It has been classically hypothesized that a mass in the nasopharynx causes an obstacle to air flow through the eustachian tube, thereby creating a negative pressure in the middle ear followed by an effusion. However, examination of the relevant data concerning the supposed obstruction of the eustachian tube by nasopharyngeal carcinomas, choanal polyps and adenoids does not seem to support this cause and effect relationship. Evidence points to other more sophisticated mechanisms which cause negative pressure and an effusion in pathological middle ear conditions. While the hypothesis of a nasopharyngeal mass as the usual obstructive cause of middle ear effusion is hard to maintain, evidence does exist to support the origin of middle ear infection, as seen in acute and secretory otitis media, as being associated, at times, with an ascending infection from the nasopharynx.

An historical account of descriptions of malformation of the inner ear.

Critical evaluation of the outcome of surgery for cholesteatoma has favoured open cavity techniques. These methods have however been plagued by an inability to consistently produce healthy well healed cavities.

The strength and stability of the normal tympanic membrane depends upon the separation of squamous epithelium from the middle ear mucosa by a fibrous tissue layer. Traditional methods of dealing with the cavity fail to reproduce a similar anatomically stable arrangement.

In order to achieve the highest percentage of dry, stable disease-free ears after employing basic surgical principles of wide access to facilitate meticulous removal of all cholesteatoma, we have utilized a vascularized deep temporalis fascia flap for complete coverage of the cavity eliminating all raw areas. This fibrous layer provides the optimal substrate for epithelial resurfacing. Excellent healing even under unfavourable circumstances is ensured by the rich blood supply to the pedicled temporalis fascia flap.

Considering patient preferences and cost effectiveness, the optimal treatment for cholesteatoma must be one operation, provided it achieves a dry safe ear. Based upon rational concepts, the ‘Hong Kong Flap’ technique of reconstructing the mastoid cavity involves a straightforward procedure requiring no special technical skill that consistently achieves this ideal.

The records of 148 adults (aged 14 years and older) presenting previously untreated aural cholesteatomas are analysed with particular emphasis on ossicular destruction and other bony lesions in the middle ear. The findings are compared with those obtained in an earlier study of 63 children (aged 13 years and younger), also with untreated cholesteatomas. The rate of stapes and malleus destruction was similar in adults and children. The rate of incus destruction was significantly higher in adults. Semicircular fistulas as well as facial paralysis were also more prevalent amongst adults. Therefore, the notion of childhood cholesteatoma aggressiveness cannot be related to its effect on these bony structures. It may stem from its higher recurrence rate and from the more troublesome post-operative mastoid cavities, which are often larger in children than in adults.

In a series of 571 vestibular schwannomas (VS) operated on in the period 1976–1992, via the translabyrinthine approach, 23 tumours (4 per cent) from 23 patients were radiologically, peroperatively and histologically identified as cystic VS. Neuroimaging examinations (CT and MRI) revealed 15 tumours (2.6 per cent) with extracystic formations and in eight cases (1.4 per cent) intratumoural cysts. In 15 cases (65 per cent), tumours were located extracanalicularly with no involvement of the internal auditory canal (IAC). The extracanalicular tumour extension including the cystic elements ranged between 10 and 60 mm with a mean of 45 mm. In eight cases out of 23 (35 per cent) other diagnostic possibilities such as trigeminal schwannoma, epidermoid cyst and meningioma were proposed at the primary evaluation. Deformation, displacement and/or impression of the fourth ventricle was demonstrated in 17 cases (74 per cent). Three patients (13 per cent) had obstructive hydrocephalus which demanded shunt insertion. Residual tumour was detected in two patients (9 per cent). Growth rate in four cases was more than 10 times higher when compared to the annual growth rate of noncystic VS. The results of this study provide data on cystic VS attenuation demonstrated by CT or MRI which may be valuable in neuroradiological diagnosis of these cystic lesions and emphasizes that the wait-and-see policy should not be applied to the cystic variant of VS.

Blast injury of the auditory system is uncommon and our knowledge incomplete. This article reviews the literature to date giving an account of the interactions of blast waves with the ear, the mechanisms of injury, the pathology, the clinical features, and an outline of management principles.

The hearing data from a sample of 73 children undergoing surgical treatment for chronic otitis media with effusion (OME) were analysed using a modification of the Glasgow Benefit Plot. All the patients had bilateral middle ear effusions confirmed at surgery. Using 20 dB average hearing level as the ‘cutoff’ point between normal and abnormal hearing, 65 (89 per cent) patients had binaural normal hearing, five (7 per cent) had monaural normal hearing and three (4 per cent) had bilateral hearing loss after surgery. However, 70 patients (96 per cent) were found to benefit from surgery. The cases with persistent hearing loss were re-examined to determine the cause of failure.

A prospective study was performed to investigate the effect of neurosurgery on hearing. Thirty-two patients underwent neurosurgery while 32 patients who had surgical procedures not involving puncture or drainage of the subdural space, served as a control group. In the neurosurgical group, a significant loss of hearing was observed in the immediate post-operative period, with recovery over one week. No average threshold shift was observed in the control group. It is suggested that following neurosurgery the mechanism of hearing loss results directly from a decrease in pressure and/or volume of the cerebrospinal fluid, which is reflected within the perilymphatic fluid, comparable to a transitory endolymphatic hydrops.

