Child ; Ear, External ; Foreign Bodies ; surgery ; Humans ; Labyrinth Diseases ; etiology ; Male ; Postoperative Complications

Delayed endolymphatic hydrops （DEH） is a rare disease that causes vertigo and is often misdiagnosed as other vertigo diseases. This article reports on a patient with vertigo who was easily misdiagnosed. The patient was a middle ear cholesteatoma complicated by labyrinthine fistula （LF）; however, his vertigo was episodic vertigo, which could not be explained solely by LF causing labyrinthitis. The possibility of endolymphatic hydrops was suspected, which was confirmed by inner ear magnetic resonance gadolinium imaging. This is the first reported case of middle ear cholesteatoma complicated by LF and DEH. The patient underwent surgical resection of the cholesteatoma and three semicircular canal obstructions at the same time. During two years postoperative follow-up, the patient did not experience a recurrence of vertigo. When diagnosing vertigo diseases, a careful history of vertigo is of utmost importance.
Humans ; Endolymphatic Hydrops/diagnosis* ; Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear/complications* ; Vertigo/complications* ; Labyrinth Diseases/complications* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/adverse effects* ; Semicircular Canals

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical feature and treatment of extracranial and intracranial complications caused by otitis media. METHOD: Three hundred and twenty patients of acute and chronic otitis media were admitted to our department between 2005 and 2014. Among them, 34 patients were diagnosed with extracranial and intracranial complications. The clinical features and treatment outcome were retrospectively studied. Of the 34 patients associated with complications, 25 had a single complication,8 had two complications and 1 had three complications. Complications included labyrinthitis in 14 cases, facial paralysis in 11, postauricular subperiosteal abscess in 6, Bezold abscess in 1, thrombophlebitis of sigmoid sinus in 2, otitis meningitis in land otogenic brain abscess in 8. RESULT: Thirty-three patients were cured or improved and 1 patient died. CONCLUSION Due to the widespread use of antibiotics, the clinical manifestations of extracranial and intracranial complications of otitis media become more hidden and atypical. The surgery is the primary treatment method.
Brain Abscess ; complications ; Chronic Disease ; Facial Paralysis ; complications ; Humans ; Labyrinth Diseases ; complications ; Mastoiditis ; complications ; Meningitis ; complications ; Otitis Media ; complications ; physiopathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDLabyrinthine fistula (LF) is a very common clinical complication mainly caused by middle ear cholesteatoma. Whether the presence of different degree LF caused by middle ear cholesteatoma aggravates neurosensory hearing loss (NSHL) and what is the degree of the hearing loss caused by LF were still under controversial. This study aimed to investigate whether the LF degree is correlative with the age distribution, disease duration and hearing loss degree for cholesteatomatous patients.

METHODSThe files of 143 patients with middle ear cholesteatoma were selected and reviewed in a retrospective study. Seventy-eight patients with LF were divided into three types according to the degree of destruction of labyrinth. Sixty-five patients without LF were randomly chosen for control. Then, we compared the clinical characteristics of patients with or without labyrinthine fistulae caused by middle ear cholesteatoma.

RESULTSAccording to the study, cholesteatomatous patients with LF were older and suffered longer disease duration than those without LF. Hearing loss is severe with high frequencies both in patients with and without LF. Moreover, inner ear impairment is correlative with the degree of destruction in labyrinth, and more severe destruction in labyrinth follow the more severe symptoms correlative with inner ear impairment.

CONCLUSIONSurgical intervention should be performed as early as possible for these cholesteatomatous patients.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear ; complications ; surgery ; Fistula ; etiology ; Humans ; Labyrinth Diseases ; etiology ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features of labyrinthine fistula and obtain the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of different types of fistula. METHOD: A retrospective analysis of 42 cases (43 ears) with labyrinthine fistula in our hospital from January 2007 to November 2014 was conducted. Data of preoperative clinical manifestation, auditory function, CT image, operative findings, treatment and postoperative recovery were collected and statistically analysed. RESULT: Thirty-nine cases (40 ears) of the 42 cases (43 ears) which were diagnosed as labyrinthine fistula according to operative findings occurred in the lateral semicircular canal, 1 case occurred in the posterior semicircular canal, 1 case occurred in the superior semicircular canal, and 1 case occurred both in lateral and posterior semicircular canal. Before operation, 24 ears (55.8% ) experienced vertigo and 14 ears (32.6%) showed impaired bone conduction hearing threshold. According to Dornhoffer classification standard, 22 cases (23 ears) were diagnosed as type I fistula, 9 cases as type II fistula and 11 cases as type III fistula. There was no statistical difference among the 3 groups on type of hearing loss, vertigo, CT, facial nerve canal damage before operation and bone conduction hearing threshold, vertigo after operation. CONCLUSION An accurate diagnosis of labyrinthine fistula relies on the operative findings rather than preoperative clinical manifestation, auditory function or CT The surgical intervention should be individualized. There is no significant difference on postoperative recovery among different types of labyrinthine fistula.
Bone Conduction ; Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear ; complications ; Deafness ; Facial Nerve Injuries ; Fistula ; etiology ; Humans ; Labyrinth Diseases ; etiology ; Otitis Media ; complications ; Postoperative Period ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Vertigo

INTRODUCTIONRadiation injury resulting in sudden, late onset sensorineural hearing loss is a recognised complication in patients who have received head and neck irradiation. We describe the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the internal acoustic canal (IAC) of 3 such patients and postulate a cause for these findings.

CLINICAL PICTUREA total of 63 patients were referred for MRI IAC for sudden-onset sensorineural hearing loss. Of these patients, only 5 patients had abnormal MRI finding in the affected ear and the remaining patients had normal studies. Two patients had acoustic neuromas. Three patients demonstrated high T1-weighted signal in the labyrinths of the affected ears and had past histories of head and neck irradiation. The MRI findings and medical records of these 3 patients were reviewed and described in this case series.

OUTCOMEHigh labyrinthine signal on unenhanced T1-weighted images in the symptomatic ear of these patients was observed, suggesting the possibility of haemorrhage. In the patient who had a history of brain tumour, susceptibility artifacts were also seen in the right hemipons on the gradient-echo images, indicating the presence of paramagnetic substances from previous therapy.

CONCLUSIONWe postulate that labyrinthine haemorrhage is a rare, late complication of head and neck irradiation, resulting in sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Female ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; radiotherapy ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; etiology ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; etiology ; Hemorrhage ; complications ; Humans ; Labyrinth Diseases ; complications ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiotherapy ; adverse effects ; Radiotherapy Dosage ; Time Factors