The results of treatment of 124 cases of childhood cholesteatoma are reported in the present study and compared with an adult group of patients.

Intact canal wall tympanoplasty was performed in over 90 per cent of cases in children and the procedure was staged in nearly 80 per cent of cases.

The children had a 43.8 per cent incidence of residual cholesteatoma and an 8.8 per cent incidence of recurrent cholesteatoma in intact canal wall tympanoplasty cases.

Intact canal wall tympanoplasty remains the technique of choice in our hands for the treatment of childhood cholesteatoma; pre-planned staging of the operation is mandatory for the detection and elimination of residual cholesteatoma which occurs more frequently in children.

Twelve cases of well established palatal myoclonus with objective clicking tinnitus were treated with tinnitus masking techniques. After a few months, three patients became completely symptom free, one for five years now. A further four patients continued to get periods of relief from their clicking sounds with continuous masking, and four patients found the distracting effects of the white noise helped them. The mechanism of palatal myoclonus is discussed with reference to the part played by masking therapy in this condition.

Twenty-six cases of patients presenting with benign laryngeal lesions treated by laser excision were compared with age and sex matched controls treated by conventional surgery. There was no statistically significant difference post-operatively between the groups in analgesic requirement, length of hospital stay, voice quality or laryngoscopic appearance.

Abstract Flexible fibreoptic bronchoscope has been employed in the examination of the nasopharynx, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchus and intrathoracic oesophagus under local anaesthesia. It is used either for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. A total of 1690 procedures have been performed with no complication. The indications and findings in these procedures are listed. The advantages and limitations of the use of flexible fibreoptic bronchoscope as a ‘panendoscope examination’ instrument are discussed.

Abstract Histological changes in the human carotid body associated with increasing age are accompanied by occlusive atherosclerotic lesions in the arteries of the carotid bifurcation, and are probably ischaemic in origin. The carotid sinus, however, is unusually susceptible to the development of atheroma and its occlusion appears to have little influence in compromising blood flow through the glomic arteries.

Two children with a congenital Cornelia de Lange syndrome and a verified sensorineural hearing loss are presented. One could be tested by conventional audiometry, the other only with the help of the newer computerized electronic methods. A short review of some earlier reports on congenital hearing loss in this syndrome is made.

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.