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Erwin Geising and the fall of the Third Reich

It’s mid 1944. The allies have landed at Normandy, the Germans have abandoned Rome and are retreating from the Russians on the eastern front. The Fuhrer was in way over his head and out of his depth. Watching this series...

Did you ever meet Draffin on your travels?

Draffin’s rods or bipods are a well-known ENT instrument. Before their invention in 1951, the attendant anaesthetist or nurse was obliged to support the mouthgag during tonsillectomy. Their originator, David Alexander Draffin (born in 1917 in Ballybey, Co Monaghan), was...

The golden nose – reshaping the nose 100 years ago

Wolf Lűbbers (with the golden nose). Who with a crooked nose would not embrace the chance to go to bed in the evening wearing a surgical device and wake up the following morning with a straight one? And all this...

History of ENT - Freud's Friend, Fliess

Wilhelm Fliess, a Berlin rhinologist, was for many years Sigmund Freud’s closest friend and confidant. He was born in Poland in 1858. In 1887, he visited Vienna for postgraduate studies, and met the famous psychoanalyst, Freud [1]. They were immediate...

The first compact auriscope: the 1865 speculum auris of Dr Brunton

Bringing light into darkness can also be a task for the physician. With the advent of endoscopy (initially by reflecting light into body cavities), new methods of diagnosis and treatment became available to the otologist. In 1865, the Scotsman John...

The Matchgirls and Phossy Jaw: a striking tale of industrial action

Poor working conditions, long hours, low pay – and the prospect of a dangerous and disfiguring osteonecrosis of the jaw. These were the triggers for the 1400 ‘matchgirls’ of the Bryant and May factory to strike in July 1888, a...

In conversation with Professor John Russell, President of CEORL-HNS Dublin 2024

John Russell is professor of paediatric otolaryngology in Dublin and the President of the CEORL-HNS Congress in his hometown. Declan Costello caught up with him to find out what we can expect from the meeting, not just academically, but also...

Sushruta and Indian rhinoplasty

Vijay Pothula explains rhinoplasty’s roots in ancient Indian Ayurvedic medicine, and how it was introduced to the Western world. In 1794 The Gentleman’s Magazine published a surgical operation which was long established in India but unknown in Europe [1]. A...

Outcome measurements WG5. Developing a core outcome set of measures for tinnitus

Alain Londero presents a large-scale collaboration that invites clinicians and patients to develop a minimum standard for assessing the efficacy of tinnitus treatments. This will become an international recommendation for all clinical trials of tinnitus. WG5 is working towards a...

Global audiology during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected, and in some areas, put a complete hold on, audiology practice around the world. In April 2020, during the peak of the pandemic for many regions, our audiology Global Ambassadors provided their reports from their...