February 11-12, 2013 at the World Hearing Center of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing in Kajetany took place international course – Window Approach Workshop (WAW). The novelty of the 14th edition of the workshop were lectures and training with pioneer BONEBRIDGE hearing implant system. The first such an operation was carried out on December 19, 2012 by Professor. Henryk Skarzynski. Implants of this type were implanted for the first time last year at 9 centers around the world. This operation began a new era in the treatment of congenital hearing loss resulting primarily due to full or partial undeveloped outer and middle ear.
Advances in medical technology in the fields of audiology and otology makes it possible today for physicians to help practically all patients with hearing disorders. An example of these modern technical solutions enabling the restoration of lost hearing are various auditory implants. Window Approach Workshops are particularly designed for otosurgeons who specialize, or want to specialize, in auditory implants.
Window Approach Workshops are aimed at teaching the methods of cochlear implantation in partial deafness, elaborated at the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, and middle ear implantation in mixed hearing loss, using the approach through the round window of the cochlea.
Participants from countries such as Uzbekistan, Egypt and Turkey have the opportunity to observe these surgical methods during demonstration surgeries performed by Prof. H. Skarzynski and the team of the Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Surgery Clinic. They also attend lectures prepared by the specialists from the Institute and participate in the hands-on training in the laboratory, during which they learn on fresh temporal bone specimens to perform on their own each stage of the cochlear implantation procedure.
The program of the Window Approach Workshop includes:
- Lectures presented by the specialists from the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing,
- Demonstration surgeries transmitted from the operating theater to the lecture room, with presentation of each case and discussion,
- Hands-on training in the laboratory on fresh temporal bone specimens.
Lectures and exercises are conducted in English.
