Diseases of the Ear, Nose and Throat

A comparison of idiopathic laryngeal paralysis in man and horse

“…However, these and other known causes such as lathyrus sativus poisoning would not together account for more than 5 per cent of the cases. This is in apparent contrast to the position in man in which idiopathic cases are reported to represent one-quarter to one-third of the total incidence (Scott-Brown et al, 1965) and the remainder can be explained mainly by the occurrence of thyroid gland surgery, and neoplasia of the larynx, oesophagus, mediastinum or bronchus. Ballenger (1969) quotes a figure of from 1-35 per cent for the incidence of idiopathic laryngeal paralysis in man.…”

“…With the idiopathic type of paralysis in man spontaneous recovery may occur after several months (Scott-Brown et al, 1965), but this is not the case in the horse where symptoms are permanent. It would be interesting to know whether recovery in man is truly complete or whether it is simply associated with compensation from the adductor muscles of the unparalysed side.…”

“…deductions unsupported by pathological evidence. In the horse, idiopathic recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis is generally taken to indicate the same as denned by Scott-Brown, Ballantyne and Groves (1965), for man, i.e. a paralysis of one recurrent laryngeal nerve distal to its point of separation from the vagus trunk.…”

“…In man it is reported that all cases of left-sided paralysis, i.e. idiopathic and otherwise, occur twice as frequently as right (Scott-Brown et al, 1965) and this side distribution is explained on the grounds of damage to the left recurrent laryngeal nerve within the thorax. However, in view of the strong predeliction towards idiopathic left-sided palsy in the horse without any discovered chest pathology, it is questioned whether this can be held to be a complete explanation.…”

Human Internal Auditory Canal

“…The casts were ex¬ tracted from the canals without any difficulty, in perfect form and were labelled according to the specimen. These casts were studied from the following aspects: (1) anterior wall, (2) posterior wall, (3) vertical diameter (height), (4) horizontal diameter or anteroposterior di¬ ameter (thickness), (5) roof, (6) floor, (7) shape of the canal, and (8) shape of the crista falciformis.…”