The efficacy and safety of the two antihistamines, astemizole and loratadine, were compared in a double-blind study of 84 patients with perennial allergic rhinitis. Patients were randomized to receive orally either astemizole 10 mg once daily (n = 40) or loratadine 10 mg once daily (n = 44) for 1 week. No other antirhinitis medication was allowed during the study. By day 7 the mean daily symptom scores, recorded on diary cards, were lower in patients receiving astemizole than in those receiving loratadine for runny nose, itchy nose and sneezing, although not for blocked nose, and treatment differences only reached statistical significance for runny nose. After 7 days, 53.75% of patients on astemizole and 38.6% on loratadine were free of symptoms, and 87% of patients on astemizole described the treatment as good or excellent compared with 62% on loratadine. The present results suggest that astemizole may be more effective than loratadine in controlling symptoms of perennial allergic rhinitis.

The outcomes of our cochlear implantation series are comparable to previous reports. The possibility of an abnormally rotated cochlea should be borne in mind when difficulty is encountered during cochleostomy.

This work reports a patient with visual loss treated successfully with surgical removal of the Aspergillus flavus sinomycosis. Vision was partially reversed within hours after surgery before starting planned corticosteroid therapy. The patient's visual acuity continued to improve steadily until it became equal to that of the other eye. The immediate gain in vision and continued improvement without corticosteroid therapy suggest a new hypothesis for visual loss induced by allergic sinonasal Aspergillosis. Simple mechanical pressure alone of the aspergillus mass over the nerve can produce visual loss, and this loss is reversed by removing the mass without corticosteroid therapy.