Endoscopic ear surgery in middle ear cholesteatoma

Objective:Endoscope has been used as diagnostic tool for recidivism and as an adjunct to microscopic technique in the management of cholesteatoma.At present transcanal endoscopic ear surgery(TEES)is being used as a minimally invasive alternative for microscopic approach.We aim to evaluate the feasibility,structural,functional and quality of life outcomes of endoscopic technique in middle ear cholesteatoma.Method:This prospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital from January 2017 to January 2018 including 32 adult patients who were treated by TEES for middle ear cholesteatoma.Feasibility of endoscopic technique was assessed by the conversion rates,visualization of middle ear structures and complications.Structural outcomes were evaluated in terms of graft uptake at the third month follow-up and presence of residual or recurrent disease.Functional outcomes were evaluated in terms of postoperative air-bone gap closure at third month follow-up.Patient outcomes in terms of post-operative pain,cosmetic score,day of return to daily activities and patient comfort scores were evaluated.The quality of life outcomes were evaluated using chronic ear survey(CES)and short form questionnaire12 version 2(SF-12V2)which are disease specific and general quality of life assessment tools respectively.Result:Out of 32 patients,endoscopic intact canal wall mastoidectomy was done for 28 and endoscopic canal wall down mastoidectomy in 4 patients.One(3.1%)patient had to be converted to microscopic technique.Median follow-up period was 32.8 months(9e46 months).There were no post-operative complications in any of our patients.The mean middle ear structural visibility index score was 8.4±1.4 with the use of zero-degree endoscope.Graft uptake rate at third month follow-up was 100%.Two(6.3%)patients had recurrent disease at 6 months follow-up and were treated by revision endoscopic surgery.The air conduction(51.3±20.2 dB vs.34.5±20.4 dB,p<0.001),and air-bone gap(33.5±11.1 dB vs.16.9±11.8 dB,p<0.001)has been significantly improved.The mean pain score at 0 hours,6 hours and 24 hours after surgery were 2.5/10,1.6/10 and 0.75/10 respectively.At the discharge,the mean patient comfort score was 9.3±0.6 out of 10.Mean cosmetic score was 9.3±0.5 at the third month follow-up.There was significant post-operative improvement in the sub-scale and total scores of CES and SF-12V2.Conclusion:Endoscopic approach to middle ear cholesteatoma is feasible and confers excellent structural,functional as well as patient related quality of life outcomes.

Safe surgical zone during TORS radical tonsillectomy:An anatomical and radiological study

Objective:Parapharyngeal space contains intricate vascular anatomy(external and internal carotid arteries)that might be inadvertently injured during the dissection in this plane.None of the bony landmarks can be used during the transoral robotic surgery(TORS)radical tonsillectomy as these landmarks lie lateral to the internal carotid artery(ICA)and external carotid artery(ECA)in transoral approach.Our study aims to identify the safe surgical limits during the dissection of parapharyneal space in TORS radical tonsillectomy and to correlate the same with radiological study.Material and methods:Fifteen cadavers(30 head and neck regions)and 50 CT-Angiogram of neck(100 head and neck regions)were included in the anatomical and radiological study respectively.The vertical midpoint of anterior tonsillar pillar(palatoglossus muscle)was taken as the reference point and all the measurements were done at the level of reference point both for anatomical and radiological study.Distance between tonsillar fossa and ECA,distance between tonsillar fossa and ICA,relation between ECA and styloglossus and relation between ICA and stylopharyngeus at reference level were studied.Results:The mean distance of ECA from the tonsillar fossa at the reference point was 18.2 mm in the anatomical study and 16.2 mm in the radiological study.The mean distance of ICA from the tonsillar fossa was 23.4 mm and 23.3 mm in the anatomical study and radiological study.There was no significant difference between the anatomical and radiological findings for both the mean distance between ECA and ICA to the tonsillar fossa(p value was 0.45 and 0.30 respectively).ECA was located posterolateral to styloglossus in 24 cases(80.0%)and 79 cases(79.0%)in the anatomical and radiological study respectively.ICA was found posterolateral to stylopharyngeus in 21 cases(70.0%)and 69 cases(69.0%)in the anatomical and radiological study respectively.Conclusion:The muscular plane between styloglossus and stylopharyngeus can be used as an envelope to locate the ECA and ICA that lie medial to these critical vascular structures during TORS.We propose to divide the parapharyngeal space into two compartments(anterior and posterior)based on the surgical perspective of inside-out anatomy.The anterior compartment houses styloglossus muscle with ECA posterolateral to it and the posterior compartment has stylopharyngeus and ICA posterolateral to it.

Transcanal endoscopic excision of tympanic paraganglioma: A three-case series

Paragangliomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors that arise in sympathetic and parasympathetic paraganglion system,derived from neural crest cells.Tympanic paraganglioma is a type of head and neck paraganglioma involving the middle ear cleft.Endoscopic transcanal approach is currently in vogue for the excision of tympanic paragangliomas that is limited to middle ear cleft.We present a series of 3 cases who underwent endoscopic excision of tympanic paraganglioma.