contralateral ear in acquired cholesteatoma [a clinico-radiological study]

ABSTRACT

Fifty patients with unilateral cholesteatoma and 25 control subjects with bilateral normal ears were subjected to otomicroscopical and audiological assessment. Axial and coronal sections for the mastoid bone at 1 mm slice thickness were done for all ears. A simplified method was used to find out the surface area [SA] of the air cells at each individual section and automatically calculate the total volume of the mastoid air cells. Otomicroscopically, 72% of the contra lateral ears showed signs of retraction pockets, granulation tissues or chronicity. Audiologically, 20% of the controlled ears showed moderate to severe conductive hearing loss, while 10% showed mixed hearing loss. As regards mastoid pneumatization, the mean air cell volumes were 6.1, 12.68 and 29.92 cc in cholesteatomatous, contralateral and control ears, respectively. This indicated a highly significant difference in the mean air cell volume between the control ears and the other two groups