Morphological Aspects of Inner Ear Disease
Sudden deafness and Meniere’s Disease are common inner ear diseases diagnosed around the globe. However, their causes and etiologies are still unknown due to several reasons. One key factor is simply that the inner ear is small and located in the hard temporal bo the resolution of CT and MRI images is insufficient in analyzing the pathophysiology of the inner ears under such circumstances. As these diseases are not fatal, the opportunities of obtaining temporal bones for histopathological examinations are rather rare. This book tries to improve the situation by approaching the inner ear diseases, especially the perilymphatic fistula, from multifaceted perspectives. It provides morphological information of the inner ear accompanying the chapters, i.e., explanations of inner ear fluids and blood vessels that help readers get familiar with complicated inner ear structures. It contains chapters describing specific diseases such as sudden deafness, Meniere’s Disease and viral diseases to understand them in depth. Animal models of the diseases described in the book also help readers better understand inner ear diseases that normally remain obscure. Patients with intractable vertigo of inner-ear origin need surgical treatment and an application of a laser to the vestibular labyrinth is another topic of interest to readers, for lasers allow a precise treatment. Various examples of experiments are also provided in the book to give readers an idea of surgical applications. This book is recommended as a professional reference text and monograph for all doctors and trainees in the otolaryngology field focusing on the ear, nose and throat.
