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The diagnosis op nerve deafness
Author(s) -
Crowe S.J.
Publication year - 1937
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1288/00005537-193707000-00006
Subject(s) - medicine , eustachian tube , temporal bone , audiology , nothing , cochlea , middle ear , anatomy , psychology , philosophy , epistemology
This will be a valuable meeting if it does nothing more than direct your attention to the extent and complexity of the auditory apparatus and leads you to think of the ear as something more than the tympanic membrane, Eustachian tube, ossicles, mastoid and cochlea. The otologist is the expert who is depended on to recognize and treat the disorders of the ear; we are reasonably successful with the acute and chronic suppurations but know very little about the cause, the recognition or the treatment of impaired hearing. Hearing acuity plays an important part in economic and social life, and the fact that so little is known about deafness should fire every otologist with the ambition and determination to aid in the advance of this branch of his profession. Before the otologist can do his part, however, he must have special instruction in the embryology, anatomy, physiology and pathology of the ear and its central pathways. A national move in this direction is indicated by the higher standards imposed each year by the American Board of Otolaryngology. We, as otologists, must be able to visualize and think of the hearing apparatus as a whole: the structures in the temporal bone, the auditory pathways in the brain stem and cortex, the relation of these pathways to other nerves and, finally, the association fibres which connect the temporal lobe with other parts of the brain. As our scientific knowledge advances, new methods for clinical examination will be devised. Advance will come more rapidly if the young otologist is properly trained; if he is encouraged to show an interest in deaf patients and the cause of deafness; if he will keep himself informed about the newer instruments of precision and employ standardized methods for testing the hearing, so that his results may be compared and pooled with the experiences of others. A move toward the standardization of tests was made by this Society, in 1936, when the report on Methods of Testing the Hearing by Bone Conduction was presented at the Detroit meeting. The electrical method of study, introduced by Wever and Bray, and the experiments on conditioned animals are most important and stimulating. The ultimate object of all experimental work on the ear, however, is to suggest new ideas to the clinician, who, after all, is the most important link in the chain.