Repair of bony lateral skull base defects equal to or larger than 10 mm by extracorporeally sewed unit-sandwich graft.

OBJECTIVE: To see effectiveness of the senior author's repair technique for repair of large (equal to or larger than 10 mm) bony lateral skull base defects. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective. SETTINGS: Secondary/tertiary care center. METHODS: We performed retrospective review of 9 surgeries done in our institution between January 2010 and December 2013 for repair of large lateral bony skull base defects. We defined skull base defects extra-cranially and repaired them intra-cranially. We made an extracorporeal sandwich of autologous fascia-bone-fascia (fascia lata and nasal septal bone) and sewed it together to make it into a unit-sandwich graft. This extracorporeally sewed unit-sandwich graft was then inserted to close the large skull base defects either via (1) a cranial slit-window, or (2) the skull base defect itself. Since skull base is bony, bony repair is preferred. Bone plates that are easily available for skull base repair are calvarial and nasal septal bone. Occasionally, harvest of split calvarial bone carries risk of major complications. We preferred nasal septal bone. Harvesting of septal bone even in children using a posterior incision should not disturb the cartilage growth centers. RESULTS: All nine patients were operated by this technique. We had four patients with cerebrospinal fluid leak, and five patients with brain herniation. All these patients had complete reversal of herniation of cranial contents and cessation of cerebrospinal fluid leak. On imaging, in 6 cases the bone graft remained in original intended position after 12 months of surgery. The bone graft was not identifiable in 3 cases. CONCLUSION: The senior author's technique using autologous multi-layered graft is simple to master, repeatable and very effective.

Stapedotomy and its effect on hearing - our experience with 54 cases.

INTRODUCTION: This study reviews the cases of stapedotomy and evaluates its effectiveness at improving hearing loss in patients with otosclerosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective review of patients' records who had clinical and audiometric diagnosis of otosclerosis from January to December 2012. RESULTS: A total of 54 stapedotomy surgeries (52 unilateral and 1 bilateral surgeries) were received. Average post-operative ABG for 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 KHz showed that 61.1% had complete closure of ABG ( ABG < 10 dB) compared with 1.6% preoperatively and 85.2% had closure of ABG to within 20dB compared with 4.7% preoperatively (t - 13.89, p = 0.000). More than 94% had hearing improvement and 81.5% had ABG closure greater than 10 dB postoperatively (mean gain 23.38 ± 12.37, t = 13.89, p = 0.000). A total of 13% complications were recorded with TM perforation (5.6%) being the commonest complication. CONCLUSION: Stapedotomy is an effective surgical procedure for the treatment of otosclerosis which leads to improvement in patients' quality of life. A favorable hearing outcome can be obtained by the combination of experienced hands with minimal surgical trauma and appropriate surgical technique.

Tympanoplasty outcomes: a review of 789 cases.

INTRODUCTION: Tympanoplasty is indicated to restore hearing disability and prevent recurrent otorrhea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a retrospective review of patients who underwent tympanoplasty with or without mastoidectomy over a 1-year period. RESULTS: A total of 789 tympanoplasties were reviewed, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.1. In total, 91% and 9% of tympanoplasties were performed without and with mastoidectomy, respectively. Complete graft take was observed in 98.6% of cases. Approximately 25% of patients had an air-bone gap (ABG) gap ≤20dB pre-operatively, increasing to 75.6% post-operatively. ABG closure improved from 0.8% to 46.7%. Mean ABG improved from 26.30 ±8.1dB pre-operatively to 14 ± 10.41dB post- operatively (t=28.7, P<0.001). Generally, over 86% of patients had improvement in their hearing function post-operatively (mean= 12.5 ±9.5dB) (χ2= 104.2, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Tympanoplasty is an effective procedure that can lead to improvement in hearing function in patients and prevention of recurrent ear discharge. Optimal results can be achieved through use of the appropriate surgical technique.