TOTTORI UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat)/ Otorhinolaryngology

• Head of department
  Hiromi Takeuchi

We provide optimized medicine meeting the needs of patients.

Although the ear, nasal/paranasal cavity, pharynx, throat, and cervical part are close to each other, their anatomical characteristics and physical functions are different. A characteristic of our division is that we have a specialized outpatient ward for each organ and disease in order to maintain high-quality medicine. Regarding treatment, we perform conservative procedure and when surgery is necessary, and we work together with the Head and Neck Surgery Division to evaluate candidature for surgery and to treat the patients.

Field of expertise

We provide national top-level medicine in the field of otology, audiological medicine (auditory disturbance), nasology/allergology (sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, and pollinosis), stomatology/pharyngology (deglutition disorder, sleep apnea syndrome), and rhinolaryngology (vocal impairment), being a major medical facility in the Chugoku region. Putting the Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Divisions together in one unit is the key to providing high-quality medicine.

Diseases of interests

• Aural region: Intractable and repetitive otitis media, chronic otitis media, cholesteatoma of the middle ear, auditory disturbance, vertigo, acoustic nerve tumor, facial nerve palsy, etc.
• Nasal region: Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, refractory chronic sinus infection, disorder of smell, etc.
• Oropharyngeal region: Deglutition disorder, sleep apnea syndrome, dysgeusia, etc.
• Laryngeal region: Vocal impairment, recurrent nerve paralysis, etc.
• Cervical region: Disease of the thyroid, cervical adenopathy, etc.

Principal treatment

• Auditory disturbance: Acoustic aid, tympanoplasty, etc.
• Allergic rhinitis: Immune therapy (hyposensitization therapy)
• Sleep apnea syndrome: Constant positive-pressure breathing (CPAP)
• Swallowing training
• Endoscopic treatment
• Ethanol injection therapy

Principal tests

• Head and neck CT, head and neck MRI, PET-CT, cone-beam CT, etc.
• Nasal and sinus fiber, laryngeeal fiber, etc.
• Auditory test (pure-tone audiometry, auditory brain-stem response (ABR), otoacoustic emission test(OAE), auditory test for infants, etc.)
• Equilibrium function test, etc.
• Allergy test, rhinomanometry, acoustic rhinometry, olfactometry, etc.
• Overnight polysomnography, etc.
• Neck ultrasonography, aspiration biopsy cytology, etc.
• Videoendoscopic evaluation of swallowing, videofluoroscopic examination of swallowing, pharyngeal pressure examination, etc.

Head and Neck Surgery

• Head of department
  Hiromi Takeuchi

We bring the latest medicine to our clinical practice.

The main treatment for malignant diseases in the neck and head region includes surgery, radiation, and pharmacotherapy with anti-cancer drugs. We have specialists with knowledge and skills in all the therapies, selecting the optimal therapy for individual patients. We practice "team medicine" providing extensive and high-quality medicine, trying to improve the outcome of treatment. We can perform most of the standard therapies available in Japan.

Field of expertise

Out policy is to consider not only treatment of diseases but also pre-therapeutic functional evaluation and post-therapeutic care. We put emphasis on collaborative efforts among different teams in the hospital. We can perform not only treatment of cancer but also surgery/rehabilitation for post-operative conditions such as swallowing disorder and disorder of phonation.

Diseases of interests

Benign tumor of the head and neck region, all kinds of malignant tumors (tongue cancer, mouth cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, hypopharyngeal cancer, laryngeal cancer, thyroid cancer, parotid cancer, submaxillary cancer, maxillary cancer, middle ear cancer, etc. )

Principal treatment

• Enlarged tumor resection associated with autograft
• Swallowing function surgery (cranial nerve disorder, swallowing-improving operation for disorder of swallowing function after operation of malignant tumor and others, anti-aspiration operation, etc.)
• Phonetic function operation (thyroplasty for vocal cord paralysis, vocal cord medialization arytenoid cartilage, etc.)
• Functional preservation operation for larynx cancer (laryngeal microsurgery with lazor, partial laryngectomy, subtotal enucleation of the larynx, etc.)
• Voice acquisition surgery by prosthesis insertion after total enucleation of the larynx
• Chemotherapy (including superselective intraarterial infusion therapy)
• Radiation therapy (including IMRT)

Principal tests

• Echography of the head and neck
• Fiberoptic laryngoscopy
• Laryngo-stroboscopy
• Phonetic function test
• Videofluoroscopic examination of swallowing, test of swallowing