MED Prof Speaks on Inner-Ear Research at National Conference
MED Prof. Anand Devaiah spoke on inner-ear diseases at an ophthalmology and otolaryngology conference.
Anand Devaiah, a School of Medicine assistant professor in the departments of otolaryngology, head and neck surgery, and neurological surgery, was a featured speaker at the Kansas City Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology Society’s annual meeting in January. The society, founded in 1896, is the oldest otolaryngology society in the world.
His talk Intracranial Complications of Otitis Media was on the intracranial complications of otitis media, a middle ear infection that can progress to a severe, chronic disease and in rare cases spread to the brain. Another talk, Meniere’s Disease — Practical Update on an Impractical Disease, focused on the latest research on Meniere’s disease, a disturbance of the inner ear that causes problems with balance and hearing.
Devaiah discussed therapies and technologies, including the role of antibiotics, tissue substitutes, CT/MRI imaging, and CT-image guidance technology, in diagnosis and treatment. Both talks included anecdotes from his clinical experience. “[Otitis media] is now a rare problem,” he says, “but when it presents itself to clinicians, it can be misdiagnosed or mismanaged with catastrophic results.”
Devaiah has a wide variety of interests in the field, and is currently working on developing minimally invasive skull surgery in otolaryngology.
Brittany Jasnoff can be reached at bjasnoff@bu.edu.