To review and provide evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of otosclerosis. Task force members were educated on knowledge synthesis methods, including electronic database search, review and selection of relevant citations, and critical appraisal of selected studies. Articles written in English or Portuguese on otosclerosis were eligible for inclusion. The American College of Physicians' guideline grading system and the American Thyroid Association's guideline criteria were used for critical appraisal of evidence and recommendations for therapeutic interventions. The topics were divided into 2 parts: 1) Diagnosis - audiologic and radiologic; 2) Treatment - hearing AIDS, pharmacological therapy, stapes surgery, and implantable devices - bone-anchored devices, active middle ear implants, and Cochlear Implants (CI). The pathophysiology of otosclerosis has not yet been fully elucidated, but environmental factors and unidentified genes are likely to play a significant role in it. Women with otosclerosis are not at increased risk of worsening clinical condition due to the use of contraceptives or during pregnancy. Drug treatment has shown little benefit. If the patient does not want to undergo stapedotomy, the use of hearing aids is well indicated. Implantable systems should be indicated only in rare cases, and the CI should be indicated in cases of profound deafness.

To review key evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral facial palsy in children and adults. Task force members were educated on knowledge synthesis methods, including electronic database search, review and selection of relevant citations, and critical appraisal of selected studies. Articles written in English or Portuguese on peripheral facial palsy were eligible for inclusion. The American College of Physicians' guideline grading system and the American Thyroid Association's guideline criteria were used for critical appraisal of evidence and recommendations for therapeutic interventions. The topics were divided into 2 main parts: (1) Evaluation and diagnosis of facial palsy: electrophysiologic tests, idiopathic facial palsy, Ramsay Hunt syndrome, traumatic peripheral facial palsy, recurrent peripheral facial palsy, facial nerve tumors, and peripheral facial palsy in children; and (2) Rehabilitation procedures: surgical decompression of the facial nerve, facial nerve grafting, surgical treatment of long-term peripheral facial palsy, and non-surgical rehabilitation of the facial nerve. Peripheral facial palsy is a condition of diverse etiology. Treatment should be individualized according to the cause of facial nerve dysfunction, but the literature presents better evidence-based recommendations for systemic corticosteroid therapy.

Objectives: To evaluate the surgical techniques, approaches, audiological outcomes and complications of endoscopic stapes surgery.Methods: Systematic searches of the literature were performed in PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases, to identify studies of patients who underwent stapes surgery using endoscopic approaches and studies reporting objective post-operative hearing outcomes. The following information was extracted: surgery duration, complications, surgical technique and audiometric results.Results: Fourteen studies were selected for appraisal, which included a total of 282 ears subjected to endoscopic stapes surgery. Endoscopic stapes surgery seems to provide adequate visualisation of the middle-ear structures, thereby allowing less invasive surgery and potentially equivalent audiological outcomes as compared with a traditional microscopic approach. Other advantages of endoscopic stapes surgery include decreased surgery time, a reduced need for drilling, and auditory results comparable to those of microscopic techniques.Conclusion: Studies have shown that endoscopic stapes surgery has similar surgical and functional advantages as compared with microscopic surgery.

Human temporal bone studies have documented the pathophysiologic basis of many pathologic conditions and diseases affecting the ear, contributing to the development of specific clinical knowledge and pathology-oriented treatments. Researchers dedicated to the study of anatomy and histology of the temporal bone emanated from Europe to the United States during the first part of the 20th Century. The first otopathology laboratory was founded in the United States in 1924, at Johns Hopkins University; over time, the otopathology laboratories—considered by some authors as “gold mines” for studying ear diseases—became numerous and very prolific. However, today, only three of the temporal bone laboratories are still running and producing scientific knowledge to the Otology/Neurotology field: the ones at Harvard Medical School, University of Minnesota, and University of California. Molecular biologic assay techniques and new microscopy and computer equipment broadened the possibilities for temporal bone studies; however, the current funding for those laboratories are insufficient to cover the costs for processing and studying human temporal bones. The main objective of this study is to briefly describe the history, current situation, and future perspectives of the otopathology laboratories in the United States.