Myringotomy minor procedure. Those requiring myringotomy usually have an obstructed or dysfunctional eustachian tube that is unable to perform drainage or ventilation in its usual fashion. Before the invention of antibiotics, myringotomy without tube placement was also used as a major treatment of severe acute otitis media (middle ear infection). The words myringotomy, tympanotomy, tympanostomy, and "tympanocentesis" overlap in meaning. The first two are always synonymous, and the third is often used synonymously. The core idea with all of them is cutting a hole in the eardrum to allow fluid to pass through it. Sometimes a distinction is drawn between myringotomy/tympanotomy
Composition of the human body Not all elements which are found in the human body in trace quantities play a role in life. Some of these elements are thought to be simple bystander contaminants without function (examples: caesium, titanium), while many others are thought to be active toxics, depending on amount (cadmium, mercury, radioactives). The possible utility and toxicity of a few elements at levels normally found in the body (aluminium) is debated. Functions have been proposed for trace amounts of cadmium and lead, although these are almost certainly toxic in amounts very much larger than normally found in the body. There is evidence that