BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to analyze the causes of recurrent conductive hearing loss following stapedotomy, and then the final hearing results. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: This study was a retrospective chart review of 6 patients who underwent revision stapedotomy for recurrent or persistent conductive hearing loss after primary stapedotomy. The intraoperative findings, surgical outcome including audiologic data and complications were noted. RESULTS: Obstruction of oval window fenestration was demonstrated in 5 patients (83.3%), short prosthesis in 4 patients (66.7%), incus erosion in two patients (33.3%) and granulation around prosthesis and stapes in one patient. Successful hearing improvements, air-bone gap (ABG) reduced to 20 dB or less, were achieved in 5 ears (83.3%). There were no patients who noted sensorineural hearing loss and other significant complications after surgery. CONCLUSION: More than 83% of revision stapedotomy cases have had successful closure of their ABG. The most common problem was obstruction of oval window fenestration (83.3%).
Ear ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Humans ; Incus ; Prostheses and Implants ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies ; Stapes ; Stapes Surgery

Congenital anomaly of the oval window with an abnormal facial nerve course is an uncommon embryological defect, which is related to the underdevelopment of second branchial arch derivatives. Some treatments for improving hearing levels are available; these include hearing aids, vestibulotomy, neo-oval window formation, and stapes surgeries, including incudostapedotomy and malleostapedotomy. However, surgery for congenital anomalies of the oval window has rarely been described, usually in very small series of patients. We describe two cases of congenital anomalies of the oval window with aberrant facial nerve courses. One was a 40-year-old male diagnosed with unilateral congenital oval window atresia; the other was a 10-year-old male diagnosed with bilateral congenital oval window atresia. We also describe the clinical manifestations and treatment outcomes of malleostapedotomy for congenital anomalies of the oval window with aberrant facial nerve courses.
Adult ; Branchial Region ; Child ; Facial Nerve ; Hearing ; Hearing Aids ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; Humans ; Male ; Stapes Surgery

Objective: To explore the clinical characteristics, intervention and treatment of tympanic osteoma at different locations. Methods: The medical history, audiological and imaging examination, operation and follow-up results of two patients with tympanic osteoma at different sites were reviewed and summarized. Furthermore, the clinical characteristics and interventions of 36 patients reported in literatures with tympanic osteomas were also summarized and analyzed. Results: Osteoma of the two patients collected in this study located at promontory and incus respectively;both of them presented with intact tympanum and conductive deafness, without obvious etiology or predisposing factor. Both of them underwent surgeries and the hearing improved significantly. For patient one, the ossicular chain was intact and restored to activity after removed the osteoma. For patient two, an artificial ossicle was implanted after removed the osteoma and incus. In the 36 patients reported in literatures, the average age was 26.5 years, and 39.47% of them located at promontory; in addition, the main symptoms of them were progressive hearing loss, tinnitus and ear stuffy. Conclusions: Patients with tympanic osteoma are characterized by conduction deafness with intact tympanic membrane, and the most common lesion is promontory. Hearing can be restored by excision of the osteoma and maintenance or reconstruction of the ossicle chain.
Adult ; Ear Ossicles/surgery* ; Ear, Middle/surgery* ; Hearing Loss, Conductive/surgery* ; Humans ; Osteoma/surgery* ; Tympanic Membrane

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the results of malleostapedotomy as primary surgical procedure in stapes fixation. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: This study was a retrospective chart review of 12 patients who underwent primary malleostapedotomy for conductive hearing loss. The intraoperative findings, surgical outcomes including audiologic data and complications were analyzed. RESULTS: Nine patients had ossicular fixation with ossicular anomalies and 3 patients had ossicular fixation alone. The median length of piston wire was 5.5 mm in total length. The preoperative mean bone and air-conduction thresholds were 57.5+/-8.8 (mean+/-SD) dB, 19.7+/-10.3 dB, respectively, and the mean air-bone gap (ABG) was 44.6+/-13.2 dB. After malleostapedotomy, hearings were improved and mean postoperative ABG was 11.1+/-11.3 dB. In eight patients (66.7%), ABG was reduced to 20 dB or less. There was no intraoperative or postoperative complication except for mild postoperative vertigo for 1 or 2 days. CONCLUSION: Malleostapedotomy can be a safe and effective surgical procedure as an alternative of incus stapedotomy in certain cases of absence or anomalous incus long process, and/or immobile incus in patients with stapes fixation.
Hearing Loss, Conductive ; Humans ; Incus ; Postoperative Complications ; Retrospective Studies ; Stapes ; Stapes Surgery ; Vertigo

