Tympanosclerosis is the hyaline degeneration and calcium deposition of the lamina propria of tympanic membrane and the submucosa of middle ear under long-term chronic inflammatory stimulation. At present, treatment primarily involves the surgical removal of sclerotic foci and reconstruction of auditory ossicular chain. However, excision of sclerotic lesions near critical structures like the facial nerve canal and vestibular window may result in complications like facial paralysis, vertigo, and sensorineural hearing loss. Developing safer and more effective treatments for tympanosclerosis has become an international research focus. Recent years have seen novel explorations in the treatment of tympanosclerosis. Therefore, this article reviews the latest advancements in research on the treatment of tympanosclerosis.
Humans ; Tympanoplasty ; Ear, Middle ; Ear Ossicles/surgery* ; Tympanic Membrane/surgery* ; Tympanosclerosis

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics and treatment of middle ear myoclonus. Methods: Fifty-six cases of middle ear myoclonus were enrolled in Shandong Provincial ENT Hospital, Shandong University from September 2019 to August 2021, including 23 males and 33 females. The age ranged from 6 to 75 years, with a median age of 35 years; Forty-seven cases were unilateral tinnitus, nine cases were bilateral tinnitus. The time of tinnitus ranged from 20 days to 8 years. The voice characteristics, inducing factors, nature (frequency) of tinnitus, tympanic membrane conditions during tinnitus, audiological related tests, including long-term acoustic tympanogram, stapedius acoustic reflex, pure tone auditory threshold, short increment sensitivity test, alternate binaural loudness balance test, loudness discomfort threshold, vestibular function examination, facial electromyography, and imaging examination were recorded. Oral carbamazepine and/or surgical treatment were used. The patients were followed up for 6-24 months and the tinnitus changes were observed. Results: Tinnitus was diverse, including stepping on snow liking sound, rhythmic drumming, white noise, and so on. The inducing factors included external sound, body position change, touching the skin around the face and ears, speaking, chewing and blinking, etc. Forty-four cases were induced by single factor and 9 cases were induced by two or more factors. There was no definite inducing factor in 1 case. One patient had tinnitus with epilepsy. One case of traumatic facial paralysis after facial nerve decompression could induce tinnitus on the affected side when the auricle moved. Tympanic membrane flutter with the same frequency as tinnitus was found in 12 cases by otoscopy, and the waveform with the same frequency as tinnitus was found by long-term tympanogram examination. There were 7 patients with no tympanic membrane activity by otoscopy, the 7 cases also with the same frequency of tinnitus by long-term tympanogram examination, but the change rate of the waveform was faster than that of the patients with tympanic membrane flutter. All patients with tinnitus had no change in hearing. One case of tinnitus complicated with epilepsy (a 6-year-old child) was treated with antiepileptic drug (topiramate) and tinnitus subsided. One case suffered from tinnitus after facial nerve decompression for traumatic facial paralysis was not given special treatment. Fifty-four cases were treated with oral drug (carbamazepine), of which 10 cases were completely controlled and 23 cases were relieved; 21 cases were invalid. Among the 21 patients with no effect of carbamazepine treatment, 8 patients were treated by surgery, 7 patients had no tinnitus after surgery, 1 patient received three times of operation, and the third operation was followed up for 6 months, no tinnitus occurred again. The other 13 cases refused the surgical treatment due to personal reasons. Conclusions: Middle ear myoclonus tinnitus and the inducing factors manifestate diversity. Oral carbamazepine and other sedative drugs are effective for some patients, and surgical treatment is feasible for those who are ineffective for medication.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult ; Ear, Middle/surgery* ; Hearing Tests ; Myoclonus/complications* ; Tinnitus/etiology* ; Tympanic Membrane

Patients with patulous Eustachian tubes(PET) usually suffer from annoying symptoms, such as tinnitus, autophony and aural fullness, due to the excessive opening of the Eustachian tube. There is no uniform standard of treatment, and conservative therapy combined with"Stepup"surgical intervention strategy is the main treatment. In this article, we reviewed various surgical treatments of patulous Eustachian tube in recent years, including key points of surgical operation, effectiveness, safety and complications. Full communication and evaluation are needed to establish appropriate patients' expectations preoperatively. A "Stepup" treatment strategy will be carried out, including conservative treatment, tympanic membrane surgery, Eustachian tube pharyngeal orifice constriction surgery, Eustachian tube tympanic orifice plug surgery and Eustachian tube muscle surgery, which aims to maintain normal Eustachian tube function and good middle ear ventilation.
Humans ; Eustachian Tube/surgery* ; Ear Diseases/diagnosis* ; Ear, Middle ; Tympanic Membrane/surgery* ; Tinnitus ; Otitis Media

