Otolgical Curiosities-The Arts and Entertainment Lecture

Otolgical Curiosities-The Arts and Entertainment Lecture
John Rutka

Findings from the head and temporal bone histopathology of an Egyptian Mummy have possibly revealed a new step in the process of mummification not previously cited. How disease involving the ear affected historic personages is presented from Heinrich Schliemann (the father of modern day archeology and the discover of Troy, Mycenae etc) to Van Gogh (suspected Meniere’s disease) to Beethoven (otosclerosis vs syphilis etc) to the playwright Oscar Wilde (whose demise was from an otogenic brain abscess) who was the son of Sir William Wilde (of the Wilde’s incision, ointment and forceps fame) is often considered the father of modern day otology.