Daniele Borsetto, ENT / Skull Base Consultant, Addenbrooke's, Cambridge University Hospitals
The latest Politzer Society meeting has just taken place in Rome between the 13 and 16 October 2024, led by its president, Professor Maurizio Barbara. The Politzer Society is an international scientific organisation whose objective is the dissemination of knowledge in the field of otology and neurotology worldwide.
This meeting has seen 591 registrants from 53 different countries. Sunday has been a dense day with a lot of instructional courses that gave the opportunity for participants to share practical experiences on the most interesting clinical challenges that we experience every day as otologists.
I found the meeting particularly interesting and innovative because the programme was comprehensive, trying to connect otology with vestibular medicine, audiology with neurotology. The meeting has seen the presence of the new generation of otologists who have brought their own experience together with the most senior colleagues: the combination of the two in some of the workshops has really made the atmosphere a moment of enrichment.
Another very constant theme through this meeting has been looking at the past and what we have learnt to try to envisage what otology will be in the future. How stem cells, intracochlear drugs, artificial intelligence, and what our future as otologists will likely be have been highlighted substantially during this meeting. Seeing the role of otologists changing over time and highlighting how important the collaboration is with other sub-specialties or professionals with different backgrounds, it is crucial to make sure that our speciality continues to offer good care to our patients, and I really enjoyed seeing the constant new development and how this will affect our direction of travel in middle ear, inner ear, and balance disorders.
It was my first time at the Politzer Society, but this is definitely a meeting that I would recommend for someone who has an interest in all the aspects of Otology/Neurotology because it has been such an enriching opportunity, and I am sure, over the years, this meeting can only gain in popularity even more.
Having the opportunity then to share experiences with colleagues walking around the atmosphere of Rome has been simply magic.
We all look forward to the next Politzer Society meeting that will be in Seattle in the spring of 2027, hosted by Professor Jay Rubinstein.
