A STUDY ON ROLE OF CORTICAL MASTOIDECTOMY IN CASES OF TYPE 1 TYMPANOPLASTY

Abstract

Chronic otitis media (COM) is an inammatory process in the middle-ear space that results in long term, or permanent changes in the tympanic membrane including atelectasis, perforation, tympanosclerosis, retraction pocket development, or cholesteatoma [1]. COM is a major cause of acquired hearing impairment especially in developing countries.1 According to WHO, prevalence rate of COM in India accounts for 7.8% which is high.2 Perforation in tympanic membrane leads to hearing loss and recurrent ear infections. Persistent perforations occur either due to improper treatment of recurrent otitis media or infected traumatic perforation. Primary goal of treatment for COM (mucosal) is elimination of the chronic inammatory process. The secondary goal is reconstruction of sound conducting mechanism [10]. Tympanoplasty is a procedure to eradicate disease in the middle ear to reconstruct hearing mechanism with or without tympanic membrane grafting [2]. Various types of graft materials including temporalis fascia, cartilage, perichondrium, periosteum, vein, fat or skin have been used in the reconstruction of tympanic membrane (TM) perforation. Although temporalis fascia ensures good hearing is restored, there are signicant concerns that its dimensional stability characteristics may lead to residual perforation, especially where large TM perforations are involved. The “palisade cartilage” and “cartilage island” techniques have been stated to increase the strength and stability of a tympanic graft, but they may result in a less functional outcome in terms of restoring hearing[3]. Smoking habits, the size and site of a perforation, the expertise level of the operating surgeon, age, gender, the status of the middle ear mucosa and the presence of myringosclerosis or tympanosclerosis are all important in determining how successful a graft is[4].