title: Comparison of temporal muscle fascia and cartilage grafts in pediatric tympanoplasties.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare anatomic and functional outcomes of the different graft materials used in pediatric tympanoplasty.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients younger than 18 years of age and who had tympanoplasty between 2010 and 2012 were included in the study. Temporal muscle fascia or cartilage was used as the graft material. The age, gender, the side of the operated ear, the operation technique, pre- and postoperative audiological results, and the status of the graft were noted. An intact graft and an air-bone gap (ABG) ≤ 20 were regarded as surgical success in the postoperative period. Audiograms obtained before surgery and 1 year after surgery were used for the comparison.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty pediatric cases were included in the study. Fascia graft was used as the graft material in 35 of them, and cartilage was used in 25 patients. The graft success rate was 82.9% in the fascia group while it was 92% in the cartilage group. In the fascia group preoperative ABG was 28.2 ± 10.1 dB, postoperative ABG was 15.1 ± 10.2dB, and postoperative gain was 13.1 ± 9.6 dB. In the cartilage group, preoperative ABG was 28.9 ± 10.2dB, and postoperative ABG was 16.8 ± 10.3 dB with a postoperative gain of 12.1 ± 6.8 dB. The differences between the fascia and the cartilage groups were not statistically significant either for hearing gain or graft success rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cartilage and fascia grafts yield similar results for hearing gain and graft success rate in pediatric tympanoplasty.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ministry of Health, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: suledemirci1@yahoo.com.tr.
authors.forename: Sule
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Demirci
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ministry of Health, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Arzu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tuzuner
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ministry of Health, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hatice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karadas
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ministry of Health, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cemile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Acıkgoz
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery, Konya Medicana Hospital, Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Refik
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caylan
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Ministry of Health, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ethem Erdal
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Samim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002356:Cartilage / Q000637:transplantation*; D002648:Child; D005205:Fascia / Q000637:transplantation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013703:Temporal Muscle; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014433:Tympanoplasty / Q000379:methods*