[Joseph Toynbee--otologist, scientist, philanthropist].

Joseph Tonbee's life's work may be summarized in the words of William Wilde: "The labours and investigations of Mr. Toynbee have affected more for aural pathology than those of all his predecessors either in England or on the continent". Some idea of the extent of his researches is given by the fact that he dissected some 2.

[Deafness and mentality in Francisco Goya's paintings].

The famous painter Francisco Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) suffered during his life one or several diseases, the nature of which has not been determined with certainty. At age of 46, Goya suffered from severe illness that lasted a few months. It caused loss of vision and hearing, tinnitus, dizziness, a right-sides paralysis, weakness and general malaise.

[Microtia: isolated defect of hearing organ, or syndrome forming collection of abnormalities].

Congenital malformations of the external ear are relatively rare, however gradual increase in their frequency has been observed in the last years. These defects can occur as isolated congenital malformations, but they can coexist with congenital malformations of facial skeleton and also with congenital defects of distant organs. The purpose of this study was to determine coexisting facial skeleton defects and congenital defects of distant organs in a group of patients with unilateral or bilateral congenital malformations of the external ear.

[The tempestuous history of middle ear operation].

The paper is a review of primary and secondary historical and scientific literature concerning the surgical treatment of the middle ear diseases. The development of mastoid surgery can be traced through the past 4 centuries. Once used as a means of evacuating a postauricular abscess, it has evolved to become a method for gaining entry into the middle ear to control acute and chronic ear diseases, or for treatment of otogenic complications.

[Science and life--the history of Marquis Alfonso Corti].

Alfonso Corti was born at Gambarana, near Pavia in 1822. A famous friend of Corti's father, Antonio Scarpa, may have kindled his boyhood interest in anatomy and medicine. As a medical student he enrolled first at the University of Pavia.

[The influence of nasal flow aerodynamics on the nasal physiology].

The ability of the human nose to warm and humidify the respiratory air is important to maintaining the internal environment of the lungs, since ambient air is conditioned to nearly alveolar conditions (body temperature and fully saturated with water vapour) upon reaching the nasopharynx. Because of very short time of the inspiratory phase duration, as well as expiratory phase, only the rich vascularization of the nasal mucosa and specific organization of the submucosal vessels are not able to assure such effective physiological activity. Therefore the type of airflow during the respiration is essential to understanding the functional possibilities of the nasal mucosa.

[Prospective factors of T1 and T2 glottic carcinoma].

The aim of our study was to estimate the probability of the neoplasm recurrence in patients with T1 and T2 glottic carcinoma operated with CO2 laser microsurgery. We analyzed the material of 171 patients treated in the Otolaryngology Department of the Collegium Medicum Nicolaus Copernicus University between 1991 and 2003. The statistical method of logistic regression was used to estimate factors disposing the local recurrence of laryngeal cancer.

[Social diseases, civilization diseases or lifestyle diseases?].

In general, the development of civilization is viewed as a positive step for the well-being of the human species, leading to an increased duration and quality of life. The accelerated progress of civilization (mainly industrialization, urbanization and nutrition) has lead to new possibilities for adverse effects on human health. In former high civilization--like old Egypt, Greece, Roman, Chinese, Indian, Maya civilizations--the "modem civilization diseases" were unknown.

[The effect of preoperative irradiation on wound healing after laryngectomy--literature review and own results].

We reviewed 573 patients who underwent total laryngectomy between 1989-1999 in the Otolaryngological Clinic of CM UMK. Pharyngocutaneous fistulae occurred in 65 cases (11.3%).

[Age and complications after laryngectomy].

Between 1989-1999, 573 patients (501 male and 72 female) with laryngeal cancer underwent laryngectomy in the Otolaryngological Clinic of the Medical University in Bydgoszcz. The age varied from 32 to 88 years (mean age--56.5 years).

[Rehabilitation after total laryngectomy--vision and realization].

Universality, early initiation, complexity and continuity - should be the main attributes of rehabilitation in patients after laryngectomy. The authors discuss the problem of universality and accessibility of rehabilitation in Poland. A great role in realization of this attributes played since 20 years the Polish Society of Laryngectomees.

[Post-laryngectomy pharyngocutaneous fistula--a continuing clinical problem].

Background: Pharyngocutaneous fistula following laryngectomy is a serious complication, and its incidence varies from 4% to 65%. The study's objective was to determine the incidence of post laryngectomy fistulas in patients operated in our department to establish whether specific factors predispose to fistula formation.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed in 573 patients who underwent laryngectomy.

