Management of iatrogenic tegmen plate defects: our clinical experience and surgical technique

Abstract

The objective of our study is to present our recommended approach for surgical management of iatrogenic tegmen plate defects. Patients diagnosed to have symptomatic iatrogenic tegmen plate defects were treated by one of the authors using a one-stage trans-mastoid standardized surgical procedure at Ain Shams University Hospitals. Patients' information records included history, complete examination, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the temporal bone, and the followup data after the procedure to assess the final outcome in each case. Twelve patients with symptomatic iatrogenic tegmen plate defects were included in our study. The tegment plate defect size in the 12 patients varied from 2.2 to 15 mm (mean 5.6 ± 1.3). Postoperative followup of the patients ranged from 6 months up to 2 years (mean 1.6 ± 0.8). One patient only developed wound infection and was treated with antibiotics and regular dressings, with no other immediate postoperative complications (intracranial hematoma or meningitis). In the entire patient group, no local recurrence of middle fossa encephalocele was recorded. Our surgical trans-mastoid approach using multilayered autologous grafts is successful in closing iatrogenic tegmen plate defects more than 2.2 mm and less than 15 mm.