title: Surgical intervention in middle-ear cholesterol granuloma.
abstract: Eleven patients who had been surgically treated from 1988 to 1999 were retrospectively reviewed in order to evaluate the efficacy of ventilation tube insertion and mastoidectomy with, or without, mastoid obliteration for intractable middle-ear cholesterol granuloma. The mean age registered was 17.2 years at the time of surgical treatment. All cases were unilaterally affected. Five ears were treated with simple mastoidectomy coupled with the insertion of a ventilation tube, while six others had additional mastoid obliteration. The hearing prognosis was excellent with an improved post-operative hearing level of 16.5 dB (cf. pre-operative 37.7 dB). However, morphological prognosis revealed two ears had a residual perforated tympanic membrane without otorrhoea after displacement of the ventilation tube. Of the remaining nine ears with intact placement of the ventilation tube, five had dry ears while four had occasional otorrhoea. Although the morphological prognosis was incomplete, treatments involving at least an insertion of a ventilation tube with thorough mastoidectomy were thought to be necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama Saiseikai General Hospital, Okayama, Japan. m-meata@cc.okayama-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maeta
authors.forename: Ryusuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Takakazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyahara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002784:Cholesterol; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D015745:Granuloma, Foreign-Body / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008416:Mastoid / Q000601:surgery; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation; D013506:Otologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014432:Tympanic Membrane
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol