How to make the invisible anterior tympanomeatal angle visible

Abstract

Letter to the editor How to make the invisible anterior tympanomeatal angle visible Dear sir, Peltola and Saarento (1992) in their Short Communication propose a 'new method' to visualize foreign bodies hidden in the anterior tympanomeatal angle by administering water in the ear canal of the patient (who should lie on his back with his head tilted). While I agree that this trick does work I came up with a different explanation of who the water might assist in visualizing this commonly invisible area (Wind, 1984). I assumed-and still assume-that the water surface adopts a convex position rather than a concave one as Peltola and Saarento think. Also I mentioned that the oblique position of the surface relative to the optical axis of the microscope adds to the desired effect by obtaining refraction (cf. the oblique-stick-in-thewater effect). While it might be worthwhile to conduct some experiments to assess the (positive or negative) rela

How to make the invisible anterior tympanomeatal angle visible

“…In every case, however, the first step must be to Dear Sir, El-Sharkawi et al (1992) fail to appreciate that it is in those patients over 40 years of age that we advocate unilateral tonsillectomy. To understand the rationale behind restricting it to that age group requires understanding of the aetiology of the two conditions, and we refer them back to our discussion (Bath et al, 1992) with particular reference to paragraphs 1 and 6.…”