The tegmen tympani may occasionally be breached by herniation of the temporal lobe with or without dural cover. The clinical presentation may be obvious with CSF otorrhoea but less so with apparent middle ear effusion, CSF rhinnorrhoea, conductive hearing loss, recurrrent meningitis or intracranial sepsis. Diagnosis requires suspicion of the condition, which may be aided by radiological imaging. Surgical repair is to be recommended: various techniques are available but bone enveloped by fascia placed by subtemporal approach is preferred. The features of this problem are highlighted by four cases.

Primary extracranial meningiomas are uncommon; they have been documented in the ear, skin, orbit, parapharyngeal space, parotid gland, mediastinum, and rarely the paranasal sinuses. Tuberoussclerosis is an autosomal dominant neurocutaneous syndrome characterized by multiple connective tissue tumours. We report the first case of a tuberous sclerosis patient with a maxillary antral meningioma.

Chondrosarcoma is rarely found arising in the head and neck region. An unusual case arising in the parapharyngeal space in a male is reported and the differential diagnosis, pathology and treatment are discussed.

Human Cyclical Neutropenia is a rare haematological disorder, characterized by periodic oscillations in peripheral neutrophil levels from normal to neutropenic, during which patients experience ulcerative stomatitis, fever, malaise and occasional cutaneous and subcutaneous infections.

We present our experience with a fatal case of Human Cyclical Neutropenia together with a brief review of the literature and diagnostic criteria. The paper aims to heighten the clinical awareness of the otolaryngologist to the condition. Close co-operation with the haematologist is essential both for diagnosis and management.

Three years following a right lower lobectomy for primary carcinoid tumour of the bronchus, a patient presented with bilateral parotid masses. On investigation, both these were shown to be carcinoid tumours, consistent with metastatic spread from the primary bronchial tumour. This unique case is presented together with a discussion of the diagnostic methods employed.

Abnormal migration of central venous catheters is especially common in the case of long lines inserted via the antecubital fossa. A case is described of internal jugular vein migration of a central venous catheter complicating an ipsilateral radical neck dissection.

Lingual thyroid is an uncommon developmental aberrationof embryogenesis. It may present as a mid-line, non-tender, painless, reddish appearing swelling in the throat. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a relatively new diagnostic method for this condition. Two cases of lingual thyroid are reviewed with their MRI's and surgical results.

Three cases of Kikuchi's necrotizing lymphadenitiswithout granulocytic infiltration presented to the ENT department as cervical lymphadenopathy with neutropaenia. Differential diagnosis from malignant lymphoma was difficult both clinically and histopathologically. Two recovered spontaneously without treatment within three months, one improved initially but was lost to follow-up after one month.