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Objective: To investigate the factors that were effectual on the recovery of the facial nerve functions after repair with grafting., Study Design: Retrospective case review., Setting: Private neuro-otologic and cranial base quaternary referral center., Patients: One hundred ninety-four patients underwent facial nerve grafting during lateral cranial base surgery between July 1989 and December 2009. The mean age of the patients was 44.1 ± 15.8 years (range, 2-79 yr). There were 94 male and 100 female patients. Facial nerve functions were normal in 89 patients, whereas facial nerve paresis or paralysis was present for a mean duration of 25.4 months (range, 1-600 mo) in the rest of the patients., Main Outcome Measure: Final facial nerve motor function., Results: Best outcome, which was Grade III according to House-Brackmann scale, was achieved in 105 of 155 patients with a follow-up of 1 year or longer (67.7%). Final result was grade IV in 23 (14.8%), grade V in 8 (5.2%), and grade VI in 19 patients (12.3%). Preoperative deficit duration was found to be the only significant factor that affected the prognosis (p = 0.027). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the most critical time for recovery to grades III and IV function is 6 months (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: A number of factors were implicated to affect the success rate of facial nerve grafting, but only the duration of preoperative facial nerve deficit was found to be significant. Thus, timely management of facial nerve problems is critical for achieving optimal results.

Objective: To evaluate the short- (6 mo) and long-term (5 yr) outcomes of modified Bondy technique, with particular reference to hearing results., Study Design: Retrospective study., Setting: Quaternary referral otology and cranial base center., Patients: Two hundred thirty ears of 222 patients were operated on, using a modified Bondy technique between 1983 and 2005. All patients had primary acquired epitympanic cholesteatomas with intact pars tensa and intact ossicular chain in normal or good-hearing ear. Preoperative audiometric results revealed a mean air conduction pure-tone average of 27.7 +/- 9.6 dB (range, 10-65 dB) and a mean bone conduction pure-tone average of 14.2 +/- 6.4 dB (range, 5-50 dB). The mean preoperative air-bone gap was 13.5 +/- 6.7 dB (range, 0-25 dB). The average length of follow-up was 7.8 years (range, 5-16 yr)., Results: There was no recurrent cholesteatoma in the present series. A pearl-like residual cholesteatoma was found in the cavity in 7.4% of ears. Two patients (0.8%) developed stenosis of meatoplasty. Three ears (1.3%) exhibited retraction pockets extending to the attic. Postoperative discharging ear was observed in 3% of cases and was successfully treated with topical drops. At the long-term follow-up, the air-bone gap was unchanged or improved from the preoperative level in 88% of cases. The mean postoperative short- and long-term air-bone gaps were 14.6 +/- 8.5 dB (range, 0-55 dB) and 14.1 +/- 8.2 dB (range, 0-50 dB), respectively. Postoperative high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss with bone conduction worsening between 20 and 30 dB at 4 kHz was observed in 4 cases (1.7%). No dead ears were encountered postoperatively., Conclusion: A modified Bondy operation is recommended in selected cases of epitympanic cholesteatoma in normal or good-hearing ear with an intact pars tensa and ossicular chain. Modified Bondy technique ensures complete eradication of disease while preserving a good preoperative hearing in 1-stage operation.

Objectives: To report our personal experience in the surgical treatment of cholesteatoma in children with Down syndrome., Study Design: Retrospective study., Setting: Tertiary care otology and skull base centers., Patients: Nine patients with Down syndrome were surgically treated for cholesteatoma. Two patients had bilateral disease, resulting in a total of 11 ears surgically treated., Intervention: A canal-wall-up mastoidectomy was performed in two ears; in eight of the ears, a canal-wall-down mastoidectomy was carried out and a modified Bondy procedure was performed in one ear., Results: Residual cholesteatoma was found in one ear after the canal-wall-up mastoidectomy and recurrent cholesteatoma developed in another ear, also after canal-wall-up mastoidectomy. The recurrence required conversion to canal-wall-down mastoidectomy. One patient developed a perforation of the neotympanic membrane that had to be revised., Conclusions: Cholesteatoma in children with Down syndrome is a challenging entity for the otologic surgeon. Otolaryngologists should always suspect a cholesteatoma in each child with Down syndrome presenting warning symptoms such as otorrhea and hearing loss. If there is any doubt on inspection, further imaging studies (high-resolution computed tomography) are necessary. To the best of our knowledge, the current study is the first report to document the surgical treatment of cholesteatoma in subjects with Down syndrome.