[Age connected hearing disorders (presbyacusis) as a social problem].

The data of World Health Organization anticipate very rapid growth of percentage participation of elderly people in the population on the whole world. In Poland, in the year 2005, the percentage of people in the "post productive" age (women over 60 years, men over 65 years) was 15,32% of population, the expected data in 2020 is about 16%. The problem of this group becomes very essential social question.

[Malignant tumors of the nose and paranasal sinuses in the years 1992-2001].

On the base of retrospective analysis of 927 cases of malignant neoplasms of the nose and paranasal sinuses, diagnosed and treated in 10 clinical centers in Poland from 1992-2001, the assessment of basic epidemiological data, including the localization of tumor, and stage of local and clinical advancement of the disease at the time of diagnosis has been conducted. In analyzed period of 10 years the trends to change the mentioned above parameters has been examined. The index of morbidity in this period was constant and compareable with figures published earlier.

[Estimation of smell sense rehabilitation in patients after total laryngectomy].

The loss of sense of smell significantly decreases a quality of life after total laryngectomy. That is why this problem should be considered within a complex rehabilitation of laryngectomized patients. The smell exercises ought to start parallely to the speech rehabilitation.

[The follicular cyst of the mandibula--case report].

Cyst is a pathological cavity which is surrounded by capsule and filled with matter of different compactness and composition. Cysts may originate in bones and in soft tissues. We are describing the case of the follicular cyst of the mandibula diagnosed for a 55 years old female patient.

[Antioxidants enzymes activity and concentration of lipid peroxidation products in chronic tonsillitis before and after surgery].

Introduction: Chronic tonsillitis is one of the most often disease in otolaryngological practice. Free radicals release during chronic inflammation process are responsible for tissue destruction. The aim of the study was to estimate the free radicals production and the activity of antioxidative enzymes during chronic tonsillitis before and after surgery.

[Carbon granuloma--an unwanted effect of laryngeal laser microsurgery].

Over recent twenty years, laser microsurgery has gained great recognition in the treatment of early carcinoma. From 1990 to 2004, more than 800 operations on the larynx were performed using laser microsurgery, including 167 chordectomies for squamous cell carcinoma. In 14 patients who were on the follow-up for 1 to 6 months, we observed a spherical, smooth structure (3-5 mm in diameter) in the middle part of the scar, which imitated local relapse of the neoplastic process.

[Rhinophyma--diagnosis and treatment].

The authors present four cases with rare disease--rhinophyma. These disease occurs mainly in males of middle and old age. It results from long-standing rosacea in some patients.

[Plasmacytoma of the larynx].

Multiple myeloma is a neoplastic proliferation of the plasma cells of clonal character producing similar immunoglobulin or part of the immunoglobulin. Multiple myeloma occasionally occurs as solitary, extramedullary plasmacytoma. The location of plasmacytoma in the larynx is extremely rare.

[Long-term results of treatment in T1, T2 laryngeal cancer with CO2 laser microsurgery].

The aim of this study was estimation the long term results of CO2 laser therapy in laryngeal cancer. 36 patients with early glottic cancer-T1 and T2 were treated with CO2 laser microsurgery in 1990-1992. The control laryngological, phoniatric and laryngovideostroboscopic examinations were conducted from six to thirty months after the operation.

[Malignant tumours of the pharynx in the years 1992-2001].

All cases of malignant tumours of the pharynx (excluding tumours of the tongue) were analyzed based on the retrospective data from the 5 clinical centers in Poland from the years 1992-2001. A considerable--over 50% increase in morbidity was found out regarding particularly tumours of the oropharynx. In the analyzed material there is a predominance of males (3:1) and the peak of morbidity significantly falls.

Nasal foreign body in an adult.

Foreign bodies of the nose in adults are rare, although they are frequently encountered among children and mentally retarded patients. They are often asymptomatic and consequently may remain undetected for many years. We describe a case of an intranasal foreign body mimicking a nasal lesion.

Lymphangioma and lymphangiomyomatosis--the same lesion?

The authors present a very rare case observed in a 32 year old female with a huge tumor on the left side of the neck in which extensive changes characteristic for cystic lymphangioma in the lower part and for lymphangiomyomatosis in the upper part of the tumor were observed intraoperatively. On the basis of the discussed case the suggestion is put forward that these two rarely occurring diseases may have similar etiological grounds.