Report by: Professor John T McElveen, Carolina Ear & Hearing Clinic, Carolina Ear Research Institute
The 81st Annual Otosclerosis Study Group Meeting was held on Saturday, September 14 at Brennan’s restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. The meeting was held one day prior to the annual American Academy Otolaryngology meeting. This year’s keynote lecture, ‘The Fathers of Otosclerosis and Stapes Surgery’, was presented by Professor Rinze A Tange, MD, PhD from the Netherlands. His presentation focused on the lives of Johannes Kessel, Joseph Toynbee and John J Shea, Jr. As many are aware, Johannes Kessel was ostracised by the otologic community for his attempts at stapes surgery and was ultimately forced to resign his professorship. Joseph Toynbee died at the age of 50 as a result of his own scientific experiment to devise a remedy for tinnitus. Close to Toynbee’s body was a sheet of paper with a header, ‘Experiments on the effect of chloroform combined with hydrocyanic acid’. As Professor Tange pointed out during his discussion of John Shea’s life, that the current OSG meeting was taking place precisely on the 64th anniversary of John Shea’s first attempted stapes surgery in which he removed the stapes, covered the oval window with subcutaneous tissue and then placed a cortical bone prothesis. Professor Tange carefully documented the information which he presented and included original excerpts and wonderful photographs.
(L-R) Professor Tange, Dr Slattery-OSG President, Dr Chari, Dr Appelbaum, Dr McElveen, OSG Secretary Treasurer
Following the keynote lecture by Professor Tange, the OSG’s ‘Doc’s Discussion’ took place. Typically, during this competition, interesting case reports and videos are presented, and a $100 gift card presented to the winner. This year’s presentations included ‘Revision Stapedotomy’ (Dr Ramandeep), ‘Superior Canal Dehiscence’ (Dr Ying), ‘Significance of Pneumolabyrinth in Stapes Surgery’ (Dr Appelbaum), ‘Concurrent Otosclerosis and Superior Canal Dehiscence’ (Dr Chari) and lastly ‘Stapes Mobilization Using a Microdrill and Historical Fill by Dr John Shea’ (Dr KJ Lee). Using PollEverywhere®, the OSG members were able to text their votes for the best presentation. The results of the voting were displayed on the screen in real time. The two presentations receiving the highest number of votes were only separated by two votes. At this point, Dr KJ Lee offered to contribute $200 so that each of the young presenters would receive an award. Dr George Wanna, the chairman of ENT at Mount Sinai, was not to be outdone and donated an additional $200, so that each could receive a $200 prize. This support of our young otologists was a real tribute to the tenents of the Otosclerosis Study Group.
Dr. K.J. Lee & Dr. McElveen presenting Dr. Appelbaum a $200 check for his presentation
Following the scientific portion of the meeting, the OSG members and their spouses were able to meet with the exhibitors (Cochlear Americas, Oticon Medical, Earlens, Stryker, Grace Medical, Acclarent, Kurz Medical, Lumenis, Karl Storz and MEDEL) and then enjoy a sit-down dinner, which included filet mignon and lobster followed by Brennan’s world-renowned ‘Bananas Foster’ dessert. An educational and good time was had by all.
The next meeting of the OSG will take place in Boston on September 12, 2020.
Real Time Results using Poll Everywhere.
