The membrana tympani in health and disease : clinical contributions to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the ear, with Supplement / by Adam Politzer ; tr. by A. Mathewson and H.G. Newton.

  • Ádám Politzer
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The membrana tympani in health and disease : clinical contributions to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the ear, with Supplement / by Adam Politzer ; tr. by A. Mathewson and H.G. Newton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    questioning, that she suddenly heard better, and that the subjective sounds had considerably abated. After I had convinced myself, by inclining the head of the patient to the left, and severely slinking it, that the eyelet was firmly held in the perforation, that, con sequently, the edges of the opening were lying in the grooves, I proceeded to test accurately the hearing dis- tance. The watch, which before could only be perceived upon contact with the auricle, was now heard at the dis- tance of nine inches. The hearing distance for speech was only three feet before, but now it had risen to more than forty (measured at Oppolzer's clinic). I was able, repeatedly, to verify this striking improvement during the weeks following, and to-clay, thirty-six days later, the condition of the membrane is just the same as immedi- ately after the operation, the eyelet retaining its original position, and not the slightest change affecting the rest of the membrane. The improvement in hearing also remains the same, and the formerly intense subjective sounds have almost entirely disappeared. The patient does not notice at all the presence of the eyelet in the ear. She remains under observation, and I will not fail to report further concerning her, after several months. Note.—Since this case was published six months have passed. During that time the little eyelet has remained fixed in the membrane without caus- ing any inflammation. A change in its position of a line and a half from the original has taken place. The hearing power increased from nine inches after the operation to twenty-two at the present time, and a whisper is heard very distinctly with this ear across a large room. [Dr. P. has since that operation performed it on other patients with good success. In two cases only he observed irritation and tympanic catarrh, with secretion of mucus, so that the eyelet was forced out. (A. M.)]