Long-Term Hearing Results After Ossiculoplasty

Abstract

Objectives: To determine if the OOPS index is predictive of long-term hearing results after ossiculoplasty.

Study design: Case series with retrospective chart review.

Setting: Tertiary care otology practice.

Patients: Adult and pediatric patients (3-88 years of age).

Interventions: Ossiculoplasty with cartilage tympanoplasty, with or without mastoidectomy.

Outcome measures: Primary outcome measures included short-term hearing results (pure-tone average air-bone gap [PTA-ABG] measured between 60 days and 1 year after surgery), long-term hearing results (PTA-ABG measured ≥5 years after surgery), and the rate of successful ABG closure to ≤20 dB. Secondary measures included the need for revision surgery, delayed tympanic membrane graft failure, worsening conductive hearing loss (after an initially satisfactory hearing result), and recurrence of cholesteatoma.

Results: There was no significant difference between adults and children for short-term hearing results (average post-op PTA-ABG was 18.9 dB vs. 19.8 dB, respectively; p = 0.544), long-term hearing results (average final PTA-ABG was 19.3 dB vs. 19.4 dB, respectively; p = 0.922), or rate of ABG closure to less than 20 dB (63.1% vs. 58.0%, p = 0.282). Spearman's rank-order correlation (ρ) identified a strong positive correlation between OOPS index score and average post-operative PTA-ABG (ρ = 0.983; p < 0.001; 2-tailed), as well as average long-term PTA-ABG (ρ = 0.950, p < 0.001; 2-tailed).

Conclusions: The OOPS index makes it possible to accurately prognosticate hearing outcomes in adult and pediatric patients undergoing ossiculoplasty in both the short term and the long term.