2015 Volume 108 Issue 6 Pages 435-439
A lateralized tympanic membrane is one of the complications that may arise after surgery of the middle ear. This is mainly due to the layer of skin associated with the tympanic membrane that is displaced outside the ring of the eardrum, and results in conductive hearing loss. As a method of treatment, surgery to return the tympanic membrane to the original position is usually performed, but the results are inconsistent. In many cases, a reconstructed tympanic membrane may become lateralized again when the surgery is performed. For these cases, we have developed a longer artificial ceramic columella to reconstruct the tympanic cavity without changing the position of the lateralized tympanic membrane. Better results have been shown during short-term observation of 6 months.