No abstract

The present study is based upon the results of repeated vestibular examinations under nystagmographic control, performed in a group of patients with strictly unilateral peripheral vestibular lesions. Central compensation of peripheral vestibular dysfunctions is relying upon two entirely different mechanisms. The first one is a specific vestibular phenomenon, depending on the integrity of the efferent vestibular system. It is termed ‘accommodation’, i.e. by means of the efferent fibers the responses from the remaining intact labyrinth are modulated, adjusting them to the functional deficiency (inhibition and facilitation). Accommodation is generally completed within a short time unless there is a lesion of the elements of the vestibular ganglion or an impairment of conductivity of the peripheral neuron. Functional disorders at the level of the vestibular ganglion or of the first neuron will implicate uncomplete and delayed accommodation. The second mechanism is a non specific central phenomenon, substituting the deficient vestibular functions by optic and somatosensory regulation. Hence the term centralcompensation should strictly speaking only be used for this particular phenomenon. It is depending upon the functional integrity of the central nervous system. For this reason traumatic and vascular lesions of the brain will delay the achievement of this compensatory mechanism according to the severity of the central disorder.

Malformed body parts do not have the shape or form that they are supposed to, especially, when they have been like this since birth, and restoring such parts of their lost function and esthetics is done using various biocompatible materials. The congenitally missing ear is an esthetic problem, and its replacement is an art and science. This can be corrected either surgically or prosthetically, but the choice of correction depends on the patient. This article presents a case report of a young patient with a congenital unilateral auricular defect restored with silicone prosthesis. These prostheses provide a cost-effective means when compared to surgical reconstruction.