title: Tragal cartilage shield tympanoplasty: our technique and results in 612 cases.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  This study reveals that tragal cartilage tympanoplasty is a reliable technique, it has a high degree of graft take, and the tympanic re-aeration and hearing results are satisfactory.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Cartilage is the grafting material of choice in advanced pathologies of the middle ear while the indications for its routine use remain controversial. The purpose of this study was to report our long-term experience with the 'tragal cartilage shield' tympanoplasty.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective case series. The study was conducted on 612 adult patients from January 2003 until January 2012. We evaluated graft take, pure-tone average air-bone gap (PTA-ABG), postoperative aeration, and complications. The mean postoperative follow-up was 68 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sex, age, and tobacco smoke did not have any impact on postoperative results. Graft take was achieved in 99.35% of patients; there were no immediate postoperative complications. The overall average preoperative PTA-ABG was 44.95 ± 7.77 dB, whereas 1 year after surgery it was 10.66 ± 5.41 dB (p < 0.0001). Statistically significant improvement was observed up to 10 years after surgery. Moreover, we obtained a good tympanic ventilation (1 year after surgery, the average aeration score was 9.09 ± 1.93), which was stable up to 10 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi d'Aragona" , Salerno.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cavaliere
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Panetti
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iemma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D002356:Cartilage / Q000637:transplantation*; D018424:Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010035:Otitis Media, Suppurative / Q000601:surgery*; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014433:Tympanoplasty / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cartilage tympanoplasty; aeration; graft take; titanium prosthesis; tympanic ventilation