Bone cement repair of malleus handle fractures: Intraoperative video and case report of two patients.

Isolated malleus fractures are a rare occurrence with few reported cases in the literature. Symptoms include sudden otalgia, hearing loss, tinnitus and aural fullness. Work-up and diagnosis are based on a combination of thorough anamnesis and careful otoscopic evaluation or high-resolution computer tomography. We present two cases of isolated malleus handle fractures who were diagnosed based on a combination of pneumatic otoscopy and tympanometry. Both fractures were surgically repaired using hydroxyapatite bone cement as showcased in the supplemental video material. Post-operative audiometry showed improvement in the pure-tone-average of both patients as well as normalisation of tympanometry. Isolated malleus fracture should be suspected in cases of sudden hearing loss and tinnitus following digital manipulation of the outer ear canal together with a conductive hearing loss with a mostly high-frequent air-bone-gap and hypercompliant tympanometry with hypermobility of the tympanic membrane on pneumatic insufflation. Surgical repair of the fracture using bone cement has good hearing outcomes and leads to improvement in auditory symptoms.

Impact of an Endolymphatic Sac Tumor on Subjective and Objective Audiovestibular Function.

OBJECTIVE: This study reports subjective and objective audiovestibular function in patients diagnosed with an endolymphatic sac tumor (ELST), to evaluate the clinical implication of vestibular testing in ELST patients. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Tertiary referral center/university hospital. PATIENTS: Five patients diagnosed with unilateral ELST. INTERVENTION: Subjective and objective audiovestibular tests; pure-tone average; speech discrimination score; the Video Head Impulse Test; the cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential test; the caloric irrigation test; the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale; the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory; and the Dizziness Handicap Inventory. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Findings and characteristics of both subjective and objective audiovestibular functions. RESULTS: The mean pure-tone average and the mean speech discrimination score were 49 dB HL and 68% on the tumor ear and 13 dB HL and 99% contralaterally. The mean Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale score was 84, and the mean Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score was 64. Caloric testing showed a mean unilateral weakness of 80%. The Video Head Impulse Test of the lateral semicircular canal revealed refixation saccades on all tumor ears and an average gain value of 0.75 on the tumor ear versus 0.94 contralaterally. No cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials were elicited on the tumor side, whereas all but one was elicited contralaterally. The average Dizziness Handicap Inventory score was 47. CONCLUSION: A characteristic pattern of abnormal caloric findings, refixation saccades, and normal vestibulo-ocular reflex gain alongside sensorineural hearing loss on the tumor ear was identified. Asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss in any patient should lead to objective vestibular evaluation to strengthen not only a targeted tumor surveillance strategy and the indication for imaging, but also the design of vestibular rehabilitation. In addition, vestibular findings may guide the choice of surgical approach.

[Auditory brainstem implantation].

In this review, we discuss the auditory brainstem implant (ABI), which is a neuroprosthetic device being an advanced hearing aid in cases of bilateral, profound or complete hearing impairment due to a non-functional or absent cochlear nerve, or an inner ear malformation precluding cochlear implantation. Originally indicated in patients with bilateral vestibular schwannomas caused by neurofibromatosis type 2, the ABI has in recent years seen an increase in the aural rehabilitation of congenitally deaf children. Outcomes for patients are mixed, but generally the device leads to a reasonable improvement in speech perception.