[Surgery on the cranial base. Guidelines for otorhinolaryngology. I].

This presentation carries two goals: 1. Not to consider one particular aspect of a specified disease as a topic but rather an area of topography to which in general only a serving function is ascribed. For the vast multitude of pathogenetic processes taking place in this region our total understanding is required. 2. To find out the contradiction that exists between the array of diseases and their clinical consequences during the first postwar period which still experienced the then "biologically natural circumstances" of that time up until today, i.e. the changes over the past 35 years. H. Marx, director of the ENT University department in Würzburg until 1947, published in that year a "Short Manual of Otology". We have added on to this clinical opinions and experiences. At the same time G. Shambaugh jr. developed the long sought after fenestration of the semicircular canal to an advanced stage for improvement of hearing in case of otosclerosis. Around this time it was allowed to administer penicillin not only to the military but also to the civilians. The technique to use a milling cutter (not a drill) according to J. Lempert extended widely into the entire region of otology and into the whole neuro- and viscerocranium. Out of a few improvised microscopes an entire industry evolved. In H. Marx' 850 page textbook the complications of the acute and chronic otitis media alone make up for more than 20% of the text.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)