The distribution of glycoconjugates in the 11 to 16 weeks old human fetal endolymphatic sac (ES) was analyzed using six biotinylated lectins; Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), Abrusprecatorius agglutinin (APA), Ulexeuropaeus agglutinin I (UEA-I), Ricinus communis agglutinin 120 (RCA120), Helixpomatia agglutinin (HPA), Concanavalin A (ConA). In the 11 week old human fetus, fluorescent reactions with WGA, APA, RCA120 and ConA were detected in the ES. There was almost no reaction with HPA and UEA-I. In the 14 week old human fetus, however.fluorescent reactions with HPA and UEA-I appeared. This result suggests that the presence of glycoconjugates changes during the maturation process of the ES. Glycoconjugates detected with HPA were related to the epithelial cell elements of the ES epithelium. The reaction with UEA-I suggests that the stainable substance present in the ES lumen may be secreted locally by the ES itself.

Although middle ear effusion was once described as the most common cause of vestibular disturbance in children, the association between glue ear and symptoms of dysequilibrium has never been quantified objectively.

In this study the effect of middle ear effusion on the vestibular system of the inner ear was studied in a select group of children suffering from long lasting effusion in the middle ear with no evidence of infection at least one year prior to the study. The results were compared with results obtained from otitis free children, as well as from examinations of children after the insertion of ventilating tubes.

The results of this study confirm the assumption that middle ear effusion has an adverse effect on the vestibular system, which can be resolved following the insertion of ventilation tubes.

This effect may also contribute to the adverse effect that otitis media has on a child's development.

The indications for the ruling for the Gulf Forces that emergency cricothyrotomy is to be performed where the airway is thought to be compromised are reviewed. The advantages of this procedure are outlined and some of the likely consequences regarding the incidence of complications and their management predicted.

FNT Departments in the united kingdom are faced with increasing, managementand the colleges responsible for surgical training to intrtoduce formal medical self audit. The plethora of guidelines and publi-cations on the subject rarely address the differences in clinical pratice medicine or surgery and that of otoaryngology. Clearly the lead in the introduction of medical audit will come from the appropriate specilaist associations; however. this paper aims to share the experienceof the implementation of audit otoaryngology, head and neck surgery unit and offer suggestions for a programme elsewhere.

SIgA- and IgG-coated bacteria obtained from 17 discharging middle ears (14 patients, 9 male, 5 female, age range from 1 to 79 years) were evaluated using an immunofluorescence assay. Simultaneously, quantitative and qualitative bacteriological analyses of the middle ear effusions (MEEs) were performed. MEEs containing Staphylococcus aureus harboured bacteria which were intensely coated with both SIgA and IgG antibodies. In contrast, MEEs containing Pseudomonas aeruginosa displayed minimal, if any, SIgA- and IgG-coated bacteria. Two young patients harboured bacteria (Haemophilus influenzae and S. aureus/Streptococcus pneumoniae, respectively) which were heavily coated with IgG, but not with SIgA. Immunoglobulin-coating of bacteria involved in otitis media is of the utmost importance in eradication of the infection.

It seems reasonable to postulate that if a patient has a hearing impairment at particular frequencies, selective amplification at those frequencies would be an advantage. Attempts have been made in the laboratory to show that when this is done scores on various audiometric tasks will improve. Whether such laboratory benefit will be preferred by patients in their daily life is another matter. Despite a lack of knowledge on this subject, modifications are frequently made to a hearing aid system in the expectation that this will improve auditory performance and hence be preferred by the patient. The most common modifications made to an ear level aid in the British National Health Service are adjusting the tone control and venting the ear mould with the aim of emphasizing the higher frequencies.

A randomized crossover study was carried out in 83 first time hearing aid users with a mild to moderate hearing impairment to assess whether a hearing aid at the ‘H’ tone setting and with a 2 mm vented mould would be preferred by those with a more marked high frequency impairment. BE series aids were used so that any findings could be directly translated to NHS practice.

