title: Cartilage "shield" tympanoplasty: an effective and practical technique.
abstract: The aim of the present study is to report our results with cartilage "shield" tympanoplasty (CST) for total tympanic membrane perforations. A retrospective chart review of patients undergoing CST was performed in tertiary referral centers. One hundred and seventy-seven patients who had undergone CST were identified. Patients' age ranged from 7 to 74 (mean 35) years. The mean postoperative follow-up was 23 (range 6-73) months. The main outcome measures were Graft take, pre and postsurgery audiologic evaluation. Graft take was 97.2%. Three patients developed recurrent cholesteatomas, one an anterior pinhole perforation, and one a minimal graft anterior lateralization. The average pre and postoperative pure-tone air-bone gaps (PTA-ABG) were 32.06 ± 11.21 and 18.69 ± 10.53 dB, respectively. The overall average ABG improvement was 13.37 ± 9.34 dB. An overall postoperative ABG of 25 dB or less was achieved in 140 of the 177 patients (79.1%). Hearing improvement was statistically significant in all cases (p < 0.0001). Cartilage shield tympanoplasty is a very reliable procedure. Graft take is excellent and hearing improvement is significant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Hippokrateion Hospital, University of Athens, Athens, Greece, iacovouemilia@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Emilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Iacovou
authors.forename: Efthymios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kyrodimos
authors.forename: Aristides
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sismanis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001299:Audiometry; D002648:Child; D004425:Ear Cartilage / Q000637:transplantation*; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009225:Myringoplasty / Q000379:methods*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018058:Tympanic Membrane Perforation / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult