title: Congenital atresia of the external auditory canal.
abstract: Children with congenital atresia of the external auditory canal require an early assessment of hearing and a determination of the degree of atresia and associated pathology by polytomography and/or high-resolution CT scanning. We analyzed the otologic findings in 302 ears (239 patients) with severe atresia of the external auditory canal. Eighty-seven primary or revision surgeries were performed. Fifty-three percent obtained a residual conductive deficit of 20 dB or less. Lateralization of the tympanic membrane graft was the primary cause of failure in obtaining good hearing results. The use of split-thickness skin graft instead of a full-thickness skin graft to cover the reconstructed external canal has decreased the incidence of restenosis and revision surgery.
mesh_terms: D000015:Abnormalities, Multiple / Q000145:classification; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003051:Cochlea / Q000002:abnormalities; D004424:Ear Canal / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000196:embryology / Q000601:surgery; D007758:Ear, Inner / Q000002:abnormalities; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000002:abnormalities; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000151:congenital / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011182:Postoperative Care; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000002:abnormalities; D014433:Tympanoplasty / Q000379:methods