Harold Schuknecht and pathology of the ear

Background: Like Joseph Toynbee and Karl Wittmaack before him. Harold Schuk necht understood that studying pathology was the key to advancing the scien tific basis of neurotology. His work elucidated the pathophysiology of the most common neurotologic disorders, including benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, Meniere's disease, and viral neurolabyrinthitis. Schuknecht was a tireless crusader against medical and surgical treatments that he considere d to have little scientific foundation. His textbook Pathology of the Ear r emains the definitive work in the field.