On June 1-5, 2013 has been organized in Seoul the 20th World Congress of the Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Societies (IFOS – International Federation of Otorhinolaryngological Societies).
In this year’s Congress participated almost 6 thousand specialists from all continents. Five persons represented the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing: Prof. Henryk Skarżyński MD, PhD, Artur Lorens PhD Eng, Wiesław Wiktor Jędrzejczak PhD, Piotr H. Skarżyński MD, PhD and Paweł Doliński MSc.

The effect of esteem and acknowledgement of the quality of submitted papers and the scientific status of each individual are the so called scientific activities – functions performed at the congress. These include membership in the Advisory Board and Scientific Committee. This is a reflection of the high scientific status and respect from the side of the international scientific bodies. Another important group of activities includes invitation to present Keynote Lecture, invitation to the Round Table or topical Panel, invitation to the official Satellite Symposium, and acceptance of submitted oral presentation. A third form of the scientific activity is poster presentation.

Scientific activity of the representatives of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing at the IFOS Congress in Seoul included: 1 Keynote Lecture, chairmanship of 6 sessions and a satellite symposium, participation on 7 Round Tables and 15 presentations. Moreover Prof. H. Skarżyński, as the only delegate from Poland, was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Congress.

A particular honor for the team of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing was an invitation, extended by the Scientific Committee of the Congress, to organize an international topical Panel. Discussion of the program of the partial deafness treatment, initiated by the first in the world PDT surgery performed by Prof. H. Skarżyński in 2002, on the most important scientific forum is the sign of the great esteem from the side of the international scientific community. In this panel took part the eminent scientists from Australia, USA, Austria and Slovakia. Only 6 other centers from the entire world had been invited to organizes topical panels: from the USA – Harvard Medical School, University of Minnesota, John Hopkins Medical Institutions and University of Utah, from  Japan – Nara Medical University, and from France – Institute Georges Portmann.

Another very important honor for the team of the Institute was organization of the topical Panel, for the first time in the history of IFOS world meetings, by the Polish Scientific Society of Hearing, Voice and Communication Disorders, granted following the application of its Presidents, Prof. H. Skarżyński. The Panel had been dedicated to the assessment of the present state and development perspectives of the hearing screening in school-age children. Entrusting the organization of this Panel to the Polish Society was an expression of the great esteem of the international scientific community for the achievements of the Institute during the first Polish Presidency of the EU Council, during which the EU Council had adopted the Conclusion on Early Detection and Treatment of Communication Disorders in Children, Including the Use of e-Health Tools and Innovative Solutions. In the Panel, chaired by Prof. H. Skarżyński, participated representatives on such countries as Japan, Philippines, China.

The commitment of the representatives of the Institute is shown by the following rating of the most active scientists during the IFOS 2013 Congress:

1. H. Skarżyński, IFPS, Polaand (20 activities)
2. M. Naraghi, Iran (19 activities)
3. R. Ferreira Bento, Brazil (17 activities)
4. P.H. Skarżyński, IFPS. Poland (15 activities)
5. A. Lorens, IFPS, Poland (13 activities)
6. S.W. Yeo, Korea (11 activities)
7. S.O. Chang, Korea (9 activities)
8. E.C. Choi, Korea (9 activities)
9. D. Desiderio, Italy (9 activities)
10. S.G. Yeo, Korea (9 activities)
11. M. Manrique, Spain (8 activities)
12. W.W. Jędrzejczak, IFPS, Poland (8 activities)
13. J.D. Richmon, USA (8 activities)
14. E. Truy, France (8 activities)
15. M. Remacle, Belgium (8 activities)
16. C. Piazza, Italy (8 activities)
17. W-H. Chung, Korea (activities)
18. M. Aristegui, Spain (7 activities)
19. A. Ramos, Spain (7 activities)
20. O. Majdani, Germany (7 activities)

Representatives of the Institute presented following papers:

• Detection of Partial Deafness in school age children by means of otoacoustic emissions, Piotrowska A., Pilka A., Tarczynski K., Zapert A., Danielewicz A., Ludwikowski M., Skarżyński H., Jędrzejczak W.W.
• Hearing Preservation Classification, Skarżyński H.,  van de Heyning P., DeMin H., Li Y., Bo L. , Caversaccio M., Rivas J.A., Rivas A., Raine C.H., Arauz S.L., Zernotti M.E., Manoj M., Kameswaran M., Sprinzl G., Zorowka P., Staecker H., Parnes, Gavilán J., Lassaletta L.,  Green K., Usami S., Müller J., Atlas M., Rajan G., Godey B., Karltorp E., Yanov Y., Kuzovkov V., Adunka O.,  Buchman C., Baumgartner W., Gstöttner W., Hagen R., Skarżyński P.H., Lorens A.
• Longitudinal study of pure-tone thresholds after partial deafness treatment, Skarżyński H.,  Lorens A., Piotrowska A., Polak M.
• Hearing loss treatment in various acquired and congenital ear malformations with the use of Bone Anchored Hearing Aids (BAHA), Mrówka M., Skarżyński H.,  Skarżyński P.H.
• Overlap versus non overlap in PD with deep insertion, Lorens A., Zgoda M., Polak M., Skarżyński H., Piotrowska A., Skarżyński P.H
• European consensus statement on hearing screening of pre-school and school-age children, Skarżyński H.,  Piotrowska A., Kamyk P., Kochanek K., Skarżyński P.H., Jędrzejczak W.W.
• FS4 Warsaw Study, Lorens A., Zgoda M., Skarżyński H., Polak M.
• Partial deafness treatment using Flex 28 med-el electrode – results, Skarżyński H., Lorens A., Skarżyński P.H., Olszewski Ł., Piotrowska A., Matusiak M., Porowski M., Mrowka M.
• Specific language impairment (SLI) and central auditory processing disorders, Włodarczyk E., Szkiełkowska A., Skarżynski P.H.
• Videostrobokymography of the vocal fold in cases of Reinke edema, Szkiełkowska A.  Krasnodębska P.,  Miaśkiewicz B.,  Skarżyński H.
• The prevalence of tinnitus in children, Koziak-Raj D., Skarżyński H., Kochanek K., Fabijańska A.
• Quality of voice after augmentation of  hyaluronic acid to the vocal fold, Szkiełkowska A., Miaśkiewicz B. Krasnodębska P., Skarżyński P.H.
• Tinnitus and high frequency hearing – a study of 175 cases, Fabijańska A., Smurzyński J., Kochanek K., Raj-Koziak D., Skarżyński H.
• Validation of the LittlEars auditory questionnaire in Polish cochlear implanted patients, Obrycka A., Padilla J.L., Lorens A., Piotrowska A., Skarżyński H.
• Speech perception outcomes with the new Nucleus CI422 25mm straight array, Skarżyński H., Lorens A., Matusiak M., Porowski M., Skarżyński P.H., James Ch.

Since the first meeting of the International Federation of Otorhinolaryngological Societies, which took place in 1928, the renown and size of the IFOS Congresses grows steadily. Presently they are the largest and most waited-for ENT meetings. IFOS unites 50 thousand ENT specialists from 120 countries from all continents.

Apart from the delegation of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing there were a few persons from Poland participating in the Congress, who presented 1 paper in plenary discussion and 9 posters.