A prospective study was designed in which General Practitioners were issued with a standard referral letter for hearing aid provision. Unknown to the General Practitioner an independent otolaryngologist assessment was obtained at the time of first attendance. Three hundred consecutive patients selected by General Practitioners applying these guidelines were seen in a designated hearing aid clinic staffed by audiological technicians of senior grade or above. Referral pro formata were incomplete in 75 patients who were not assessed. Ninety-four patients (31 per cent) (95 per cent confidence interval 29–36 per cent) were accepted by the audiologist. Obstructing wax was the most common criterion failed. Clinical agreement between audiologist and otolaryngologist was 57 per cent greater than chance. None of the cases of clinical disagreement altered treatment. A direct referral system as proposed could have processed only 31 per cent of 300 referrals. However, experienced technical staff reliably detected otological pathology and with aural toilet facilities 91 per cent of 225 patients (confidence interval 88–94 per cent) were aided.

In a prospective study on 47 patients, 16 mg of gentamicin per two litres dialysate was administered intraperitoneally at every cycle of intermittent peritoneal dialysis, carried out over the course of several days. Serum gentamicin sampling, pure tone audiometry and caloric tests were performed before and during the treatment. The gentamicin levels reached at the end of the thirtieth cycle were observed to be low. In view of this, the risk of acute ototoxicity was considered to be minimal. This was confirmed by the absence of clinical audiometric or vestibulometric evidence of toxicity.

The use of bone grafts for total ossicular chain reconstructions in patients with deep oval windows may result in varying degrees of absorption of the segment of the bone graft in the fossula fenestra vestibuli. The mechanism of bone absorption is described—a condition not described before.

One fifth of patients selected for cochlear implants have such bony irregularities in the cochlear duct that full insertion of a multichannel electrode array is impossible. Three cases of cochlear deafness are presented where pre- and post-operative radiology played an important part in the management.

Standard CT at 2 mm cuts is compared with ultra high resolution CT at 1 mm cuts. The pitfall of poor definition is that the inexperienced surgeon may find himself unexpectedly drilling out an obliterated cochlear duct. Sections 30 degrees caudal to Reid's infra orbito-meatal base line at 1 mm intervals give maximum information for minimum radiation.

Plain films show the placement of individual platinum electrode contacts in relation to the spiral ‘frequency map’ of the cochlea. This is vital information for the audiologist who has to route specific frequencies to specific sites within the ear for a good hearing result.

A study of 73 patients with retraction pockets of the pars tensa (93 affected ears) has been carried out. Of these 32 per cent had otalgia and 31 per cent reported episodes of aural discharge. Adequate audiometric data was available on 75 ears. Mean air-bone gaps were calculated using 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz and 4000 Hz. Thirty per cent of ears had air-bone gaps of less than 10 dB and in 93 per cent the air-bone gap was less than 30 dB. Air-bone gaps of more than 40 dB were found in seven per cent. Of this group, seven patients were selected for surgical treatment. In all cases the retraction pockets were elevated and everted. In six cases, the thinned tympanic membrane was reinforced with a composite graft of cartilage and perichondrium. This technique has also been used in three patients not included in this study group. An ossiculoplasty was performed in four cases. In the early months, the retraction pockets remained completely everted. However, by 12 months some degree of retraction had recurred in four of the six patients who have been followed for more than 12 months.

Carcinoma of the middle ear is a difficult tumour to treat. We present ten cases and discuss staging of these tumours. Our results would suggest that a revised staging system may allow better identification of patients that would benefit from surgery whilst sparing some mutilating surgery that offers little to improve their quality or quantity of life.

Ossification of the inner ear is the result of multifactorial pathogeneses, such as infection or malignant infiltration, and otosclerosis. Ossification of the innerear spaces is a well documented sequela of suppurative labyrinthitis. In this study of human temporal bones, sections from 14 patients (28 temporal bones)were studied. In additionto the osseous tissue within the inner ear, findings included neoplasms, otosclerosis, otitis media, trauma, and Fabry's disease. We have attempted to correlate these conditions and their influence on the formation of osseous tissue within the spaces of the inner ear. Tympanogenic infection and vascular compromise were found to play an important role in ossification. The scala tympani ofthe basal turn of the cochlea was frequently the site involved.

Middle ear pressure and tympanic membrane compliance were measured in 34 infants and young children (66 ears) with normal middle ears under oral choral hydrate hypnosis. Tympanograms were performed before and 40 to 60 minutes after administration of the drug. Results showed that the middle ear pressure increased significantly in all cases and in both sexes. This increase ranged between +19 and +219 mm H2O. In all cases the pressure returned to its prehypnotic values after recovery. Results of tympanic membrane compliance showed significant increase in males and not significant decrease in females.

This study compares the histology of aural polyp with the subsequent clinical course of the middle ear disease. AH cases of aural polyps that presented to the department during 1988 and 1989 were included. Patients who had previous ear surgery were excluded as were cases where the operation was part of clearance of known cholesteatoma rather than polypectomy alone.

We found that the histology of the aural polyp was not a precise predictor of the presence or absence of cholesteatoma, nor of the subsequent course of the middle ear disease.

Many procedures have been devised to deal with intractable vertigo and conserve hearing, but despite this selective vestibular nerve section remains by far the most effective treatment.

A series of 14 patients who underwent posterior fossa vestibular neurectomy is reported. The results are reported for vertigo control, hearing and tinnitus. All of the patients achieved vertigo control according to the AAOO (1972) reporting system. A simple and reliable system for the classification of the disability in these patients has yet to be devised. This problem is addressed and a disability grading system proposed, and discussed.

