Unilateral hearing loss has been reported as an unusual complication in general anaesthesia, and so far no reports on bilateral hearing loss have been published. In this paper we present a case with bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment immediately following a minor abdominal surgical procedure. The literature is reviewed and the mechanisms causing hearing loss during anaesthesia are discussed.

Granuloma gravidarum of the nasal mucous membrane is a rare benign tumour. Clinically it may appear as alarming bleeding with a rapidly growing, non-tender polyp producing nasal stenosis. A case is reported in a young healthy pregnant woman, who developed a granuloma gravidarum on the right side of her nasal septum, recurring several times after delivery in spite of extirpation. Histologically foamy histocytes were present, which could represent a special feature of this type of tumour.

A laryngocele is an air-filled dilatation of the saccule of the larynx. An in fected laryngocele is called a laryngopyocele. Our experience with two cases of laryngopyoceles are presented. Only 29 cases of laryngopyoceles have so far been reported in the literature (Illum and Nehen, 1980).

Case one had a right-sided combined laryngopyocele and case two had a right-sided combined laryngopyocele and a left-sided combined laryngocele.

Both our cases had their lesions excised via an external approach, as described by Yarington and Frazer (1966), with case two having a bilateral excision.

A case of acute renal failure associated with severe uraemic hearing loss is presented. Audiometric site-of-lesion testing revealed cochlear as well as neural involvement.

After therapy hearing recovered up to an almost normal level, with normal auditory nerve conduction velocities.

This case report supports the suggestion that the improvement of hearing after renal transplantation or dialysis might be correlated with the influences of these forms of therapy upon the peripheral neuropathy.

Seventeen unrelated Danish patients with Pendred's syndrome, whose case stories have not been published previously, are presented. Acoustic and vestibular functions were examined and endocrinological screening was performed. There was a great variation in hearing ability as well as in thyroid function. Furthermore, in contrast to previous investigations, normal caloric function was demonstrated in the majority. In all patients a Mondini malformation was demonstrated. On the basis of this investigation it is concluded that: (1) the Mondini defect is part of Pendred's syndrome; (2) the inherited Mondini malformation is the underlying cause of the sensorineural hearing impairment; and (3) the hearing sensitivity varies greatly in these patients.

A case of early-onset bilateral sensori-neural deafness with episodic objective vertigo, tinnitus and vomiting, suggestive of Meniere's syndrome, was found to have a diffuse goitre. A Perchlorate discharge test was positive, indicating an organification defect diagnostic of Pendred's syndrome. The case was found to be euthyroid both clinically and on investigations. Tone decay was absent and recruitment was found, thus indicating a cochlear site of lesion. Bithermal caloric tests and clinical tests of vestibular function were within normal limits. X-rays, including petrous tomography, did not show any abnormalities.

A man of 25 with von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis (VR) developed nasal polyps. Subarachnoid haemorrhage occurred shortly after surgical excision and he died 9 weeks later. Post-mortem examination showed chronic hydrocephalus due to aqueduct stenosis. Histologically the polyps were a nasal glioma, a forme fruste of anterior encephalocoele not previously associated with VR, though other cranial defects are well recognized. Nasal glioma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of nasal lesions in VR.

A survey of the diagnostic value of fine needle aspiration cytology in ENT practice was carried out over a 3-year period. The 119 aspirates were taken from a variety of head and neck sites and examined by an experienced cytopathologist. Cytology was accurate in 111 (93 per cent), with two false negative aspirates (1.7 per cent) and no false positive results. There were no complications and the technique was found to be a rapid, safe and cost-effective diagnostic tool.