Abstract
Between January 1990 and September 2000, 151 ears with middle ear cholesteatoma were operated in Mie University Hospital. One hundred and twelve ears (74.1%) were operated on by tympanoplasty with canal reconstruction, 22 ears by canal wall down tympanoplasty, 14 ears by canal wall up tympanoplasty, and 3 ears by radical mastoidectomy. Staged operation was performed in 59 of 151 ears (39.1%); 24 of 37 ears (64.9%) in children under 15 years old, and 35 of 111 ears (30.7%) in adults over 15 years old. Of the 59 ears, 29 (49.2%) had residual cholesteatoma at second stage operation; 13 of 24 children (54.2%), and 16 of 37 adults (43.2%). Residual cholesteatoma was observed at follow-up in 10 of 92 ears (10.9%) with onestage group, and 3 of 59 ears (5.1%) with staged operation group. All 3 ears with residual cholesteatoma in the staged group were children. Revision tympanoplasty was performed in 6 of 13 ears with residual cholesteatoma. These results indicate the high incidence of residual cholesteatoma in children, and the usefulness of staged tympanoplasty for preventing the residual cholesteatoma.
