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Guillotines from Joseph‑Ignace Guillotin to Greenfield Sluder

Joseph‑Ignace Guillotin. The politician and physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814) was so disgusted by brutal head and shoulder injuries sustained in ‘failed attempts’ by drunken axe-wielding executioners during the French Revolution that he and surgeon Antoine Louis (1723-1792) advocated not only...

A legendary ‘parotid adenoma’: teaching aid or trophy? & The stapes: a classical heresy

A legendary ‘parotid adenoma’: teaching aid or trophy? A wander through the glass cases of the newly refurbished Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons in London presents a particularly impressive sight to any ENT surgeon. The salivary adenoma...

Down with the nose, down with it flat

In Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, Timon urges prostitutes to spread syphilis throughout Athens. He implores the whores, Phrynia and Timandra, to: Consumptions* sow In hollow bones of man; strike their sharp shins,And mar men’s spurring*. Crack the lawyer’s voice**, That...

The artificial eardrum: how an eggshell membrane fed a German ENT family

In the pre-antibiotic era, purulent otitis media often resulted in a permanent eardrum perforation with hearing loss. In addition to pig or fish bladders, eggshell membranes and cigarette paper were used as eardrum prostheses. I have vivid personal boyhood memories...

The Indian method: Sushruta’s influence on modern nasal reconstruction

Ancient Indian medicine, as documented in the Sushruta Samhita, contains one of the earliest known references to nasal reconstruction, including surgical techniques still resembling modern practices. (The Sanskrit word ‘Samhita’ is used to define a collection of written work, similar...

Early Egyptian medicine: nasal trauma and surgery in the Edwin Smith Papyrus

In ancient Egypt, with its towering pyramids and bustling cityscapes along the Nile, there existed a deep-rooted civilisation that excelled in more than the grandeur of monumental architecture. Frequent wars and battles shaped Egyptian society, not only defining its political...

Kallmann’s Syndrome

‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.’ (Shakespeare) Kallmann’s Syndrome (KS), or hereditary hypogonadal anosmia, is a rare genetic disorder characterised by delayed or absent puberty and anosmia. It is named after Franz Kallmann, but he was...

How I do it Issue I

To skip directly to features, click the links below: Welcome from the editor - by Miles Bannister KTP laser in the office - by Markus Hess and Susanne Fleischer The surgical management of rhinophyma using a microdebrider - by Andrew...