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Copyright of HNO is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Foreign bodies in the face are often not discovered at first sight. If there is reasonable suspicion caused by anamnesis or by clinical examination of a facial foreign body, a CT scan should be done. However, consideration should be given to wooden foreign bodies, which may appear different depending on the water content and are therefore often misinterpreted. Wooden foreign bodies should be extracted immediately to avoid severe complications. After surgery, regular controls of the wound should be carried out to immediately recognize and treat infection of the lesion.

We present the case of an orbital fracture and a wooden foreign body found during surgery. The patient had undergone a pre-operative computed tomography scan but the foreign body had not been seen on these images. We discuss the difficulties in demonstrating wooden objects on CT and describe indicators in patient history, examination findings and radiological signs that might suggest the presence of a wooden object. We emphasise the necessity to explore any orbital injury if there are clinical signs suggesting an intraorbital foreign body.

Asbestos is a well known inhalant cancerogenic substance, causing not only mesothelioma but also cancer of the respiratory mucosa of the bronchi. Exposure can also cause non-malignant alterations of the pleura or lung, which can be assessed radiologically. Since asbestos can also induce malignant tumors of the nose and sinuses, we identified 50 patients from the files of the ENT Department Münster and tried to complete questionnaires concerning occupation and occupational hazards using informations from insurance companies as well as at least one chest x-ray. This material could be obtained in 19 patients. Nine of the 19 patients had x-ray findings that could be associated with asbestos exposure, but in none of these 9 cases was massive occupational exposure to asbestos probable. In only two of the nine cases was definite occupational exposure to asbestos not able to be excluded. A control group was not established, since statistical calculations of significance would have been problematic in a number of the 19 patients even if a control group did exist. From the questionnaires we have found an unexpected incidence of dusty workplaces (as seen with textile workers, wood-dust workers, cement workers, quarrymen and millers). A correlation between various types of sinonasal tumors and asbestos exposure could not be made.

We examined the possible vestibulotoxicity of 16 patients subject to chronic exposure to wood preservatives containing pentachlorophenol. A vestibular test battery showed no abnormal findings except in one patient with pre-existing Menière's disease. The discrepancy between a clear history of exposure contrasted with the normal vestibular finding, and illustrates the diagnostic problems in patients chronically exposed to wood preservative.

A case of adenocarcinoma in the maxilloethmoidal angle is reported. Progressive loss of differentiation following radiation and surgery was observed during the course of the disease. Professional etiology is discussed, the patient being woodworker for 18 years.