Otitis media and complications.

Abstract

THERE were a number of interesting contributions to otolaryngology in 1950, one of which was the symposium on penicillin in severe otolaryngological complications prepared by the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish Otolaryngological Societies. The material was made up from 421 replies to questionnaires from 50 different departments and clinics. Another interesting symposium was held by the Otological Section of the Royal Society of Medicine, in which the theories of the formation of cholesteatoma were discussed. Different aspects of these papers will be discussed under separate headings. Comments of the reviewer appear in brackets. <h3>DIAGNOSIS</h3> Senturia, Matthews, and Adler¹studied the secretions in 175 cases of external otitis and otitis media. They found, to their surprise, that in acute or chronic external otitis there were produced enormous numbers of epithelial cells and bacteria but no neutrophiles or lymphocytes. Eosinophiles were also rarely found. They explained this lack of pus cells by