Temporal breach management in chronic otitis media

In a retrospective study performed at the Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Department, Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, Paris from 1991 to March 2007, we determined surgical procedures for the treatment of tegmen breaches in chronic otitis media. Forty-two cases were examined: 76% corresponded to chronic otitis media with cholesteatoma, and 24% to chronic otitis media without cholesteatoma. Twenty-eight cases were operated using a combined approach, eight cases using a single suprapetrous approach, and six cases using a transmastoid approach. A total of 33% of the cases showed a meningocele or a meningoencephalocele treated through either a combined or a suprapetrous approach. No recurrence or neural/meningeal infectious involvement was found after a mean time of 43 months in the 36 long-term follow-up cases operated through the combined or suprapetrous approaches. Two cases included in the study were a loss to follow-up. Three of the former cases had already been operated for supracentimetric fissure using lower approach. Two out of the six patients operated using lower approach presented post surgery cerebrospinal fluid otorrhea. Combined or suprapetrous approaches seem to be best adapted to the treatment of supracentimetric or recurrent tegmen breaches, as well as to the precise examination and repair of meningeal lesions. Treatment for tegmen breach can be achieved in a single intervention, even when there is an ongoing infection of the middle ear. The mastoid approach should be used only for infracentimetric defects when there is no neural/meningeal lesion.