Diseases of the Ear - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340564415 ISBN 13: 9780340564417

Publisher: Hodder Education Publishers, 1998

Synopsis

The 6th edition of this well-established textbook is essential reading for postgraduates studying for the otolaryngology specialty exams, giving all the necessary information for otologists in training within a single volume. For the first time the book includes material from an international team of authors, all of whom are acknowledged experts in the field.
Every topic has been brought fully up to date, with much more detailed information about tinnitus, cochlear implants, diagnostic imaging, secretory otitis media, and Eustachian tube function, amongst other topics. The book also features new material on otoacoustic emissions and bone-anchored hearing aids.
Rigorously edited by distinguished editors Harold Ludman and Tony Wright, this 6th edition contains approximately 90% new material, including over 450 illustrations, of which 45 will be presented in colour. The book is published in a larger format and the text displayed in a fresh new design to make this classic reference title an invaluable companion for trainees throughout their years of otological training.

About this title

About the Author:

Harold Ludman, Consultant Otolaryngologist and Surgeon in Neuro-otology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London; Emeritus Consultant Otolaryngologist, King's College Hospital, London. Tony Wright, Head of Department and Professor of Otorhinolaryngology, Institute of Laryngology and Otology, University College, London; Honorary Consultant, Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London.

From The New England Journal of Medicine:

Diseases of the Ear is the new edition of "Mawson." The original, first published in 1963, was written by one man, Stuart Mawson. The 1998 version has two editors and numerous authors. These changes reflect advances in the subject and the way it is practiced, especially with the advent of superspecialization.

The aim of this book is to provide all essential otologic information to enable otolaryngologists in training to pass their board examination. The book is not an easy one, but it is nevertheless eminently readable. The author of each chapter has a firm grasp of his or her subject, which is clearly explained. Photographs and diagrams supplement the text. The various writing styles and an occasional change in format are not distracting. Some authors provide good advice -- I particularly liked the idea of deliberately "dropping" a stapes if unable to "side" it.

The text itself is full of accepted otologic teachings, beginning with anatomy and physiology and continuing through clinical examination, investigation, and management to a comprehensive description of the diseases of the ear. The intricacies of the clinical examination are very well detailed, and the physics of the basic hearing tests are clearly explained. There is a need for this knowledge, not only for board examinations but also for clinical purposes. Relating the derivation of the word "nystagmus" from the Greek nystagmos, meaning tired or sleepy, to the nodding-head movements of someone about to fall asleep as he or she reads a tedious chapter on nystagmus exemplifies the humor in the book. Topics least enjoyed by ear, nose, and throat surgeons -- tinnitus and dizziness -- are well covered, and the chapters on these subjects are probably the best such chapters I have read. The chapters on rehabilitation are up to date and cover the Epley maneuver, which has been the subject of recent interest.

The confusing and varying terminology of diseases of the middle ear and mastoid process merits a short, useful chapter in which the authors clearly define the terms they use and mention the alternatives that they do not use. The reader is then taken through the middle ear and mastoid process by way of the eustachian tube -- the source of so much of the problem -- on a voyage of discovery of the diseases found therein.

Comprehensive descriptions of surgery of the diseased bone and middle-ear reconstruction are accompanied by discussions of the merits and demerits of the various techniques. Herein lies the one weakness of the book: little attention is given to the arguments against the use of middle-ear reconstruction in "safe" ears and for the use of hearing aids instead. There is a growing body of opinion that the days of middle-ear reconstructive surgery are numbered, because of advances in bone-anchored hearing aids and external-canal and middle-ear hearing aids. These issues have been around long enough that they should have found their way into an up-to-date textbook.

Descriptions of inner-ear problems complete this book's expose of all things nasty in our organ of hearing. Noise-induced hearing loss and the ototoxicity of topical aural preparations such as gentamicin eardrops are usefully discussed, especially since the United Kingdom seems to be following the United States into a litigious medical world. Vestibular disorders, which continue to frustrate ear, nose, and throat surgeons despite improved methods of vestibular rehabilitation, and tumors of the eighth cranial nerve are clearly detailed.

This textbook, with the one noted exception, succeeds in its aim of providing all essential otologic information for otolaryngologists in training. It will also prove very useful for those somewhat longer in the tooth and perhaps more specialized to refer to before teaching sessions or academic meetings. It should at least be in all hospital libraries, if not on the bookshelves of all otolaryngologists.

Reviewed by Robin Lee, M.D.
Copyright © 1998 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder Education Publishers
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0340564415
• ISBN 13: 9780340564417
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 6
• Number of pages: 577
• Editor: Ludman Harold, Wright Tony