EFFICACY OF PERMEATAL ENDOSCOPIC MYRINGOPLASTY IN INACTIVE (MUCOSAL) CHRONIC OTITIS MEDIA

Objective: To determine the efficacy of permeatal ednoscopic myringoplasty, in inactive (mucosal) COM regarding, graft take and hearing improvement. Study Design: Quasi-experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: ENT Department, Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, from Aug 2019 to Feb 2020. Methodology: This was conducted on a sample size of n=100. Patients having inactive (mucosal) COM with dry central small, medium and large perforations were included. Patients were divided in to three groups on the basis of age, group A 15-30 years, group B 31-45 years and group C 46-60 years. All the patients underwent per-meatal endoscopic myringoplasty, without raising the tympano-meatal flap, under general anesthesia. Patients were followed up over a period of six months. Graft take was assessed by microscopy. Hearing was assessed by Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA) with improvement in air bone gap to 15db as primary end point. Data was collected on structured performa. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17. Results: In this study, 33 (33%) were males and 67 (67%) were females. Age ranged 15-60 years. Out of 5 patients lost to follow up. A total of 95 completed their follow up. Based on age of the patients, in group A, successful graft take was 100%. In group B, it was 91% & in group C it dropped to 46%. On the basis of tympanic membrane perforation size, the graft success rate in small perforations was 94.8%; in medium sized perforations it was 86.8% and in large sized perforations of tympanic membrane it was........

An increase in cases of complicated chronic otitis media: an indirect impact of COVID pandemic

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Chronic otitis media is the most common disease dealt by an otologist, the cases of complication of which are remarkably low. The use of antibiotics and mastoidectomies have resulted in the fall of the fatal complications. COVID-19 pandemic called for restrictions which lead to medical care delay.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> This study was conducted in the department of otolaryngology of GMC and associated hospitals, Jammu from June 2020 and May 2021. The data was retrospectively collected the data from March 2018 to June 2020. The study group included the patients diagnosed with Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) on otoscopy and the patients with complications of CSOM were evaluated for the symptoms of complication, type of complication, bacteriology, treatment and hospital stay.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> The 38 (7.5%) patients among these were diagnosed with one or other complication, out of which 29 (76.3%) cases occurred during the COVID pandemic. The extra-cranial complications were more common and young to middle age group was more commonly involved.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> COM is a common otological disease, the occurrence of which should not be taken lightly. Without timely and accurate treatment, the complications ensue which are difficult to treat and require expertise.</p>

A study to evaluate bone and cartilage ossiculoplasty in patients of ossicular disruption due to chronic suppurative otitis media

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Ossiculoplasty for ossicualar disruption in patients of chronic otitis media (COM) can be done by using either bone or cartilage. The present study was planned to compare bone and cartilage ossiculoplasty in patients of ossicular disruption due to COM.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> The prospective observational study was carried out in patients, who were admitted in the department of otorhinolaryngology of a tertiary care teaching hospital of Rajasthan during two years from November 2017 to November 2019. All patients with ossicular disruption due to COM and conductive hearing loss more than 40db were included in the study. Patients with sensorineural hearing loss were excluded from the study. Pure tone audiometry (PTA) was done before surgery. Hearing improvement was assessed 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> In the present study 20 patients underwent bone ossiculoplasty using autologous incus and autologous cartilage was used in 80 patients for ossiculoplasty. Post-operative hearing gain was significantly more in autologous incus patients (22.7±4.2 db) compared to autologous cartilage (19.5±3.4 db) (p=0.002).</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> The present study concluded that post-operative hearing gain was significantly better with autologous incus compared to autologous cartilage although both showed good results in terms of hearing gain. </p>

Primary middle ear inverted papilloma – a case report

Inverted papilloma is a very rare finding in the middle ear. It is a benign, though locally aggressive tumour with a tendency towards malignant transformation. The dia­gnosis is usually established postoperatively, based on the histological examination, because the local finding is not specific and resembles chronically inflamed tissue in chronic otitis media. Surgery is the treatment of choice. Radiotherapy is reserved for inoperable tumours or a recurrent disease. In this case report, we present a case of a 62-year-old man, who underwent canal wall down tympanoplasty for chronic otitis media in a district hospital many years ago. A few years ago he was examined for pulsatile tinnitus and hearing impairment at our clinic. A combined-approach tympanoplasty did not reveal the expected tumour (only stiff scars) and a clearance of the middle ear cavity was performed. Histological examination revealed an inverted papilloma. A CT scan performed postoperatively proved a tumour persistence. Therefore, a radical mastoidectomy was indicated. The patient is disease-free with no signs of recurrence during 32-month follow-up. Keywords: inverted papilloma – Middle ear – radical mastoidectomy

Development and Validation of a Prognostic Model to Predict Hearing Recovery for Patients With Chronic Otitis Media

Objective To explore the factors affecting postoperative hearing recovery in chronic otitis media (COM) patients, establish a clinical prediction model for hearing recovery, and verify the accuracy of the model. Methods Data of patients with COM who were admitted to our hospital between January 1, 2012 and September 30, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. We collected data on relevant clinicopathological characteristics of patients. The patients were randomly divided into the development cohort and validation cohorts. A postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) ≤20 dB was defined as successful hearing recovery. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the association of several prognostic factors with hearing recovery. These factors were then used to establish a nomogram. The model was subjected to bootstrap internal validation and performance evaluation in terms of discrimination, calibration, and clinical validity. Results This study included 2146 patients with COM: the development cohort comprised 1610 patients (mean [standard deviation; SD] age, 44.1 [14.7] years; 733 men [45.5%]) and the validation cohort included 536 patients (mean [SD] age, 42.9 [14.4] years; 234 men [43.7%]). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that age, duration of onset, styles of surgery (tympanoplasty, canal wall up-CWU, or canal wall down-CWD), ossicular prosthesis, granulation or calcified blocks around the ossicular chain, ossicular chain integrity, duration of drilling, eustachian tube dysfunction, mixed hearing loss, semicircular canal fistula, and second surgery were associated with hearing recovery. A nomogram based on these variables was constructed. The area under the curve was 0.797 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.778–0.812) in the development cohort and 0.798 (95% CI, 0.7605–0.8355) in the validation cohort. Conclusions This study demonstrated the various clinical factors correlated with hearing recovery in patients with COM. The nomogram developed with these data could provide personalized risk estimates of hearing recovery to enhance preoperative counseling and help to set realistic expectations in patients.