Since Djourno and Eyries described their first experience of electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve in 1957, the journey to an easily insertable, reliable and effective cochlear implant has been one of the most exciting in the history of medicine. The hallmark of the venture has been global collaboration between basic scientists in many fields - bioengineering, microcircuitry, signal processing, cognitive science and linguistics - as well as surgeons and educationalists. Many ingenious devices have been developed and equally ingenious operations have been proposed in order to maximize their effectiveness and minimize their potential damage to the inner ear. Complicated extracochlear devices eventually gave way to intracochlear multi-channel implants, and surgical challenges such as paediatric implantation, ossification, CSOM and dysplasia were addressed and solutions found. The journey is not yet over, however, and progress continues to be made to develop a fully implantable cochlear implant, which should be a reality within five years.

A 59-year-old woman presented to an otolaryngology clinic with an 8-week history of a painless lump over her left parotid gland. Her medical history included an invasive ductal carcinoma (33 mm) and a ductal carcinoma in situ (70 mm) of the right breast, for which she had a mastectomy and various adjuvant therapies. The primary tumour presented 8 years prior to the metachronous metastasis. This patient was a non-smoker and had no significant family history. Post-superficial parotidectomy pathology revealed the parotid gland tumour to be oestrogen receptor-positive and HER2 receptor-positive, thus ruling out the initial differential diagnosis of a pleomorphic adenoma. A consequential total parotidectomy with a posterolateral neck dissection was performed with sparing of the facial nerve. The patient recovered well having only encountered a self-resolving salivary fistula. She portrayed no signs of facial nerve palsy and subsequent imaging scans showed no abnormalities.

We propose that otolaryngology units should be more aware of the unusual sequelae of pseudogout following parathyroidectomy; it can lead to a prompt referral and commencement of early treatment.

Since Djourno and Eyries described their first experience of electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve in 1957, the journey to an easily insertable, reliable and effective cochlear implant has been one of the most exciting in the history of medicine. The hallmark of the venture has been global collaboration between basic scientists in many fields – bioengineering, microcircuitry, signal processing, cognitive science and linguistics – as well as surgeons and educationalists. Many ingenious devices have been developed and equally ingenious operations have been proposed in order to maximize their effectiveness and minimize their potential damage to the inner ear. Complicated extracochlear devices eventually gave way to intracochlear multi‐channel implants, and surgical challenges such as paediatric implantation, ossification, CSOM and dysplasia were addressed and solutions found. The journey is not yet over, however, and progress continues to be made to develop a fully implantable cochlear implant, which should be a reality within five years. Copyright © 2000 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

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