Objective: To compare the effect of topical epidermal growth factor (EGF) instillation versus observation alone on healing of acute tympanic membrane perforations in terms of closure and hearing test results. Methods: Design: Randomized, Open label, Clinical Trial. Setting: Tertiary Government Training Hospital. Participants: Seventeen (17) ENT-HNS OPD patients aged between 18 to 65 years old diagnosed with acute tympanic membrane perforation were included in the study. Group A underwent observation while group B was treated with recombinant human EGF solution. Follow- up was on a weekly basis (7th, 14th, 21st and 28th days) where video otoscopy for documentation and measurement of perforation using ImageJTM software was done. Pure tone audiometry was used to compare hearing improvement pre and post study in both observation and treatment groups. Results: At baseline, there was no significant difference in the sizes of perforations: 24.20 ± 9.95 (treatment) vs. 32.64 ± 11.62 (observation) with a p-value of .131. Following treatment, mean changes in perforation size were significantly greater in the treatment group compared to the observation group from baseline to day 7 (M = -9.08, n = 15.11 vs. M = -1.06, n = 31.58); p = .009; day 7 to 14 (M = -6.37, n = 13.78 vs. M = -0.79, n = 30.79); p = .003; and from day 14 to 21 (M = -5.65, n = 10.89 vs. M = -0.72, n = 30.07); p = .004 but not from day 21 to 28 (M = -4.16, n = 13.99 vs. M = -0.36, n = 29.71; p = .021. From baseline pure tone averages, four participants with mild hearing loss and two with moderate hearing loss achieved normal hearing in the treatment group (while one each with moderate and severe hearing loss did not improve). None of the observation group participants had improved hearing. Conclusion Based on our limited experience, topical EGF can be used for traumatic tympanic membrane perforation and otitis media with dry ear perforation during the acute phase or within 3 months of perforation.
Tympanic Membrane Perforation ; Otitis Media ; Hearing Loss ; Tympanic Membrane Perforation ; Wound Healing

Objective To explore the factors related to tympanic membrane perforation in children with acute suppurative otitis media,and to provide reference for clinical practice. Methods We reviewed the clinical data of 1274 children with acute suppurative otitis media from February 2017 to May 2020,and analyzed the factors related to tympanic membrane perforation. Results Tympanic membrane perforation occurred in 67 out of the 1274 children with acute suppurative otitis media,with the incidence of 5.27%.The univariate analysis showed that 11 factors including the duration of onset(
Child ; Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Otitis Media, Suppurative/complications* ; Procalcitonin ; Risk Factors ; Tympanic Membrane Perforation/etiology*

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

Objective: To evaluate the preliminary surgical results of Endoscopic Type I Tympanoplasty among patients with inactive chronic otitis media without ossicular pathology. Methods: Design: Prospective Series. Setting: Tertiary Government Hospital. Participants: Seventy patients with inactive mucosal chronic otitis media (COM) with air bone gap (ABG) of ≤ 40 dB on the preoperative audiogram scheduled to undergo Type I Tympanoplasty between July 2018 and December 2020 were enrolled. Results: Seventy-three (73) ears were evaluated. The overall rate of graft uptake was 95.9% at 12 weeks. There was a statistically significant (p<.001) improvement in hearing on comparison of pre-operative (25.74 ± 7.34 dB) and post-operative (14.82 ± 6.55 dB) air bone gap. The duration of surgery was less than one hour in 76.7% and 77.2 % patients experienced only mild post[1]operative pain. Conclusion Endoscopic tympanoplasty can provide good results with respect to graft uptake and hearing gain with short surgical duration and minimum postoperative morbidity. Longer follow up of at least 6 months (for graft uptake) and preferably not less than 12 months (for hearing results) may confirm our preliminary findings.
Pain, Postoperative ; Tympanic Membrane Perforation ; Hearing ; Morbidity

