Aural myiasis in Ancient Rome: Celsus and the ear maggots.

Objective: Although today there is extensive scientific literature on aural myiasis, a historical study of the subject has yet to appear. This short article reports the first description of aural myiasis in the Western medical literature. Methods: Methods involved: (1) scholarship review of ear diseases within Ancient Greek and Roman medical texts (L'Année philologique); (2) linguistic analysis for text identification through the Library of Latin Texts, the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae and the Loeb Classical Library; and (3) translation of the Latin texts that described cases of aural myiasis with commentary. Results: To our knowledge, the earliest case of aural myiasis in Latin medical literature is reported by the Roman encyclopaedist Celsus (first century CE). In his De Medicina , he describes cases of Wohlfahrtia magnifica maggot infestation of the ear and how to treat affected patients. Conclusion: Despite present advances in otology, we believe that much insight can still be gained from this ancient example of medical history in ear diseases. A more comparative analysis of the subject is to be considered in the future, which will provide more data from different cultures and times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]