A New Role of Staged Tympanoplasty for Cholesteatoma

Abstract

Objective 1) Investigate a correlation between pathological findings at the 2nd stage operation and long-term outcomes in a staged canal wall-up tympanoplasty (SCUT) for middle ear cholesteatoma. 2) Advocate a new role of the staged manner based on the study. Methods SCUT was performed on 90 ears with cholesteatoma involving both the ossicles and the mastoid cavity. The 1st stage operation included scutum plasty and mastoid cortex plasty with bone pate following removal of cholesteatoma and ossicles involved. The 2nd stage operation records were reviewed regarding the pathological findings associated with retraction pocket (RP) and residual cholesteatoma (RC) formation. The scutum defect was revised with auricular cartilage, and the mastoid cortex plasty was again performed after removal of RC. Postoperative follow-up with endoscopic observation and CT was performed for all patients. Results At the 2nd stage, RP was seen in 15 ears (16.7%) which all showed partial or total absorption of the scutum reconstructed. Aeration grade of the mastoid cavity reconstructed did not correlate with RP or RC formation. RC was found in 28 ears (31.1%) regardless of RP formation. The long-term follow up study revealed that the statistically higher incidence of RP re-formation (26.7%) and RC (3.2%) was seen in ears which had been identified at the 2nd stage, respectively. Conclusions The present study showed that the long-term outcomes after SCUT were correlated with RP and RC formation at the 2nd stage. This indicates the 2nd stage operation has a role of the long-term prognosis in addition to exploration of RC.