OBJECTIVES: Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) is useful for both, the spatially resolved measurement of the tympanic membrane (TM) oscillation and high-resolution imaging. We demonstrated a new technique capable of providing real-time two-dimensional Doppler OCT image of rapidly oscillatory latex mini-drum and in vivo rat TM and ossicles. METHODS: Using DOCT system, the oscillation of sample was measured at frequency range of 1–4 kHz at an output of 15 W. After the sensitivity of the DOCT system was verified using a latex mini-drum consisting of a 100 μm-thick latex membrane, changes in displacement of the umbo and contacted area between TM and malleus in normal and pathologic conditions. RESULTS: The oscillation cycles of the mini-drum for stimulus frequencies were 1.006 kHz for 1 kHz, 2.012 kHz for 2kHz, and 3.912 kHz for 4 kHz, which means that the oscillation cycle of the mini-drum become short in proportional to the frequency of stimuli. The oscillation cycles of umbo area and the junction area in normal TM for frequencies of the stimuli showed similar integer ratio with the data of latex mini-drum for stimuli less than 4 kHz. In the case of middle ear effusion condition, the Doppler signal showed a tendency of attenuation in all frequencies, which was prominent at 1 kHz and 2 kHz. CONCLUSION: The TM vibration under sound stimulation with frequencies from 1 kHz to 4 kHz in normal and pathologic conditions was demonstrated using signal demodulation method in in vivo condition. The OCT technology could be helpful for functional and structural assessment as an optional modality.
Animals ; Ear, Middle ; Latex ; Malleus ; Membranes ; Methods ; Otitis Media with Effusion ; Rats ; Tomography, Optical Coherence ; Tympanic Membrane ; Vibration

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Inlay butterfly cartilage tympanoplasty makes the graft easy, and reduces operating time. The present study aimed to investigate the outcomes of microscopic versus endoscopic inlay butterfly cartilage tympanoplasty. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, the outcomes of 63 patients who underwent inlay butterfly cartilage tympanoplasty with small to medium chronic tympanic membrane perforation were evaluated. Twenty-four patients underwent conventional microscopic tympanoplasty and 39 underwent endoscopic tympanoplasty. The outcomes were analyzed in terms of the hearing gain and graft success rate. RESULTS: The surgical success rate was 95.8% in the patients who underwent conventional microscopic tympanoplasty and 92.3% in those who underwent endoscopic tympanoplasty. In both groups of patients, the postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) was significantly lower than the preoperative ABG. There were no significant differences between the preoperative and postoperative ABG values in either group. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic inlay tympanoplasty using the butterfly cartilage technique appears to be an effective alternative to microscopic tympanoplasty and results in excellent hearing.
Butterflies ; Cartilage ; Endoscopy ; Hearing ; Humans ; Inlays ; Microscopy ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplants ; Tympanic Membrane Perforation ; Tympanoplasty

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pre-operative eustachian tube function (ETF) is an important factor for the postoperative success after tympanoplasty, though much debates have been reported. In this study, we investigated the tympanogram changes after tympanoplasty, indirectly checking up ETF, to find out the relationship between tympanogram changes and associated factors of tympanoplasty. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Included in this study were 238 cases of tympanoplasty (canal wall up mastoidectomy with tympanoplasty type I or tympanoplasty type I only) performed by one surgeon for chronic otitis media from January, 2012 to June, 2017. In all cases, tympanometric tests were undertaken at one month, three month, six month, and one year post-operatively, and pure tone audiometry tests were taken at 1 year, post operatively. RESULTS: The average hearing level and air-bone gap were 41.8±19.7 dB, and 17.1±9.3 dB, pre-operatively, and 29.9±21.1 dB, and 6.9±8.5 dB, 1 year post-operatively, respectively. Most of the cases showed improvement in hearing. The results of tympanometry showed that hearing improvement was greater for the A type than for the B or C type (p<0.001). The smaller the size of the tympanic membrane was, the higher, the type A tympanogram appeared to be (p=0.008). CONCLUSION: The estimation of pre-operative ETF using post-operative tympanogram changes can give insight to the degree and process of recovery of the normal middle ear after tympanoplasty.
Acoustic Impedance Tests ; Audiometry ; Ear, Middle ; Eustachian Tube ; Hearing ; Methods ; Otitis Media ; Otitis ; Prognosis ; Tympanic Membrane ; Tympanoplasty