The results of surgical ablation of parathympanic spaces in the patients presenting with cholesteatoma

Abstract

On the one hand, open-type surgical modalities have the advantage of the low frequency of relapses; on the other hand, they lead to the undesirable changes in the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the ear that in the long run create serious problems for both the doctor and the patient. In contrast, the closed-type surgical interventions are associated with a more favourable hygienic status and functional outcome but create a high risk of development of recurrent and residual cholesteatomas. The disadvantages of both types of cholesteatoma surgery motivated the surgeons for the development of the 'hybrid' approaches combining the advantages of open and closed strategies. The obliteration of the paratympanic spaces is one of them. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the results of the surgical treatment of recurrent and residual cholesteatomas and to optimize the algorithm of the postoperative control with the use of MRI in the non-EPI DWI regime. The retrospective analysis of the available clinical materials covering the period from 2009 to 2014 included the results of the surgical treatment of the patients suffering from chronic otitis media and cholesteatoma with the use of the method for the obliteration of the paratympanic spaces. A total of 179 patients were operated using the obliteration technique. The patients were under observation for 34 months on the average. We used the otomicroscopy and MRI in the non-EPI DWI regime to examine the patients within 1, 2, and 3 years after surgery. The residual cholesteatoma was discovered in 15 (8.4%) patients out of the total 179 ones. The cases of recurrence of the cholesteatomas were not observed. The diagnostic effectiveness of MRI in the non-EPI DWI regime was estimated for the purpose of the postoperative control. Sensitivity of the method was 93.3%, specificity - 97.1%.