title: Allograft tympanoplasty:  a historical perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present the rise and decline of allograft tympanoplasty and investigate how the challenges it has faced may inform us of its future.
  
  
  METHODS
  Articles and books published over the last 48 years that refer to allograft tympanoplasty or its historical roots.
  
  
  METHODS
  The first published account of allograft tympanoplasty is by Ned Chalat in 1964; however, whether he was the first to use the technique is controversial. In 1966, Jean Marquet published the first clinically successful use of allograft tympanic membranes. Since that time, a number of surgeons have trialed both en bloc tympano-ossicular techniques and tympanomeatal techniques with separate ossicle interposition or columellar reconstruction, often with considerable success. The advent of the human immunodeficiency virus and Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease resulted in a reduction in its application; however, a number of centers are still successfully using the technique in their current practice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whether allograft tympanoplasty will have a place in the future of otology remains to be seen, but an understanding of the history of this technique is essential in evaluating its merit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, Belgium. vincent.vanrompaey@ua.ac.be
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Van Rompaey
authors.forename: Matthew R B
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Farr
authors.forename: Evert
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hamans
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mudry
authors.forename: Paul H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Van de Heyning
mesh_terms: D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods; D014432:Tympanic Membrane / Q000601:surgery; D014433:Tympanoplasty / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods