Cumulative data from several authors show that -50% of patients undergoing partial ossiculoplasty have a postoperative air-bone gap of 0 to 10 dB, and 80% have a postoperative air-bone gap of 0 to 20 dB. Equally good results may be achieved with autograft (no difference was found between interposition of the incus or the head of the malleus), homograft, or alloplastic partial prostheses. With alloplastic total prostheses, 36% of patients have a postoperative air-bone gap of 0 to 10 dB, and 74% have a postoperative air-bone gap of 0 to 20 dB.

VEMP thresholds and latencies were not different between patients and controls. As a group BPPV patients presented significantly higher abnormal VEMPs compared with controls (p < 0.001). Age positively correlated with VEMP threshold in the affected ear of patients and in controls; the number of BPPV attacks positively correlated with threshold and negatively with amplitude of VEMPs in the affected ear; duration of the last attack was negatively correlated with the effect of the maneuver performed.

Thirty-seven patients operated on by total vestibular neurectomy for Menière’s disease underwent follow-up examination for at least 5 years. Vertigo has been controlled in all the patients excepting one who developed Menière’s disease in the opposite ear. Three patients had a total hearing loss. Overall results in this study are comparable to those of other series in the literature. Vestibular neurectomy has been confirmed to be an effective procedure for relieving vertigo in intractable Menière’s disease with a success rate of 90–100% while preserving hearing in most of the patients. The results of vestibular neurectomy are far better than those obtainable with endolymphatic sac surgery.

This paper studies the changes in speech discrimination following stapes surgery in patients with advanced otosclerosis. Two thirds of these patients showed a postoperative improvement in the discrimination score with obvious correlation with closure of bone-air gap. The results were slightly worse in comparison to those obtained on otosclerotic patients with good bone conduction. In advanced otosclerosis even a minimal impairment in bone conduction and/or an incomplete closure of the gap interfere with discrimination.

Meningoencephalic herniations into the middle ear and mastoid are rare and histologic information has been supplied only in few reports. Sections from two idiopathic encephaloceles were compared with those from encephaloceles associated with previous trauma, infection or surgery described in the literature. In the idiopathic encephaloceles, the herniated tissue consisted of cortical neural tissue with degenerative changes and gliosis like that described in cases with a history of chronic infection, previous surgery or trauma, but no inflammatory cells were present.