[Dilemma in surgical treatment of petrous cholesteatoma]

Surgical treatment of petrous cholesteatoma that involves the petrous pyramid and extends beyond the internal auditory canal is often difficult because of the site and extent of the cholesteatoma. Various problems pertaining to the operation are discussed from our experience with fourteen patients who underwent surgery in our hospital. When accompanied with otorrhea, the middle ear was eradicated by radical mastoidectomy before total removal of the cholesteatoma in order to avoid intracranial infection. Staging operation was conducted in 6 patients in which otorrhea could not be stopped by conservative treatment. The surgical approach was translabyrinthine in 10 patients, middle cranial fossa plus transmastoid in 2, and a combination of these methods in 2. The postoperative large cavity was totally exteriorized in 5 cases in which eradication of the cholesteatoma was deemed too risky, although the exposed internal auditory canal and the denuded dura were supplemented locally. In the other 9 cases, the cavity was obliterated with abdominal fat and/or muscle flap. Facial nerve palsy was present preoperatively in 11 patients. They were treated by decompression in 7 cases, nerve-anastomosis in 2 and nerve grafting in one. In one patient, atrophy of the nerve was too severe to perform nerve grafting. Plastic surgery, such as suspension of the eyelid and masseter muscle transfer, was additionally carried out in 6 of the above patients. Postoperative follow-up study with CT and MRI is very important. In 3 of our cases, the cholesteatoma recurred and the reoperation was needed.