Skin-graft repair of large perforation after fenestration.

Abstract

Introduction Methods of repair of tympanic-membrane perforations is an interesting and much discussed subject. Repair of such perforations occurring in fenestrated ears is of utmost importance, since a perforation may nullify the hearing improvement of an otherwise very satisfactory procedure. A case in which the hearing improvement obtained from a successful fenestration was destroyed two years later by an otitis media which produced a massive perforation, later repaired successfully by a full-thickness skin graft, is herewith reported. Report of Case A white woman, aged 45 years, was first seen in the office on Feb. 20, 1953, complaining of bilateral, progressive hearing loss of 17 to 18 years' duration. She had been socially inadequate, due to her deafness, for seven to eight years, and complained bitterly of head noises. Past history revealed that she had had occasional earaches during childhood, extending on into adulthood, but had not had an earache in