Use of autogenic and allogenic malleus in tympanic membrane to footplate assembly - long-term results.

The objective of this study was to assess the functional performance and long-term stability of autogenic and allogenic malleus used for ossiculoplasty as tympanic membrane to footplate assembly. A retrospective study of 119 patients who underwent such ossiculoplasty in closed cavity mastoidectomy from 1989-2004 was carried out. There was no extrusion in any of our cases. Serviceable hearing (<20 dB air bone gap closure) was achieved in 24 out of 37 (65%) over long-term follow up of more than 1 year (mean and median for follow up being 37.4 and 30 months respectively). Thus malleus ossicle graft give acceptable long-term hearing results in one of the most difficult ossiculoplasty situations (absence of stapes suprastructure and malleus) with virtually no extrusion problems.

Is surgical vestibular ablation necessary in disabling peripheral vertigo?

The use of intratympanic gentamicin is an easily performed office procedure for the conservative treatment of the Meniere's disease patient who has failed medical therapy. The procedure provides excellent control for the symptom of vertigo and is one of the most successful methods in the treatment of vertigo due to inner ear disorders. Surgical ablation is no longer necessary for adequate control of vestibular symptoms and that chemical ablation/alteration may replace the need for surgical vestibular ablation in cases of disabling Meniere's disease and other inner ear causes for peripheral vertigo.

Modified intact canal wall mastoidectomy - long term results in hearing and healing.

INTRODUCTION: The classic intact canal wall (ICW) mastoidectomy with tympanoplasty (combined approach tympanoplasty) [1, 2] has anatomic constraints for clearance of disease from the anterior attic and sinus tympani leading to high recidivism. Farrior [3, 4] described the modification of this technique and senior author (AM) has been using it with further modifications since 1973. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report our long-term experience in hearing and healing in 126 cases with special reference to the age (pediatric versus adults), ossicle status (presence or absence of stapes suprastructure) and type of cholesteatoma (Attic versus posterior-superior versus secondary acquired cholesteatoma). RESULTS: All the patients had unsafe CSOM and underwent Modified ICW mastoidectomy with primary ossiculoplasty except five where the procedure was staged. CONCLUSION: Modified ICW technique is a one-stage procedure with the lowest recidivism rate when compared to various other ICW techniques. There is no significant difference in relation to age of the patient or type of cholesteatoma if the operative cases are selected judicially.

Surgical management of glomus tympanicum tumor.

Glomus tympanicum tumor (also known as paraganglioma or chemodectoma) is the most benign tumor of temporal bone. Treatment may be palliative or curative. Palliative therapy includes watchful observation or radiotherapy and curative treatment is surgical. During 1995 to 2005, 18 cases of glomus tympanicum were managed at Basavanagudi ENT Care Centre Bangalore. We review retrospectively the diagnosis and surgical management of these cases. Advances in the imaging and refinements in traditional surgery have made correct diagnosis and complete excision of these tumors possible in most of the cases.

Rehabilitation of the tympanomastoid cavity in Canal Wall Down procedures.

During 1980 to 2004, 1602 Canal Wall Down (CWD) procedures was performed of which 978 had primary surgery and 624 were revision cases. We have highlighted various methods for total clearance of disease process from the tympanomastoid area, making of a smooth cavity, augmentation of middle ear space for better functional results, inlay temporalis fascia grafting, ossiculoplasty with live tissue grafts, natural obliteration of the cavity and meatoplasty.Healing of cavity and tympanic membrane (TM) graft was achieved in 1548 (94.2%) of cases. Revision surgery was performed in 32 cases for recurrence or residual cholesteatoma, mostly in the attic and middle ear. Persisting discharge was present in 12 cases. Serviceable hearing (airbone (A-B) gap closure up to 20 dB) was achieved in 1017 (63.5%) cases. Hearing was worse than pre-operative level in 154 (9.6%) cases. There was no improvement in hearing in 397 (24.8%) cases. Serviceable hearing was obtained after second stage ossiculoplasty in 34 (2%) cases.

Transfacial nasal approach to paranasal sinuses, nasopharynx and anterior skull base.

There are different surgical approaches to remove lesion involving the large central lesions of nasal cavity, sinus and nasopharynx with anterior skull base and retromaxillary extension depending on the site extent and the type of tumor. In this paper, we are describing a method that is rhinological and is a direct approach for removal of such lesions in 6 patients.

Reparative granuloma following stapes surgery.

Reparative granuloma of the oval window is an uncommon complication of stapes surgery, which usually develops within one to six weeks after operation and causes a sudden hearing loss and disturbance of balance. We report 2 cases of post-stapedectomy reparative granuloma that developed during the tenure of senior surgeon (AM).