title: Quality of life after cholesteatoma surgery: intact-canal wall tympanoplasty versus canal wall-down tympanoplasty with mastoid obliteration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate, by means of the Chronic Ear Survey (CES), the quality of life of patients who had undergone either intact-canal wall tympanoplasty (ICWT) or canal wall-down tympanoplasty (CWDT) with mastoid obliteration.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective case review study performed at a tertiary referral center. Among 379 patients affected by middle ear and mastoid cholesteatoma operated on between November 2000 and December 2009, 50 patients who underwent ICWT and 50 who underwent CWDT with mastoid obliteration were randomly selected. The CES scores were analyzed for both groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean scores on the CES were 6.5 ± 2.1 in patients who underwent CWDT and 6.9 ± 2.2 in patients treated with ICWT (t = -0.93; p > 0.05). No significant differences between the two groups were found on the activity restriction, symptom, or medical resource subscales (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study demonstrate that CWDT with mastoid obliteration resulted in a quality of life comparable with that after ICWT. Postoperative hearing loss is the most frequently reported problem for both techniques.
authors.affiliation: Otolaryngology Section, Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sensory Organs, University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Quaranta
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Iannuzzi
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Petrone
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Elia
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quaranta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018424:Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008416:Mastoid / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014433:Tympanoplasty / Q000379:methods*
keywords: cholesteatoma surgery; mastoid obliteration; quality of life; tympanoplasty