Objectives: To examine the correlation between the middle-ear pressure-regulation functions including active eustachian tube (ET) functions and transmucosal gas exchange function, and outcome of tympanoplasty.
Patients and methods: Seventy five patients (78 ears) with non-cholesteatomatous chronic otitis media with eardrum perforation but without ossicular damage or middle-ear anomaly participated in this study. Before surgery, patency of the ET was examined by applying positive pressure to the middle ear through the eardrum perforation, and then the ET pressure-regulation functions were examined using the inflation-deflation test. Also their transmucosal gas exchange function was evaluated by examining the presence or absence of aeration in the mastoid on the CT before surgery or through the microscope during the surgery. All of them underwent type-I tympanoplasty, and their postoperative conditions including the hearing were followed for more than 6 months. The outcome of the surgery was judged as poor outcome when they had any of the following conditions; more than 20 dB of mean air-bone gap, spontaneous perforation within 6 months, or persistent wet condition including recurrent otorrhea.
Results: First, the outcome of all the four ears of which ETs were considered mechanically obstructed was poor. Next, among the remaining 74 ears, none of the three individual parameters, including positive and negative middle-ear pressure-equalizing functions and mastoid aeration, showed significantly positive correlation with the outcome of the surgery, but significantly higher incidence of poor outcome was seen only when all the three parameters were poor.
Conclusions: These results indicated that impairment of all the middle-ear pressure-regulation functions was likely to cause poor outcome of tympanoplasty, and also allowed us reconfirm that ears with mechanically obstructed ETs were contraindicated for tympanoplasty. Therefore, assessment of mastoid condition is important as well as the ET function before tympanoplasty.