Labyrinthotomy or Vestibulotomy in Anatomic and Congenital Variations of the Oval Window and Facial Nerve

Objective: To present the results of our experience with labyrinthotomy or vestibulotomy in cases where the oval window is blocked by the facial nerve and in the presence of bilateral congenital agenesis of the oval window, respectively. Study design: Retrospective analysis of the records of the patients operated in two different centers. Methods: Between 2007 and 2012, 5 ears of 4 patients who were operated on in two different clinics with a presumptive diagnosis of otosclerosis were included in the study. There were 3 female patients and 1 male. The ages ranged from 10 to 26 (mean 19 years). All patients had unilateral conductive hearing loss except 1 (10-year-old girl or patient 1). Pure tone averages were calculated at the frequencies 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz both preand postoperatively according to the Committee on Hearing and Equilibrium 1995 Guidelines for the Evaluation of Results of Treatment of Conductive Hearing Loss. All patients underwent a middle ear exploration and postoperatively the initial audiological examination was performed after 6 months. Results: Retrospective analysis revealed that vestibulotomy Received: August 8, 2012 Accepted after revision: October 22, 2012 Published online: January 3, 2013 Yıldırım A. Bayazıt, MD Department of Otolaryngology King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Hospital Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), E-Mail bayazity @ yahoo.com © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel 0301–1569/12/0746–0320$38.00/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/orl D ow nl oa de d by : 54 .7 0. 40 .1 1 10 /6 /2 01 7 10 :5 2: 59 A M