Hyogo ear bank experience with allograft tympanoplasty--review of tympanoplasties on 68 ears.
Allograft tympanoplasties on 68 ears done between October, 1980 and December, 1986 were analyzed from the viewpoint of graft take rate and hearing improvement, and also the results were compared between draining and nondraining ears as well as among three stabilizing methods of the transplanted tympanic membrane (Type I: allograft tympanic membrane (ATM) covered with reflected epithelium; Type II: entirely covered ATM with fascia; and Type III: ATM reinforced with thin crescent fascia) and four groups of allograft materials (Group I: ATM with attached malleus and incus en bloc; Group II: ATM with attached malleus; Group III: ATM attached malleus and incus columella; and Group IV: two stage surgery with Group III material). Among the three types of stabilization in draining ears, the anatomic success rate of the tympanic membrane transplant was 27% in Type I, 56% in Type II and 90% in Type III, while in nondraining ears it was 81%, 88%, and 100%, respectively. The success rate for hearing improvement in draining ears was 40% in Group A, 44% in Group B, 33% in Group C, and in nondraining ears, it was 82%, 100%, and 82%, respectively. Our results show that allograft tympanoplasty can be successful for a well-controlled middle ear with good utility of the areolar fascia in stabilization.