17 cases of atrophy were treated by a local injection of bFGF. The injection regimen involved injecting 50 mg of bFGF dissolved in 0.5 mL saline only once into the superficial lamina propria using a 23-gauge injection needle. Two months to 3 months after the injection, phonological outcomes were evaluated.Results: The maximum phonation time (MPT), mean airflow rate, pitch range, speech fundamental frequency, jitter, and voice handicap index improved significantly after the bFGF injection. Furthermore, improvement in the MPT was significantly greater in patients with (in increasing order) vocal fold atrophy, scar, and paralysis. The improvement in the MPT among all patients was significantly correlated with age; the MPT improved more greatly in younger patients.Conclusions: Regenerative treatments by bFGF injection-even a single injection-effectively improve vocal function in vocal fold lesions.

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SummaryCompared to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with single vessel disease (SVD) or double vessel disease (DVD), AMI with triple vessel disease (TVD) is associated with higher mortality. The aim of this study was to identify the determinants of in-hospital death in AMI with TVD. We identified AMI patients with TVD in our tertiary medical center between January 2009 and December 2014. Baseline patient characteristics including laboratory data, echocardiograms, and coronary angiograms were collected from our hospital records. We divided our study population into a survivor group and non-survivor group. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the determinants of in-hospital death. A total of 138 AMI patients with TVD were identified and included as the final study population. Fifteen patients died during the hospitalization (mortality rate, 10.9%). Mean systolic blood pressure (134 ± 27 mmHg) was significantly greater in the survivor group compared with the non-survivor group (114 ± 31 mmHg) (P = 0.02). The prevalence of shock on admission was significantly less in the survivor group (15.4%) than in the non-survivor group (66.7%) (P < 0.001). Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that shock status on admission (OR 11.50, 95% CI 3.21-41.14, P < 0.001), the left anterior descending artery (LAD) as the infarct related artery (IRA) (OR 3.83, 95% CI 1.04-14.09, P = 0.04), and serum albumin on admission (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.08-0.84, P = 0.02) were significantly associated with in-hospital death. In conclusion, shock status on admission, the LAD as the IRA, and a low serum albumin level were the determinants of in-hospital death in AMI patients with TVD. ( 1,2) The in-hospital mortality rates of AMI complicated with cardiogenic shock with SVD, DVD, and TVD were reported to be 32.8%, 45.1%, and 58.2%, respectively. 1) Furthermore, the long-term mortality of AMI with TVD is poorer than that with DVD.2) Although several groups studied the determinants of poor clinical outcomes in AMI with multivessel disease, 3,4) the determinants of in-hospital death in AMI with TVD have not been fully investigated. It is clinically important to identify such determinants in order to obtain a better understanding of AMI with TVD, because the mortality of AMI with TVD is the greatest among AMI.