Promontory stimulation testing was carried out on a series of ten patients who had undergone osseous labyrinthectomy. The thresholds, discomfort levels and dynamic ranges were found to be comparable with a series of ten patients who have subsequently been successfully implanted with the Nucleus 22 channel cochlear implant. These findings suggest that cochlear implantation might be possible in a labyrinthectomized ear.

Patients with a conductive hearing loss may find conventional hearing aids unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons. Efforts to overcome some of these difficulties have led to the development of the osteointegrated hearing aid.

Implantable bone conduction hearing aids are an important advance in the treatment of well selected patients. Only 18 patients, who have been implanted with the Xomed Audiant bone conduction hearing aid, have so far been reported on in the UK. This report concerns a further six patients who have been implanted in one centre.

Five of these patients continue to use their Audiant hearing aid 14 to 24 months after being fitted. They regard it to have significant advantages over their previous hearing aids. Four of the five patients use an ear level processor.

Two of the patients who had previously used conventional bone conduction hearing aids now use the ear level processor.

Tinnitus is discussed, with particular reference to the problem of assessing severity. The authors argue that tinnitus severity can only usefully be determined by measuring the impact of tinnitus on an individual, and therefore propose a scale to estimate severity in these terms. Data presented on 112 members of a tinnitus self-help group, demonstrated the reliability of a Subjective Tinnitus Severity Scale (S.T.S.S.), with a coefficient alpha of 0.84. This indicates a high degree of internal consistency, i.e.: statistically this scale is measuring aspects of a single dimension. The validity was established in a separate sample of 30 clinic attenders, where mean S.T.S.S. scores were found to correlate highly with two independent clinical ratings of severity (r2 = 0.76, p<0.001, and r2 = 0.73, p<0.001). Additionally, in these patients S.T.S.S. scores were significantly associated with several audiometric variables, although the correlations were of low magnitude.

The study has been carried out on biopsies taken from four patients affected by squamous cell carcinoma and four patients affected by undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type (UCNT). Three healthy volunteers have served as controls.

All the specimens have been studied by SEM. The neoplastic conditions cause obvious alterations both in the mucosal surface and in the morphology of the cellular apex.

Submucous diathermy of the inferior turbinates is a widely practised procedure. Three cases are presented in which surgery was complicated by avascular necrosis of the turbinate bone. Each patient required a debridement procedure before healing and recovery of normal mucociliary function could take place.

Bilateral facial nerve palsies are rare. This article details the Cape Townexperience of 24 patients with this condition seen over the past 20 years and highlights the three main groups in which these bilateral facial nerve palsies occurred. These are Bell's palsy, fracture of the temporal bones and sclerosteosis. Avariety of other rare causes was also found. Bell's palsy remains a diagnosis of exclusion though there has been some evidence to suggest implication of the Herpes simplex virus. The mechanism whereby temporal bone fractures cause bilateral facial nerve palsies is discussed. The clinical presentation and management of sclerosteosis is also discussed

CT scans of 100 patients from the Rhinology Clinic at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital were reviewed in order to test the precepts forming the basis of functional endoscopic sinus surgery, especially as they relate to the radiological investigation. These were: (a) the site of origin of sinus infection. (b) The relevance of certain anatomical variants in the middle meatus to sinus infection and (c) The use of CT as the radiological method of diagnosis in all cases.

Obstruction in the middle meatus and ostiomeatal complex was associated with an increased incidence of opacity in the sinuses but the primary site of disease was not established: the concept that sinus disease takes origin in the middle meatus was not proven.

Anatomical variants in the middle meatus were not associated with an increase in sinus opacity and there was no evidence that these anomalies have any effect on sinus disease by causing middle meatal stenosis.

The radiological assessment of patients with inflammatory naso-sinus disease should start with plain X-ray. CT is unnecessary as a routine examination. It should be reserved for the pre-operative assessment of patients for endoscopic surgery, its main function being to show important anatomical landmarks.

An analysis of 420 consecutive cases of obliterative otosclerosis seen in the Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore is presented. The proportion of truly obliterative otosclerosis is 33.09 per cent (139 ears). Our male to female ratio in truly obliterative otosclerosis is 1.48:1, while in the non-obliterative group it was 1.34:1. The mean age at onset in the obliterative group was 19.14 while in the non-oblierative group it was 25.60. This is statistically (P<0.001). The age at presentation was 25.90 in the obliterative group while in non-obliterative group it was 30.86; this is also statistically significant (P<0.001). However the time interval between the age at onset and the age at presentation is not statistically significant.

The results of ossiculoplasty are frequently reported in terms of closure of the air-bone gap. This parameter is a reliable indicator of the degree of technical success, and is useful in comparing different materials and types of reconstructions. However, assessment of the operated ear alone does not evaluate the effect of surgery on binaural hearing ability, leading to the situation where sub-optimal advice may be given to patients pre-operatively. This article advocates a more patient orientated method of assessing the results of ossiculoplasty. Previous studies have indicated that the operated ear must reach an air conduction level of 30 dB for the speech frequencies, or be within 15 dB of the other ear, to ensure that the patient will gain significant benefit. A graphical method for the prediction of patient benefit is presented, and compared to the rule of thumb quoted above. The implications for surgeons and patients considering ossiculoplasty are obvious.

Many statements routinely made to patients prior to surgery for conductive hearing loss are unduly optimistic and unrelated to the realities of reported results. There is a need to determine what types of such hearing losses can be helped surgically, and more importantly to what extent the patients hearing disability can be relieved.