ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A clinical condition known as chronic otitis media (COM) is characterized by tympanic membrane perforation, varying degrees of hearing loss, and otorrhea that lasts for two to six weeks. COM alone or with cholesteatoma may result in ossicular chain discontinuity and ossicular erosion. The hearing restoration procedure includes repairing the eardrum and building the ossicular chain in ears with damaged ossicles. Multiple studies suggest the predictive value of preoperative air-bone gap (ABG) to detect the ossicular chain status can help with proper preoperative planning for surgery. OBJECTIVE: To determine the degree of hearing improvement and reduction in ABG after tympanoplasty and to investigate the correlation between preoperative ABG and the status of the ossicular chain during surgery. Study design, setting, and date: This retrospective hospital file-based study was conducted at Aseer Central Hospital, Southern Region, Saudi Arabia, between November 2022 and April 2023. Hospital records of patients who underwent tympanoplasty during 2018-2023 were reviewed. Eighty-five patients were diagnosed with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) between 2018 and 2023. A data collection sheet was employed to record extracted data, including the patient's age, sex, hearing assessment, type of surgical intervention, and outcome. We calculated the average of ABG decibels (dB) by summing the ABG values at 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, and 2000 Hz frequencies and dividing by three. RESULTS: In the present study, data from 85 patients who underwent tympanoplasty were analyzed. Approximately one-third of the patients were in the age group of 31 to 40 years (25, 29.4%), and 50 (58.8%) of them were females. Chronic medical conditions were observed in 30 (35.3%) patients, with diabetes being reported in 19 (63.3%) of those cases. CSOM was found to be present in the left ear of 47 (56.0%) patients. Among the patients, 25 (29.4%) had subtotal perforations, 12 (14.1%) had marginal perforations, and two (2.4%) had total tympanic membrane perforations. The majority of patients (67, 78.8%) exhibited conductive hearing loss, while the remaining 18 (21.2%) had mixed hearing loss. Of the patients, 13 (15.3%) and 20 (23.5%) had fixed and disrupted ossicular chains, respectively. In terms of ossicular disruption, incudostapedial joint (ISJ) fixing (21.2%), fixed stapes (18.2%), and ISJ dislocation (18.2%) were the most prevalent kinds. Prior to operations, the mean ± SD of ABG was 22.6 ± 7.5. ABG values were 19.0 ± 9.3 on average after surgery. The statistical difference between pre- and postoperative ABG was statistically significant (paired t-test, p = 0.007), with a mean difference of -3.7. There were no significant differences between the different statuses of ossicular chains and the type of tympanic membrane perforation. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the degree of preoperative ABG (dB) is a valuable predictor of intraoperative ossicular chain status and can aid in preoperative planning for ossicular chain reconstruction. Furthermore, the study found that the type of tympanic membrane perforation preoperatively is not a reliable indicator of the ossicular chain status. Finally, tympanoplasty is considered a beneficial surgical procedure with a significant improvement in hearing status postoperatively.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Paranasal sinus mucoceles are epithelium-lined cystic masses usually resulting from obstruction of sinus ostia. They most frequently occur in the frontal and ethmoid sinuses. The etiology is not clarified, but the most common identifiable cause of mucoceles following functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS), trauma, neoplasms, and allergy. The clinical symptoms of mucocele vary and are not specific, the most common being ophthalmic symptoms and headache, impinging on adjacent orbital structures, and causing ophthalmic sequelae such as double vision, commonly followed by orbital swelling, epiphora, proptosis, and ptosis. All patients in this study had frontal and frontoethmoidal mucocele and initially complained of frontal headache and ophthalmic symptoms. Definitive treatment options for paranasal sinus mucoceles include external approaches and endoscopic marsupialization. Objective: The study aimed to identify the etiology, clinical presentation, most common para nasal sinus affected by mucocele, management, and the rate of recurrence in eight cases with mucocele of the paranasal sinuses. METHODS: Eight patients diagnosed with mucocele of the paranasal sinuses were admitted to our institution between 2014 and 2021. There were two females and six males aged between 14 and 67. Initial symptoms, duration, clinical presentation upon admission, location of the mucocele, type of surgical intervention, and outcome have all been studied. Results: The most common symptoms at diagnosis were orbital involvement, retrobulbar, and frontal headache. Most patients were diagnosed with frontal mucocele (40%), and three were frontoethmoidal mucocele at the time of presentation. The rest of the cases were diagnosed with ethmoidal mucocele (25%). The etiology was identified in four patients and was unclear in the rest. All patients underwent endoscopic sinus surgery. The most identifiable postoperative complication was a headache. CONCLUSIONS: The endonasal endoscopic approach is a safe and effective treatment for paranasal sinus mucocele and provides adequate drainage with a low recurrent rate.
ABSTRACT
Background Fibro-osseous (FO) lesions are slow-growing benign lesions in the paranasal sinuses. They include osteomas, fibrous dysplasia (FD), and ossifying fibro-ma (OF). Fibro-osseous (FO) lesions are frequently asymptomatic, and they are incidentally found on imaging. They are characterized by different histological, radiological, and clinical variants. Depending on symptoms, size, location, and extension, the treatment strategy varies significantly for these lesions. Objective We aim to compare the age, onset, gender, clinical presentation, postoperative improvement, and complications of a fibro-osseous lesion in the paranasal sinuses. Methods A retrospective analysis was done targeting patients diagnosed with benign fibro-osseous (FO) lesions, and the incidence among 403 patients who underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) at Aseer Central Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was reviewed from January 2013 to January 2022. Results A total of seven patients were found; five patients were diagnosed with osteoma, and two were diagnosed with fibrous dysplasia. There were no ossifying fibroma cases. The patients' mean age was 25.5 ± 12.9 years old. Four (57.1%) patients were males, and three (42.9%) were females, with a male/female ratio of 1.25:1. The most common locations were the frontal sinus and ethmoid sinus, and the two cases of fibrous dysplasia involved almost all facial bones. The endonasal endoscopic approach was chosen to treat all seven patients. Conclusions There are differences in the onset age, location, and complications postoperatively among osteoma and fibrous dysplasia patients. Osteoma most commonly occurs in the frontal sinus, while fibrous dysplasia involved all facial bones in our study. Endoscopic surgery is currently the primary strategy for treatment.
ABSTRACT
Inflammatory or allergic sinonasal polyps are characterized by extensive vascular growth and ectasia with deposition of pseudoamyloid in 5% of cases. Angiomatous nasal polyp (ANP) is a relatively rare benign lesion, which may be misdiagnosed as a benign or malignant tumor. The characteristic pathological features of ANP are expanded angiogenesis, accumulation of extracellular amorphous eosinophilic substance, and atypical stromal cells. This report aimed to outline the histological differential diagnosis of ANP. Through a full histopathological examination, we studied biopsies and resected specimens from five patients who were diagnosed with ANPs, including one with facial deformity. Gross findings showed that tumors were firm in consistency, lobulated on the surface, and lined by partially ulcerated mucous membrane. Light microscopy showed clusters of widened, thin-walled blood vessels among congo red-negative eosinophilic substance with an area of necrosis and irregular stromal spindle cells. Presence of endothelial cell myofibroblasts were confirmed by electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. This is a report of four cases which showed extreme examples of ANPs that was completely resected by endoscopic sinus surgery for all patients. A full histopathological examination is recommended to confirm the possible differential diagnoses for a better management plan.
