[The results of tympanoplasty with titanium prostheses]

In order to improve the hearing results of tympanoplasty, we performed the operation on 113 cases (124 ears) by using ossicular replacement prostheses made of Titanium. The results demonstrated that among all the operated ears, 73/124 (58.9%) had obtained a narrow gap (< 20 dB HL) between BC and AC, 89/124 (71.8%) had regained socially acceptable hearing ability. The total effective rate of hearing gain (> 10 dB HL) was 115/124 (92.7%). No reject reaction and recurrent cholesteatoma were found. This operation method, based on animal experiments and applied anatomic study of human suprastapedial structure, resulted in a high effective rate and maked hearing improvement with a relatively large magnitude. It was because of the application of a new material-Titanium, which has high biocompatibility with human body tissues. The ossicular replacement prosthesis was appropriately designed and delicately manufactured. It fitted well and could be tightly joined to the suprastapedial structure, and uneasy to be displaced. In addition, we adopted the method of enlarging tympanic isthmus, that lead to well aeration in mastoid and attic, thus set the tympanic membrane to the best state of mobility. All these contributed to the effective hearing gain.