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Updated: Aug 7, 2026
Endaural Endoscopic Atticoantrotomy (Retrograde Mastoidectomy) using a Constant Suction Bone-drilling Technique
Published on: May 23, 2021
Long-term results with operated sinus tympani retraction cholesteatoma
John P Leonetti1, Sam J Marzo, Mary M Beauchamp
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center, 2160 S. First Avenue, Maywood, IL 60153, USA. jleonet@lumc.edu
Objectives:
Utilizing an endaural approach, we described the surgical treatment of 29 cases of sinus tympani retraction cholesteatoma in 1996. The purpose of this paper is to provide long-term results in this group of patients.
Study Design And Setting:
A retrospective chart analysis of 29 previously reported patients was undertaken in an effort to identify hearing results and the risk of cholesteatoma recurrence following sinus tympani retraction surgery.
Results:
The follow-up period ranged from 9 to 16 years (mean of 13.2 years). Speech discrimination (SD) and conductive hearing (CH) decline occurred in 23 of 28 patients, but only on the average of 5.6% and 9 dB throughout the speech frequencies, respectively. Speech discrimination and conductive hearing improved in 5 of 28 patients; one patient was lost to follow-up. One patient developed a recurrent cholesteatoma requiring a canal wall-down mastoidectomy.
Conclusions:
The endaural approach for sinus tympani cholesteatoma provided stable hearing in most of the patients in this series. One cholesteatoma recurrence required conversion to a canal wall-down mastoidectomy. This developed in a noncompliant patient, whose pars tensa retraction deepened as a result of failure to have his ventilation tube replaced. Semiannual office visits are recommended in patients who undergo this otologic approach for sinus tympani cholesteatoma.
