Defects in the bony wall of the mastoid bowl: a study based on staged intact canal-wall tympanoplasty.

The incidence and outcome of bony wall defects in the mastoid bowl were studied in 175 ears of 167 patients who underwent staged tympanoplasty by the intact canal-wall technique. In the first stage, the middle fossa dura was exposed iatrogenically in 38 ears and pathologically in eight ears through a defect at the tegmen. In the second stage, the bone defect was cured in 27 ears of the former group and in 3 ears of the latter group. The overall cure rate of the defect in the tegmen during these stages was 65.2 percent (30/46). Exposure of the sigmoid sinus or posterior fossa dura, which had occurred iatrogenically in 12 ears in the first stage, was cured in 11 ears (91.7%) in the second stage. Defects of the anterior wall of the mastoid bowl, i.e., the posterior wall of the external auditory canal, were recognized in 105 ears in the first stage, 91 of which involved pathologic defects of the tympanic scutum caused by cholesteatoma. In the second stage, these defects remained unhealed with cures occurring in only two ears (1.9%), in which a small hole had been created iatrogenically in the middle of the canal wall. Defects in the canal wall due to bone resorption following the first stage operation were noted in the second stage in 26 of 175 ears (14.9%).