RESUMEN
Background: Anterior epitympanic recess (AER) is a small anatomical space in the epitympanum anterior to level of the head of malleus. This space has received lot of attention because of its role in cholesteatoma. Dysventilation of AER can lead to retraction pockets and cholesteatomas. Due to the advent of endoscopic middle ear surgeries the visualization of the mucosal folds and spaces have been possible for the past 2 decades. Mucosal folds and spaces play an important role in middle ear ventilation and pathologies obstructing these ventilation pathways can lead to dysventilation resulting in retraction pockets / cholesteatoma. In our study we have analysed the importance of cog with respect to dysventilation syndrome. Materials and methods: This prospective radiological study was conducted at Apollo Hospitals, BG road, Bangalore for a study period of 1 year (January 2021-January 2022). All patients who underwent high resolution CT scan (HRCT) of temporal bone were included in this study. They were divided into 2 groups (Group I & II). For group I HRCT temporal bone of 200 normal scans were included and scans with chronic otitis media, congenital anomaly, temporal bone fractures and tumors were excluded from the study. 50 HRCT temporal bone scans of chronic otitis media with squamous disease were included in group II. Results: 200 HRCT scans were included in the normative data analysis of the temporal bone. Out of 200, 133 had complete cog, 54 had incomplete cog and 13 had absent cog (Table 2). We also calculated the mean diameters of the AER, AP diameter- 4.24 ± 1.3, TD - 3.36 ± 1.05 and VD - 5.3 ± 1.94 (Table 3). Similarly, we analyzed 50 HRCT temporal bone with squamous disease 32 out of 50 had absent cog (Table 4). We also calculated the dimension of AER in diseased temporal bones (Table 5). A paired T test was conducted in order to analyze these values. Conclusion: In our study we performed a radiological evaluation of AER and cog and found that incidence of absent cog is more among individuals with squamous disease than normal individuals. Hence we advocate that absent cog can lead to horizontally oriented tensor tympani that in turn results in dysventilation. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-023-03507-9.
RESUMEN
Endoscopes have revolutionized the field of otology for the past two decades due to its minimally invasive technique and improved visualization. The advantage of endoscope during surgery for middle ear cholesteatoma both for diagnosing and aiding in removal of residual disease from the hidden areas and the resulting lower recurrence rates have been proven in the past by many authors. But the feasibility of totally endoscopic ear surgery and its surgical and patient related outcomes are yet to be explored in detail. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the surgical and patient related outcomes between totally endoscopic and microscopic technique in cases of acquired middle ear cholesteatoma. This meta-analysis has been conducted as per Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines. Search engines used to identify the eligible articles were Pubmed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Virtual Health Library databases. The studies that compared the outcomes of microscopic and endoscopic techniques in case of acquired middle ear cholesteatoma and with more than 10 patients were included. Outcomes like recurrence, residual disease, graft uptake rate, audiological outcome, conversion rate, pain score, surgery duration, complications and quality of life outcomes were compared.The quality of the included studies was assessed by Methodological Index for Non-randomized studies criteria in case of non-randomized studies and by means of Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool in case of randomized controlled studies. A random effects model was used to calculate pooled estimates. The ODDS ratio and 95% confidence interval were calculated. The heterogeneity among the studies was represented by the Q statistic and Higgins I2 statistic. The test for overall effect was calculated by Z test and a p value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. 11 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Out of 11 included studies, 4 were prospectively designed and 7 were retrospective studies. The overall effect showed recurrence rate (Z:2.69, P:0.007) was lower among endoscopic technique. Post-operative pain was less among the endoscopic technique and there was no difference between the groups with respect to surgical duration. Although endoscopic technique showed lower residual rate and post-operative vertigo with better graft success rate among the individual studies, the overall analysis showed that the difference was not statistically significant. Endoscope has been an invaluable tool in the cholesteatoma surgery over the past 20 years due to its excellent optics and minimally invasive technique. Evaluation of the present data available in the literature reveals that both the techniques have similar outcomes except for a definite advantage of endoscopic technique in reducing the recurrence and post-operative discomfort.
RESUMEN
Facial nerve schwannoma is a rare benign tumor of temporal bone arising from the schwann cells with incidence of 0.8%. They can arise from any segment of facial nerve with geniculate ganglion being the most common and labyrinthine segment the second commonest site. Intra-temporal location is common while only 9% of the cases have extra-temporal or parotid gland involvement. Bony remodeling or scalloping of the facial canal and the surrounding bone is the classic radiological feature of schwannoma. However schwannomas of temporal bone location can show bony erosions. The management option depends on site, extent, facial nerve function and hearing status. Surgery is reserved for large tumors with poor facial functions, hearing loss and giddiness. Giant facial nerve schwannoma with extra-temporal involvement is a rare entity with only handful number of cases reported in the literature. We present a series of two cases of giant facial nerve schwannoma with parotid gland involvement.
