Long-term deterioration of bone-conduction hearing level in patients with labyrinthine fistula

Objective Although many reports describe the short-term hearing outcomes of surgically managed labyrinthine fistulae, the long-term results remain unknown. We reviewed the long-term postoperative hearing outcomes of 14 ears of patients with cholesteatoma and labyrinthine fistulae. Methods Between 1996 and 2010, 84 patients with cholesteatoma and labyrinthine fistula underwent tympanoplasty at Hyogo College of Medicine Hospital. Fistulae were located in the lateral semicircular canal in all patients and in the superior semicircular canal in one. Fourteen patients were followed up for more than 5 years. Results The postoperative air-bone gap was ≤10 dB in one patient, between 11 and 20 dB in seven, between 21 and 30 dB in four, and ≥31 dB in two. Mean bone-conduction hearing levels on the operated side had deteriorated by 3, −1 and −2 dB at 1, 2 and 4 kHz, respectively at 1 year postoperatively, and by 8, 6 and 2 dB at 1, 2 and 4 kHz, at 5 years postoperatively. Bone-conduction hearing levels at 1 and 2 kHz were significantly deteriorated at 5 years postoperatively, compared with baseline and 1 year (P