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the diagnosis and treatment of the simple congenital malformation of ossicular chain. METHOD: Curative effect analysis for 4 cases of treatment of simple congenital malformation of ossicular chain were performed in our department from June 2005 to August 2009, retrospectively. 4 patients underwent middle ear exploration and ossicular chain reconstruction were followed up for 1-4 years, and air conduction threshold of speech frequency(0.5, 1.0, 2.0 kHz) were detected, 15 dB increase of which were as the standard of successful operation. RESULT: Three cases was abnormal incus, 2 cases were absence of instruction on the stapes footplates, and stapes footplates fixed, one case was absence of the incus. Hearing level had significantly improve after hearing reconstruction in 3 patients. The averaged postoperative air conduction threshold of speech frequency had 47 dB increase, bone conduction threshold have no change, while one case of hearing level without change. Tinnitus, vertigo, facial paralysis and other complications occurred were found in all the patients. CONCLUSION The congenital conductive hearing loss without external ear malformations should be suspected of congenital malformation of ossicular chain, which could be diagnosed by tympanic exploration. Ossicular chain reconstruction can improve the hearing effectively.
Adolescent ; Ear Ossicles ; abnormalities ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; congenital ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

Objectives: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of unilateral/bilateral bone conduction hearing rehabilitation in patients with bilateral microtia accompanied with severe conductive hearing loss following staged auricle reconstruction and bonebridge implantation. Methods: Thirty-two patients, including 20 males and 12 females, with an average age of 11.8, who received surgical treatment in Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) from March, 2016 to January, 2020 with bilateral microtia-atresia were included. Hearing thresholds, speech perception and high-resolution CT of the temporal bone were evaluated prior to surgery and individualized surgery plans (staged auricle reconstruction and bonebridge implantation) were made. Hearing thresholds and speech perception in quiet and noise (SNR = 5 dB) using unilateral Bonebridge were tested two weeks after the implantation surgery when the Bonebridge was activated and at 3^th, 6^th, 12^th month after activation. Hearing thresholds and speech perception were also tested at least three months after the activation of the Bonebridge under three conditions: unaided, unilateral Bonebridge, and bilateral bone conduction hearing devices (Bonebridge plus contralateral ADHEAR). The international hearing aid assessment questionnaire (IOI-HA) and Glasgow children's benefit questionnaire were used to evaluate the subjective benefits of the patients. SPSS 21.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: Among these 32 patients, nine were conducted Bonebridge implantation surgery before auricle reconstruction, six were simultaneously with auricle reconstruction and 17 were implanted after auricle reconstruction surgery. Compared with unaided, the mean hearing thresholds (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) and speech perception following unilateral BCHD and bilateral BCHD attachment were improved significantly (P<0.05 each). The speech perceptin in noise of bilateral BCHD was better than unilateral (P<0.05 each). The modified questionnaire revealed high levels of patient satisfaction following use of both unilateral and bilateral devices. Conclusions: Individulized surgical procedures involving auricle reconstruction and Bonebridge implantation are safe and effective for patients with bilateral microtia-atresia, solving both appearance and hearing problems. Speech perception in noise is better following bilateral BCHD than unilateral BCHD attachment.
Bone Conduction ; Child ; Congenital Microtia/surgery* ; Ear, External ; Female ; Hearing Aids ; Hearing Loss, Conductive/surgery* ; Humans ; Male ; Speech Perception

