A rare case of adult rhabdomyosarcoma originating from the left maxillary sinus is reported. A 22-year-old Japanese woman was referred to the Department of Otolaryngology, Hiroshima University, for investigation of the primary source of a metastatic tumor in the bone marrow. An X-ray of the sinuses revealed a tumor in the left maxillary sinus with extension into the nasal cavity, ethmoidal and sphenoidal sinuses. The patient was managed with a chemotherapeutic regimen consisting of high-dose methotrexate, adriamycin, vincristine, cyclophosphamide and prednisolone. After three courses of this chemotherapy, the tumor had decreased in size by about 90 per cent, as indicated by X-rays. The remaining tumor was removed by an extended Denker's operation. Following the surgery another seven courses of chemotherapy were given and during the eight months following the operation the patient has been free from any local recurrence.

A case of bilateral profound sensori-neural hearing loss following systemic administration of chloramphenicol is reported because of its rarity. The hearing loss was gradually progressive, involving one ear; and with a repeat course of the drug, the other ear too was involved. An idiosyncratic or allergic response to previous exposure to the drug may be the cause of the toxicity. One should be careful in prescribing the drug repeatedly; when this is done, the patient must be carefully observed for possible toxic effects.

Osteomas of the frontal sinus are usually symptomless. When they enlarge they may produce pressure symptoms such as headaches. Small osteomas developing near the fronto-ethmoidal duct may interfere with the patency of the duct and impair the aeration of the sinus. This is a report of a case in which a small osteoma was found to be the cause of severe chronic headaches.

A rare and interesting case of tumoral calcinosis of the nose causing external nasal deformity and managed by surgical excision and corrective rhinoplasty is presented.

Noise exposure in the workplace and the recreational environment probably accounts for more new cases of tinnitus and hearing loss than all other causes combined. To an increasing degree, preemployment audiograms of late teenagers and those in their early twenties show noise-induced, sensorineural ‘notches’ greatest at 4000 or 6000 Hz with partial or complete recovery at 8000 Hz. Word discrimination tests, as typically evaluated in a clinical situation, show essentially normal findings although more difficult measures of consonant discriminations such as the California Consonant Test or conventional speech tests in a background of noise often demonstrate impaired word discrimination ability.