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History of photography in otorhinolaryngology in the 19th Century

In this final article of the History of ENT edition, João Clode introduces us to the history of medical photography in the 19th century, giving us some fascinating early examples of otorhinolaryngology photographs. Medical photography – the early years The...

The pioneers of endoscopy and the sword swallowers

Adolf Kussmaul drew inspiration from an unlikely source to further the development of endoscopy… The early pioneers of airway endoscopy and oesophagoscopy were bedevilled by two major and seemingly insurmountable problems. One was the paucity of light sources, with reliance...

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin

Paediatric Audiologist, Natalie Stephenson, shares her experience working with children and young people, the impact of lockdown and the value of patient-centred care, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Am I glad that I know The Gruffalo off by heart? Yes, I...

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...

Allergy – what’s in a name?

Allergy is defined as an “abnormal immune reaction to an ordinarily harmless substance” [1], however the meaning of the word has taken many forms since its introduction in 1906 by Austrian Paediatrician and Immunologist, Clemens von Pirquet [2]. Combining his...

A ‘rye’ tail – the fatal illness of Lord Boringdon, a Regency tragedy

The anonymous privately-printed book, Some Account of Lord Boringdon’s Accident, describes in deferential terms a case of aspiration of a foreign body and its sequelae. Today aspirated foreign bodies are serious but curable injuries; before the invention of the bronchoscope...

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...

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...

Where ART meets Science: The Golden Lines of Life

Each cover in this six-part series is more than an image. It’s a window — into a different way of seeing, of hearing and of healing. Together, they form a narrative that moves across disciplines and perspectives. A story told...