Does myringosclerosis affect the success of butterfly myringoplasty?

OBJECTIVES

Butterfly inlay myringoplasty is a simple and practical surgical technique used in the repair of tympanic membrane perforation offering good outcomes in terms of hearing. The present study evaluates the effects of myringosclerosis on the success of surgery by reviewing demographic data, perforation size and hearing outcomes of patients undergoing endoscopic inlay butterfly myringoplasty due to chronic otitis media.

METHODS

The study included 75 patients who underwent endoscopic inlay butterfly myringoplasty with the diagnosis of chronic suppurative otitis media in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Fırat University Faculty of Medicine between March 2018 and July 2021. The patients were divided into three groups as the following. Group I: Patients without a myringosclerotic focus in the neighborhood of tympanic membrane perforation, Group II: Patients with a less than 50% myringosclerotic focus in the neighborhood of tympanic membrane, and Group III: Patients with a more than 50% myringosclerotic focus in the neighborhood of tympanic membrane.

RESULTS

The comparison of all preoperative and postoperative parameters and the reduction in air-bone gap between the groups did not show statistically significant difference (p>0.05). The comparison of air-bone gaps between preoperative and postoperative measurements showed a statistically significant difference in all groups (p<0.05). The grafting success rate was 100% in Group I, 96.4% in Group II, and 95.6% in Group III. The mean operation time was 28.57±2.54 min in Group I, 32.14±2.44 min in Group II, and 30.69±3.43 in Group III; there was a statistically significant difference only between Group I and Group II (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The graft success rate and hearing gain in patients with myringosclerosis were similar to those in patients without myringosclerosis. Therefore, butterfly inlay myringoplasty is applicable to patients with chronic otitis media regardless of the presence or absence of myringosclerosis.

[Short-term effect of endoscopic one-stage tympanoplasty on tympanosclerosis]

Objective:To explore the feasibility of transcanal endoscopic ear surgery for tympanosclerosis as well as the surgical method and short-term effect. Method:Forty-one patients with type Ⅱ-Ⅳ tympanosclerosis who underwent transcanal endoscopic ear surgery were retrospectively analysed. All the tympanosclerotic lesions were removed with endoscope, then tympanoplasty was performed according to the ossicular involvement. Postoperative examination and audiometry were performed at 1, 3 and 6 months after the operation. Pre-and post-operative（6 months as the final result） pure tone air-bone gap were compared between different types of tympanosclerosis to evaluate the short-term effect, the difference of hearing improvement between different type of tympanoplasties was also compared. SPSS 22.0 was used for statistical analysis. Result:Forty-three ears recovered without complications, except one with marginal performation, the graft take rate was 97.7%. The preoperative and 6 months postoperative air-bone gap was （36.73±11.68） dB and （20.55±10.27） dB respectively, with significant difference（t=20.476, P<0.05）. There were no significant differences in hearing improvement among the three types, though the hearing improvement of Type Ⅲ typanosclerosis was worse than that of type Ⅱ and Ⅳ. There was no significant difference in the hearing improvement between type Ⅱ and Ⅲ tympanoplasty（P>0.05）. Conclusion:Transcanal endoscopic surgery is safe and effective for tympanosclerosis with satisfying short-term effect, though long-term result still needs further investigation.

Use of Mesna in the treatment of ossicular chain fixation related to tympanosclerosis; prospective, clinical study

OBJECTIVE

Mesna is a thiol compound effective in the connective tissue, which is used for its chemical dissector, mucolytic, mucosal damage preventive and antioxidant effects. The aim of this study was to investigate Mesna's effects in easy dissection in type 4 tympanosclerosis cases and in the prevention of formation of new sclerotic plaques.

METHODS

11 patients were included in the study. All patients were in the Wielinga Kerr type 4 class of tympanosclerosis. All patients were administered a 100% concentration of Mesna in the middle ear during tympanosclerosis surgery. All patients underwent audiological evaluation before and 20 months after the operation. Air-conduction thresholds, bone-conduction thresholds and air-bone difference were statistically compared.

RESULTS

The patients were followed-up for a mean 20.48 ± 2.37 months. The mean preoperative air-conduction threshold of the patients was 58.09 ± 9.73 dB and the mean postoperative air-conduction threshold was 34.63 ± 15.46 dB and there was a significant difference. The mean preoperative bone-conduction threshold of the patients was 16.27 ± 5.47 dB and the mean postoperative bone-conduction threshold was 14.72 ± 6.11 dB and there was a significant difference. The mean preoperative air-bone gap of the patients was 41.81 ± 10.51, and the mean postoperative air-bone gap was 19.90 ± 12.48, and the difference was statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Mesna prevented hearing loss related to type 4 tympanosclerosis and prevented the formation of new sclerotic structures in our follow-up period. We believe that this effect is due to the chemical dissector and antioxidant effects of Mesna.

