Mieko Sone

Rate of recovery of taste function after preservation of chorda tympani nerve in middle ear surgery with special reference to type of disease.

To study the recovery of function of the chorda tympani nerve, we examined by electrogustometry 79 patients (83 ears) with both preoperative normal function of the nerve and operative preservation of the nerve, every 2 days during hospitalization and at 6 months after surgery. For symptoms such as tongue numbness and taste disturbance, patients with noninflammmatory (NI) diseases (13/20 or 65.0%) showed a significantly higher rate of symptoms than did patients with chronic otitis media (COM; 13/35 or 37.1%) at 2 weeks after surgery (p = .032). The patients with NI diseases (5/20 or 25.0%) tended to show a higher rate of symptoms than did the COM patients (2/35 or 5.7%) or cholesteatoma patients (2/28 or 7.1%) at 6 months after surgery. The rate of recovery of the EGM threshold to normal at 2 weeks after surgery was significantly lower in NI disease patients (6/20 or 30.0%) than in COM patients (23/ 35 or 62.9%) or cholesteatoma patients (19/28 or 67.9%; p = .015 and .008, respectively). Thus, the patients with NI diseases had postoperative symptoms and elevation of EGM threshold more frequently than did the patients with inflammatory diseases.

Long-term observation on hearing change in patients with chronic otitis media

OBJECTIVE Very few reports are available in the literature to clarify the natural long course of hearing change in an individual patient with chronic otitis media (COM). We reviewed hearing change in patients suffering from perforated COM without an operation. METHODS Eighty-seven ears of 70 patients had COM with tympanic perforation and were observed without an operation. The mean follow-up period was 10.7 years (5-22 years) and the mean age at the first examination was 51.3 years. To minimize the effect of aging, 23 patients with normal ear drums on the other side were further analyzed. RESULTS All 87 ears tended to show deterioration of hearing gradually under long observation. In 23 patients, hearing deterioration was 0.13 dB/year in the control side and 0.61 dB/year in the COM side (P < 0.02). Although elevation of bone conduction hearing level tended to be larger at high frequencies than at low and middle frequencies, there was no significant difference between COM and normal ears. CONCLUSIONS Air conduction hearing levels deteriorated with the passage of time and surgery is recommended at the early stage of COM to prevent progress of hearing loss.

Bilateral same day surgery for bilateral perforated chronic otitis media

OBJECTIVE Bilateral same day surgery has been performed rarely because of the risk of postoperative sensorineural hearing loss following conventional myringoplasty or tympanoplasty (CMT). Simple underlay myringoplasty (SUM) through the ear canal has been developed by Yuasa R, Saijo S, Tomioka Y, et al. Office closure of eardrum perforation with fibrin glue (in Japanese), Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg (Tokyo) 1989;61:1117-1122, which has little risk of sensorineural hearing loss. We tried bilateral same day surgery using this technique and evaluated its outcome. METHODS Of 86 cases with bilateral perforated chronic otitis media that we treated between 1995-1997, 25 cases underwent bilateral same day surgery. Bilateral SUMs was performed on seven patients, SUM and CMT on 16 patients, and bilateral CMTs on two patients. RESULTS Closure of perforation was successful in 18 patients (72%) on both sides and in seven patients (28%) on one side. Postoperative air-bone gap of less than 20 dB was achieved in 15 cases (60%) on both sides and in 23 cases (92%) on one side. CONCLUSION Bilateral same day surgery for bilateral perforated chronic otitis media is possible if the operative indications are considered.

Taste function in elderly patients with unilateral middle ear disease.

Objective It is generally said that taste function deteriorates naturally with age. Taste function after middle ear surgery in elderly patients has not been clarified. Material and Methods The taste function of the chorda tympani nerve on the normal and diseased sides was examined before and after middle ear surgery using electrogustometry in 79 patients aged>60 years, and the findings were compared with those in 228 young and middle-aged patients. Results The threshold of electrogustometry on the normal side increased significantly with increasing age (p<0.0001). The rate of thresholds that were off the scale was highest in the>70 years age group. The preoperative threshold on the diseased side increased significantly with increasing age in patients with chronic otitis media (p=0.0029) and cholesteatoma (p<0.0001). In patients with chronic otitis media, the postoperative threshold of the>60 years age group tended to be higher than that of the<60 years age group. Conclusions These findings suggest that the taste function of the chorda tympani nerve deteriorated on the diseased side as much as on the normal side in elderly patients. Therefore, in most cases, we do not have to pay as much attention to the chorda tymapani nerve when performing surgery in elderly patients compared to young and middle-aged patients.

Bilateral cholesteatoma and habitual sniffing

OBJECTIVE To examine the clinical findings of acquired bilateral cholesteatoma with special reference to incidence of habitual sniffing and sniff-related negative middle ear pressure. METHODS Eighty-eight fresh cases of unilateral cholesteatoma and 33 fresh cases of bilateral cholesteatoma, which were operated on at Department of Otolaryngology, Hyogo College of Medicine, were examined in this study. Responses to a detailed questionnaire were obtained from the patients concerning about the habit of habitual sniffing to relieve aural symptoms such as aural fullness, autophonia or hyperacusis. The same questionnaire was obtained from unilateral cholesteatoma patients to compare the incidence of habitual sniffing with that of patients with bilateral cholesteatoma. We measured the negative middle ear pressure at the time of sniffing by using TTAG (tubo-tympano aerodynamic graphy, Nagashima Co. Ltd, Tokyo). We also compared the positive percentage of the sniff test in bilateral cholesteatoma with in unilateral cholesteatoma and normal controls. Sniff test was performed in 30 patients with bilateral cholesteatoma, 20 patients with unilateral cholesteatoma and 20 normal controls. RESULTS In 33 patients with bilateral cholesteatoma (66 ears), 57 ears had the pars flaccida type (86.4%) and 9 ears had the pars tensa type (13.6%). Cholesteatoma of pars flaccida type were predominant in bilateral cholesteatoma. The rate of habitual sniffing of bilateral cholesteatoma (23/33, 69.7%) was significantly higher than that of unilateral cholesteatoma (21/88, 23.9%). The incidence of positive sniff test in bilateral cholesteatoma (19/30, 63.3%) was significantly higher than in unilateral one (6/20, 30%) and normal control (3/20, 15%). CONCLUSIONS Habitual sniffing was closely related to the pathogenesis of bilateral cholesteatoma, especially in cases with bilateral pars flaccida type.

Cholesteatoma otitis media with intact ossicular chain.

Thirty-one cases of cholesteatoma with intact ossicular chain were reviewed to examine the extension of cholesteatoma, operation procedures, pre- and postoperative hearing levels, and postoperative condition of the ear drum. They were operated on at Departments of Hyogo College of Medicine and Osaka University Medical School from 1989-1996, which were 20.4% of all of the primary cholesteatoma cases (n = 152). Twelve cases located at attic were operated by atticotomy or canal wall up and scutumplasty, 17 cases located at attic/antrum were operated by canal wall down and reconstruction, and two cases located around stapes were operated through the ear canal. Preoperative hearing level was mild (34.2 +/- 18.4 dB) and postoperative one was slightly improved (28.7 +/- 11.2 dB). In ossicular reconstruction, modified Wullstein type III method showed better hearing gain than Wullstein type I method. Postoperative attic retraction and/or pocket occurred in 15 cases (48.4%), but no recurrent cholesteatoma was found during the present follow-up period. These findings suggested that cholesteatoma with intact ossicular chain showed good postoperative hearing results, but postoperative retraction of the ear drum should be followed up for a long time.