A new graft material for myringoplasty: bacterial cellulose

We aimed to determine the success rate of bacterial cellulose (BC) myringoplasty in tympanic membrane (TM) perforation. We reviewed the clinical records of 12 patients (16 ears) who underwent BC myringoplasty for long-standing TM perforations (>6 months) between March 2012 and January 2015. The mean duration of postoperative follow-up was 12.8 (range 6-24) months. In all patients, the perforation involved less than 50 % of the tympanic membrane, and the air-bone gap was ≤30 dB on the operative side. The age, gender, preoperative air average, bone average, air-bone gap, perforation size and location, and postoperative TM microscopic examinations of the patients were recorded. Following the BC myringoplasty, complete coverage of the perforation occurred in the first 6 months in 13 of 16 ears (81.3 %), although retraction occurred in two of these ears within 6 months. In three ears (18.8 %), the perforation persisted during the first postoperative month. The pre- and postoperative average air threshold was 19.56 (range 7-75) and 15.69 (range 5-75) dB, respectively. The pre- and postoperative average air-bone gap was 9.25 (range 0-25) and 5.63 (0-25) dB, respectively. Both the air threshold and air-bone gap improved postoperatively (both p = 0.008). No complications such as infection and granulation tissue formation were detected in any patient. BC is a safe graft material that is inexpensive, easy-to-use, and provides a high success rate in small tympanic membrane perforations. However, further studies of large tympanic membrane perforations with more samples and long-term follow-up are required.