Otitis media with effusion (OME) is both extremely common in young children, and variable in its duration and severity. This study aims to gather and consider new and reliable information about the incidence and prevalence of OME in British school children.

Eight hundred and fifty-six school children aged five to eight years from four South West Hampshire schools were examined over a three-year period by tympanometry, a method used to detect OME (>90 per cent specificity and sensitivity) performed once per school term. Normal ears were recorded in 54.9 per cent of children throughout with 27 per cent recording evidence of effusion. However in only one out of 10 of the affected children did the fluid persist for a year or more. This impressive clearance is due in part to natural resolution, with the intervention of surgery occurring in about one in eight of the children with identified effusions.

OME is more common in five-year-olds with an annual prevalence of 17 per cent compared to six per cent in eight-year-olds and is more common in the winter months. Because of the variability of the condition at least two screenings are recommended as a basis for good management.

It is a common belief that there is no significant transcranial attenuation across the skull by bone conduction (BC). In 32 children with proven unilateral sensorineural hearing loss the unmasked bone thresholds were measured on each side. There was a significant attenuation of BC at 4 kHz. Transcranial attenuation of BC at 4 kHz may explain the difference in sound perception between the two ears when bone conduction amplification is used. Further research should be undertaken to identify the better cochlea in mixed hearing losses.

The facial nerve is often injured by trauma, infection or during the course of tumour resection. Many techniques of nerve anastomosis have been described with the current standard nerve repair using the microscope and monofilament suture. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the CO2 surgical laser as a tool for facial nerve anastomosis. Following preliminary electrical measurements 36 nerves were anastomosed using either laser or conventional monofilament suture. Laser anastomosis had neither beneficial nor detrimental effects on nerve regeneration. This method of anastomosis may be advantageous when surgical access is limited. In addition this study found that the use of CO2 laser as a dissecting or vapourizing tool in proximity to intact facial nerves results in degenerative changes.

With easier access to more sophisticated imaging techniques, the investigation of vocal fold palsy is reassessed. A questionnaire was sent to all ENT surgeons in the UK to establish which imaging techniques are available to ENT departments and which tests are currently requested during the investigation of vocal fold palsy.

An extensive literature review established the aetiology of vocal fold palsy and the sensitivity and specificity of radiological investigations.

A simple protocol is proposed which would be suitable to implement in the majority of ENT departments in the UK.

Increasing concern with medicolegal issues has heightened the need for surgical simulation in training. Familiarity with the surgical anatomy of the temporal bone is essential for effective and safe otological surgery. Refinement of surgical technique and intimate knowledge of temporal bone anatomy can be gained by accurate dissection. The products of such endeavours are both illustrative and instructive. The issues, methods and techniques necessary for display of anatomical dissections are discussed.

Laryngeal papillomata can undergo spontaneous malignant transformation without being detected histologically and, in some instances, the disease may become so advanced, before the diagnosis is confirmed, that it is beyond any form of curative treatment.

Because of this limitation imposed by histopathological investigation, a study was undertaken in 17 adults with benign laryngeal papillomata, (three of whom underwent malignant transformation) to determine whether malignant transformation can be predicted from the clinical behaviour of the tumour. The following features were analysed: age, sex, patient's symptoms, frequency of excision of the papillomata, site of lesion, presence or absence of laryngeal oedema, the need for tracheostomy, vocal fold mobility and presence or absence of cervical lymph nodes.

It was found that decreased vocal fold mobility, the presence of cervical lymph nodes, exuberant and rapid growth requiring very frequent excisions, oedema of the larynx with airway obstruction requiring a tracheostomy are clinical features suggestive of malignant transformation.

Tinnitus produced by synchronous repetitive contraction of the middle ear muscles (middle ear myoclonus) is a rare condition.

We present six cases of middle ear myoclonus in whom different management regimes were successful. In two patients, the tinnitus was controlled by conservative measures. In one patient, whose tinnitus was associated with blepharospasm, significant improvement occurred following botulinum toxin injection into the ipsilateral orbicularis oculi. Three patients were cured by tympanotomy with stapedial and tensor tympani tendon section.

The aetiology of this type of myoclonus remains unclear. The diagnosis is based on the history of involuntary and rhythmic clicking or buzzing tinnitus which is invariably unilateral. The primary differential diagnosis is palatal myoclonus whilst other local aural pathologies must be excluded by careful clinical assessment. Surgical section of these muscles via tympanotomy brings guaranteed relief when conservative measures fail.

Benign necrotizing otitis externa (BNOE) is a rare condition of unknown aetiology which is characterized by the formation of an avascular bony sequestrum of the tympanic plate. The vascular supply of the tympanic plate is easily compromized as demonstrated by the development of avascular necrosis in radionecrosis of the tympanic plate and malignant otitis externa. Recognition of BNOE as distinct from malignant otitis externa and carcinoma of the external ear is important as the treatment differs greatly. BNOE also forms an important part of the differential diagnosis of recalcitrant otitis externa.

Management of BNOE has been unclear with long-term medical treatment being advocated. In this series of five patients, the surgical management of four patients with BNOE is described. Surgery was successful in all these patients and is advocated as an alternative to medical management.