No consistent preference for the modified system was identified when patients were subgrouped according to the overall slope (0.5 to 4 kHz) of their audiogram. However, when the slope between 0.25 and 1 kHz, which corresponds to the real ear effect of these modifications, was analyzed patients with a slope at these frequencies preferred the high-tone emphasis system (p<0.005). A second but lesser predictor of preference was age, those under 66 years preferring a modified and those over 69 years preferring an unmodified system (p<0.05).

These findings need to be confirmed using different methods of altering the frequency response. What acoustical effect these achieve in a specific patient need to be confirmed using ‘in the ear’ measures before any preference they might have can be related to the configuration of their audiogram.

One hundred and sixteen children with otitis media with effusion underwent myringotomy and insertion of a conventional pattern of Shah grommet in one ear and the much smaller Mini Shah grommet in the other. Close observation post-operatively determined the comparative rate of extrusion, recurrence of effusion, and of onset and degree of tympanosclerosis. At one year review, the Mini Shah shows a significantly earlier extrusion and a greater tendency to recurrence of otitis media with effusion. However, this is compensated by a decreased incidence of tympanosclerosis and reduced severity in those affected. This tends to support the view that shear forces produced by heavier patterns of ventilation tube promote tympanosclerosis.

Although the findings of epidemiological studies have suggested viral respiratory tract infection (RTI) to be crucially involved in the development of acute otitis media (AOM), the relationship between AOM and viral RTI remains unclear. Serum samples, obtained in the acute and convalescent phases of 57 AOM episodes (in 35 children during the first three years of life) were analysed for IgG antibodies against influenza A viruses, influenza B viruses, parainfluenza virus type 1, respiratory syncytial virus and adenoviruses.

One third of the AOM episodes (18/57) could be related to viral RTI, as evidenced by significant increases in viral serum antibody activity. Treatment failure occurred in four AOM episodes where increases in serum viral antibody activity were noted. In three of these failures, antibiotic treatment was unsuccessful despite the bacterial strains not being resistant to the drug used. This suggests that concomitant viral infection may be a determinant of treatment outcome in some AOM episodes.

Previous reports from this department have established significant differences in the morphology of the nasopharynx between patients with otitis media with effusion (OME) and normal controls. This study has used lateral cephalometric analysis to investigate these differences in greater detail.

Skeletal and soft tissue measurements were recorded in 50 patients with bilateral OME and were compared with 50 age and sex matched normal controls.

Various points were plotted enabling 23 different linear dimensions and three angles in and around the nasopharynx to be compared. The results show significant differences between the two groups in the skeletal and soft tissue dimensions of the nasopharynx. The children with OME have a smaller nasopharynx with a suggestion that this may be due to a difference both in the rate and timing of growth.

Accurate bone-conduction testing with masking is always difficult, but for clinical purposes limited accuracy suffices. However, when assessing claimants for compensation, extreme care is needed since even small apparent air-bone gaps are sometimes translated into financial abatement. This paper sets out the stringent test conditions required to achieve adequate precision. It also indicates the inaccuracies inherent in such tests, and recommends procedures for interpreting the significance of bone-conduction thresholds.

Ventilation tube (VT) insertion is an accepted treatment for chronic otitismedia with effusion (OME) in children. One hundred and eighty five children with bilateral OME were treated by unilateral myringotomy and VT insertion with no treatment to the contralateral ear. During a 5 year follow-up 95 of the children required only one VT but the remainer required more than one but always treatment was carried out to the same ear. The rate of development of tympanosclerosis was measured and scored. After 2–3 yearsthe extent of the sclerotic changes stabilised and the rate of development reached 37–39 per cent in ears receiving only one VT, compared with 47–49 per cent in ears treated by more than one tube. The extent of the changes was no different whether or not one or more than one tube had been inserted. There was no overall evidence of resolution of sclerotic change with time.

While otitis media is perhaps the most common disease of childhood that receives medical attention, there is little agreement concerning the efficacy of the medical and surgical therapies employed to try to alleviate its symptoms or hasten its natural resolution. Because various surgeries including adenoidectomy, myringotomy, and insertion of tympanostomy tubes are frequently involved in the treatment of otitis media with effusion (OME), it is likely the most expensive condition being managed in national terms.

