Content area
Abstract
The introduction defines the subject, why it is chosen and how we intend to treat it.
Chapter one deals with embryology, neonatal morphology and postnatal development of the tympanic part of the temporal bone. Up to the tenth week of fetal life, the data given are drawn from literature. From the eleventh week onward, personal observations are obtained by dissection under the operative microscope.
Chapter two deals with the anatomy of the tympanic part, with clinical comments.
Chapter three proposes--and offers arguments in favour of--a systematisation of the tympanic cavity, with the tympanic part of the temporal bone as anatomico-surgical landmark. It describes the systematized tympanic cavity, with clinical and surgical comments.
Chapter four demonstrates the physical importance of the tympanic frame in sound transmission. It justifies its preservation in surgery of the middle ear.
Chapter five supports a classification of congenital malformations of the tympanic part and attempts to determine organogenetic age. It describes a surgical procedure which tends to anatomical reconstitution in cases of hypo- or agenesia. It proposes posterior tympanotomy as the surgical approach of the tympanic cavity in otological surgery.