[The prevalence of tympanosclerosis and the effectiveness of its surgical treatment]

The objective of the present study was to characterize the epidemiological variants of tympanosclerosis and the effectiveness of the surgical treatment of the patients presenting with this condition. We have undertaken the analysis of the results of 1965 surgical interventions on the patients suffering from different forms of chronic otitis media (COM) performed during the period from 2009 till 2014 with a view to determining the frequency of tympanosclerosis (TSC). In 542 cases, it proved possible to evaluate the intraoperative findings, stages and methods of reconstructive surgery, the anatomical and functional outcomes and effectiveness of the intervention. At present, the signs of tympanosclerosis are identified in 27.6% of the patients presenting with chronic otitis media including 88.7% and 11.3% suffering from the perforating and non-perforating forms of this pathology, respectively. In 74% of the cases its manifestations are diagnosed in the patients having the tubotympanic form of COM. In 53.3% of the patients TSC foci are responsible for the fixation of the ossicular chain whereas in 46.7% of the cases the auditory ossicles retain mobility. As many as 88.6% of the patients underwent the one-step surgical intervention, 10.7% were managed using two-step surgery, and 0.7% of the patients were given the three-stage treatment. Type I tympanoplasty was performed in 62% of the patients, type III tympanoplasty in 30.4%, and various types of stapedoplasty in 4.6% of the cases. The favourable anatomical and functional outcomes at the first stage of the surgical intervention with the use of the autogenous tissues for tympano- and ossiculoplastic surgery were achieved in 87.9% of the patients on the average (by means of the closure of the tympanic defect in 92.2% and by re-fixation of the selected elements of the ossicular chain in 17.3%of the cases). The anatomical and functional effectiveness of the second-stage surgical intervention was estimated at 93.1%.

[Clinical analysis of tympanosclerosis: characteristics and treatment]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and surgical management of tympanosclerosis.

METHOD

The data of 73 patients who underwent surgery for tympanosclerosis were retrospectively analyzed with respects to the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and management.

RESULT

Seventy-three patients with tympanosclerosis (involving 73 ears) , including 17 patients with sclerosis of tympanic membrane (type I), 23 patients with fixed Malleus-incus complex (type II), 8 (type III) with fixed stapes, and 25 (type IV) with extensive typannosclerosis. Sclerosis was seen most frequently in the malleus, incus and attic, followed by the tympanic membrane, incudomalleolar joint and other regions. Audiometry was performed for all the patients 1 weeks before and 1 year( the least) after operation, which were (51.70 ± 14.93)dB HL and (36.24 ± 11.58) dB HL respectively, with success rate 83% (61/73).

CONCLUSION

Most of the patients suffer from conductive hearing loss. Teatment of the sclerosis around stapes is a key point. Acording to the sites of lesion and hearing level, hearing structures should be reconstructed by the rules of tympanoplasty and stapes surgery.

Surgery of isolated malleus fixation due to tympanosclerosis

The aim of the present study was to describe our surgical approach for isolated malleus fixation in patients with tympanosclerosis and to analyze the postoperative results. A total of 30 patients presented with isolated malleus fixation were operated. The fixation was reached via canalplasty. Fixated areas were cleaned without damaging the ossicle. Pre- and postoperative audiometric results were evaluated for each patient. Improvement of the pure-tone average (PTA) by at least 10 dB and an air-bone gap (ABG) of less than 20 dB after 12 months of follow-up was accepted to indicate success. The recovery of the postoperative PTA and ABG measurements was significant. Pre- and postoperative PTA was 48.00 ± 11.86 and 24.90 ± 12.45 dB, respectively (p < 0.001). According to PTA measurements, 40-50 dB recovery was achieved in four (13.3 %) patients, 31-40 dB in six (20 %) patients, 21-30 dB in ten (33.3 %) patients, and 11-20 dB in five (16.6 %) patients, with a total success rate of 25/30 (83.2 %). Pre- and postoperative ABG levels were 38.95 ± 9.92 and 16.10 ± 7.79 dB (p < 0.001), respectively. The ABG level was between 0 and 10 dB for 8 (26.6 %) patients, and 11-20 dB for 16 (53.3 %), with a total success rate of 24/30 (80 %). In cases of isolated malleus fixation with tympanosclerosis, performing a canalplasty to clean the sclerotic plaques without damaging the normal anatomy of the ossicle system using a diamond burr is a safe surgical option that provides significant recovery in hearing levels.

[The impact of malleus processing in ossicular chain reconstruction on the therapeutic effect in patients with tympanosclerosis]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of different malleus treatments on the postoperative efficacy in the tympanosclerosis patients receiving ossicular chain reconstruction.

METHOD

Fifty-nine patients (62 ears) with tympanosclerosis were treated by ossicular chain reconstruction. All the patients were divided into three groups, including malleus removal group (A, 24 ears), retaining only the malleus handle group (B, 18 ears) and the intact malleus group (C, 20 ears). All the patients were followed up 3 months pre-operation, 3 months and 1 year post-operation by audiometric measurement (the average hearing threshold at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 kHz HI). Tympanic membrane was examined by ear endoscope.

RESULT

The pre-operation mean air bone gap (ABG) in these groups were 40.07 +/- 77.56 dB, 37.31 +/- 76.45 dB, and 36.75 +/- 76.72 dB, among which the difference had no statistical significance (P > 0.05). At 3 months after operation, the ABG in all cases was improved at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz. The difference of ABG improvement among these three groups had no statistical significance (P > 0.05). One year after surgery, the ABG of the three groups were decreased by 17.92 +/- 9.28 dB, 16.76 +/- 5.19 dB and 10.58 +/- 7.38 dB respectively. The hearing improvement in group C is less than the other two groups (P = 0.03, P = 0.016). The difference of hearing improvement between group A and group B had no statistical significance(P > 0.05). Group A and group B each have one case of tympanic membrane perforation and artificial ossicle falling off.

CONCLUSION

The operating processes of malleus in ossicular chain reconstruction of patients with tympanosclerosis were introduced. In terms of short-term efficacy, the three groups showed no significant difference. However, the long-term efficacy of the patients in the group A and group B were better compared with the group C.