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Incus stapedotomy is usually performed for the patients with otosclerosis and congenital ossicular fixation. However, for the patients whose incus is absent, anomalous or fixed, the piston wire cannot be placed around the incus. For these cases, malleostapedotomy or malleostapedectomy could be a proper treatment instead of incus stapedotomy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical manifestation and treatment outcome of malleostapedotomy and malleostapedectomy. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: From January 1993 through March 2007, there were four malleostapedotomies and three malleostapedectomies. The medical records of these patients were retrospectively reviewed. The length of piston, ossicular condition, hearing improvement and postoperative complications were investigated. RESULTS: Conventional incus stapedotomy was not possible due to incus anomaly in three cases, incus fixation in two cases, incus removal during the previous surgery in one case and incus defect due to previous surgery in one case. The median length of prosthesis was 5.5 mm. The median preoperative air-bone gap was 42 dB and postoperative air-bone gap was 12 dB. The postoperative air-bone gap level was smaller than 10 dB in three patients, 11-20 dB in one patient, 21-30 dB in one patients, and 31-49 dB in one patient. Except for one case that had extrusion of the prosthesis after eight years, there was no intraoperative or postoperative complication. CONCLUSION: Malleostapedotomy or malleostapedectomy may be a good alternative surgical procedure to routine incus stapedotomy in cases of absence, anomaly or fixation of the incus.
Hearing ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; Humans ; Incus ; Medical Records ; Otosclerosis ; Postoperative Complications ; Prostheses and Implants ; Retrospective Studies ; Stapes Surgery ; Treatment Outcome

Congenital stapes fixation showing normal finding of external auditory canal and tympanic membrane causes non-progressive conductive hearing loss in the range of 40 to 60 dB since childhood. It is a rare disease, but most commonly found among the isolated ossicular anomalies. Patients with this disease are very suitable candidates for stapes surgery, and successful hearing improvement can be expected by an appropriate surgical procedure. We report 2 cases of congenital stapes fixation which had been operated improperly. One case showed interposed homologous ossicle between the stapes head and the incus, and the other case showed transposed incus between the malleus handle and the stapes head along with the anterior crus fracture. They showed hearing improvements of more than 30 dB after stapedotomy with placement of the Fisch type stapes prosthesis. We are reporting two cases of misdiagnosed congenital stapes fixation with a discussion.
Ear Canal ; Head ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; Humans ; Incus ; Malleus ; Prostheses and Implants ; Rare Diseases ; Stapes Surgery ; Stapes* ; Tympanic Membrane

Conductive hearing loss is a condition that can be corrected surgically in most cases. Stapedotomy is usually performed for patients with congenital ossicular anomaly or fixation. However, otologic surgeons have often encountered difficulty due to the complexity of stapes surgery. Moreover, congenital stapes fixation with anomalous facial nerve and oval window absence is an uncommon and dangerous condition. In such cases, vestibulotomy can be a surgical option to prevent facial nerve damage and improve hearing. The etiology can be explained by the embryological development of the middle ear structures. To prevent facial nerve damage and maximize the efficacy of surgery, the surgeon should have knowledge about this disease and take a computed tomography for double check before stapes surgery. We describe a case of congenital stapes fixation with aberrant facial nerve courses, a 15-year-old female who was treated with vestibulotomy and piston wire insertion.
Adolescent ; Ear, Middle ; Facial Nerve* ; Female ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; Humans ; Oval Window, Ear ; Stapes Surgery ; Stapes* ; Surgeons

A nevus which is a benign melanocytic neoplasm rarely occurs within the external auditory canal (EAC). A dysplastic nevus presents atypical features both clinically and histologically, and is important as a potential precursor for melanoma. We present a case of a 33-year-old female patient with a dysplastic nevus in her EAC. Physical examination revealed a protruding mass arising from the posterior wall of the left cartilaginous EAC. The mass showed clinically characteristic findings of a melanocytic nevus. The patient underwent excisional biopsy via a transcanal approach under local anesthesia. Histopathological examination revealed an intradermal nevus with atypical melanocytes without pleomorphism. There was no evidence of recurrence two years after surgical excision.
Adult ; Dysplastic Nevus Syndrome/*diagnosis/*pathology/surgery ; Ear Canal/*pathology/surgery ; Female ; Hearing Loss, Conductive/*etiology/surgery ; Humans ; Treatment Outcome