gms | German Medical Science

In the last decade, otology has gone through an unprecedented revolution, not only in basic research but also in clinical practice. More brand-new theories and concepts appear successively. Among them, translational medicine, evidence-based medicine, concept of minimal invasion and function preservation in surgery is undoubtedly the most representative, which has been the core guideline in deeling with problems in practice. In technical level, more genes related to the hearing loss are located and cloned faster using high throughput and density SNP microarray. Some explicit pathogenetic genes and mutations, including GJB2,SLC26A4 and mitochondrial DNA, have been targetted in clinical genetic testing to find out genetic causes of nearly 40% patients with sensorineural hearing loss in China. Large-scale gene screening and prenatal diagnosis help to prevent genetic hearing loss in population. New techniques and materials, including various artificial acoustic devices, especially choclear implantation (CI), and titinium alloy ossicles et al, provide more optimized solutions in prevention, diagnosis and therapy for hearing loss patients. In particular, recent advances in minimal invasion and residue hearing preservation in CI deserves our concerns. In addition, endoscope, nerve monitor, digital imaging and guided system are more commonly used in lateral skull surgery to preserve the nerve functions and improve patients’ life quality. In conclusion, advanced theories, techniques and instruments play important role in the development of otology. Wide and deep communication and cooperation with different disciplines will help to promote otology to develop faster in future years.

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