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MICHAEL M. PAPARELLA, MD
Department of Otolaryngology University of Minnesota Minneapolis 55455

Arch Otolaryngol. 1972;96(3):290.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

I am pleased to answer Dr. Potter's letter as it provides another opportunity to stress a point made in our article on "Mondini's Deafness," mainly that radiographic-tomographic studies, although useful diagnostic tools, cannot be equated to histological studies in terms of reliability.

So-called Michel's deafness is a genetic congenital lesion characterized by complete lack of the bony and membranous labyrinth and it is true that "the only recent histological (so as not to be taken out of context) description of complete aplasia (Michel's) occurred as a result of thalidomide poisoning" and was obviously therefore not genetically induced.

I suggest the case Dr. Potter described as an example of Michel deformity is unproven. In his summary he describes "a case of complete absence of the inner ear (Michel deformity) is presented," while in the preceding case description (page 603), he says "the vestibule and lateral semicircular canal made up one large . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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