In an attempt to elucidate the most appropriate management of this condition, a meta-analysis was attempted to the 12 randomized control trials of surgical treatments for OME in children, published between 1966 and 1990. Heterogeneity both in the populations and comparisons studied and in the out comes presented made meta-analysis an inappropriate method for clarifying this area of clinical uncertainty. Important elements in the design of randomized control trials that should be included in future studies of treatment for OME are therefore discussed.

Histological studies of the auditory organ in patients with acquired hypothyroidism are scarce. Thus the aim of the present study was to examine the temporal bones and the brain is subjects with hypothyroidism. Four temporal bones and two brains from clinically and biochemically hypothyroid subjects were removed and evaluated by light microscopy determine to the morphological changes and deposition of neutral and acid glycosaminnoglycans. An audiogram from one of the patients showed a sensorineural hearing loss. Which could be ascribed to occupational noise exposure. The study revealed histological changes compatible with age and infectious disease. No accumulation of neutral or acid glycosaminoglycans could be demonstrated in the temporal bones, or in the brains.

Eighty-three children between ages 0–12 years had mastoid surgery in the three year period 1986–88. The indications were acute mastoiditis (30 children), uncontrolled chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) (24 children), cholesteatoma (22 children) and a miscellaneous group (7 children). Forty-seven per cent of those with acute mastoiditis were under one year but the 27 per cent with cholesteatoma as the precipitating cause were 4–12 years. Twenty-three per cent had significant complications. Typmano-mastoid surgery was employed to resolve uncontrolled CSOM. Children were between 2–12 years and 62 per cent were below the 25th centile for weight. Seventy-nine per cent of the tympanic membrane grafts were successful. The children with cholesteatoma were between 3–12 years and 76 per cent were below the 25th centile for weight. Eight of them only presented after the onset of acute mastoiditis. One child had a definite congenital cholesteatoma. Only one had a pars flaccida origin of the cholesteatoma sac and only eight an origin from the postero-superior pars tensa. All had open cavity surgery. When the cavity was lined by temporalis fascia, healing was improved markedly.

From 1900 to 1940 the theory of focal sepsis was invoked to justify a number of dubious surgical procedures. Surgeons believed they were acting rationally. Patrick Watson-Williams advocated suction exploration of the paranasal sinuses for mental patients, claiming to cure criminal insanity by sphenoidotomy. Favourable contemporary reviews showed international approval. The rational basis of treatment was emphasised, but there was little systematic evaluation of outcome. Current enthusiasm for functional endoscopic sinus surgery is also based on a rational approach, logical deductions from pathophysiological ‘facts’. Outcome has still not been evaluated scientifically. We should learn from history. Treatment should not be based too readily on what seems to be rational now. Ideas of physiology and pathology change. What seems logical today may appear ridiculous tomorrow. Careful analysis of outcome, preferably by controlled clinical trials, is needed as a rational treatment requires empirical validation just as much as any other.

Since good ventilation of the middle ear is a pre-requisite for successful myringoplasty, it was our policy to investigate the tubal function in dry central perforation of the eardrum and to correlate the manometric and endoscopic findings. Nasal endoscopy proved to be indispensable in diagnosing mechanical tubal obstruction and in localizing and even treating ‘hidden’ lesions in key areas, with probable normalization of the tubal function. The correction of the mechanical tubal obstruction must precede ear surgery. Whenever tubal obstruction is diagnosed as functional or idiopathic, the ventilation of the middle ear should be guaranteed during ear surgery by addition of a tympanostomy tube to the graft or drum remnant, and a guarded prognosis given.

Haphazardly treated active otitis media was investigated bacteriologically in 214 children. Analysis showed that Pseudomonas aeruginosa was more prevalent than other micro-organisms. Candida was also found in appreciable quantity. The author contends that this was due to inadequate self treatment before these children reported in his hospital. He advocates that decision regarding the chemotherapeutic agent to be used should be based on culture and in vitro sensitivity.