Dr. Vivian Kaul Leads Interdepartmental Temporal Bone and Skull Base Didactic Program
Vivian Kaul, MD, chief of otology and an assistant professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, is director of a new temporal bone and skull base didactic course. While the temporal bone course is given annually for otolaryngology residents, the skull base course is a new initiative presented in collaboration with the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. The three-day, dissection-centered skull base course, presented in February, focused on challenging approaches to complex skull base surgery.
“Our otorhinolaryngology team has developed strategies for minimally invasive repair of benign and malignant neoplasms of the skull base, conditions we manage with a team that includes skull base neurosurgeons and neuroendovascular surgeons,” Dr. Kaul says. “Our goal with the skull base didactic course is to create an educational experience that fosters greater collaboration between our two departments to improve the comprehensive care we provide our patients.”
In addition to Dr. Kaul, skull base course faculty were Martin J. Citardi, MD, professor and chair of otorhinolaryngology and vice dean for clinical technology; Amber Luong, MD, PhD, professor of otolaryngology and vice chair for academic affairs; William Yao, MD, associate professor, chief of rhinology, and director of the otorhinolaryngology residency program; P. Roc Chen, MD, professor, vice chair of cerebrovascular research, and director of the cerebrovascular and endovascular program; Spiros Blackburn, MD, associate professor and director of the neurosurgery residency program; and Walid Ibn Essayed, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery. The program was supported by Jacques J. Morcos, MD, professor and chair, John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience, and co-director of UTHealth Houston Neurosciences. Otolaryngology and neurosurgery residents and fellows also attended.
“As otorhinolaryngologists, we shared our perspective on the care we provide mutually with neurosurgery,” Dr. Kaul says. “Over the three days, we developed a greater understanding of how to work together more fluidly and effectively. We know this alliance will lead to more collaborative research and a multidisciplinary culture that fosters specialized care for our patients and community.”
Topics covered in the temporal bone lab for otolaryngology residents included the basics of drill techniques; management of chronic otorrhea; mastoidectomy and facial recess; middle-ear dissection and otosclerosis; endoscopic middle-ear anatomy; middle-ear dissection, stapes, and canalplasty; temporal bone histopathology; temporal bone malignancies; temporal bone resection; how to read CT scans of the temporal bone; and internal auditory canal approaches, facial nerve decompression, and endolymphatic sac. In addition to Dr. Kaul, instructors were Joseph Chang, MD, director of the Texas Ear Center; Kenny Lin, MD, and Jeffrey Vrabec, MD, Houston Methodist Hospital; Mark-Elie Nadar, MD, The University of Texas System MD Anderson Cancer Center; and Sancak Yuksel, MD, associate professor of otorhinolaryngology at UTHealth Houston.