OUTCOMES AND THE MANAGEMENT OF PERILYMPHATIC FISTULA AT TERTIARY CENTER

¹Hacettepe Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi KBB Anabilim Dalı, KBB, Ankara, Turkey
²Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Onkoloji Hastanesi, Nöroloji, Ankara, Turkey The aim of this study is to better define diagnosis and management of perilymphatic fistula(PLF). This retrospective chart review from a tertiary care center is based on 43 available patient's files operated for a suspicion of PLF between 2000 and 2014. History of predisposing factors, clinical findings and investigations were documented pre- and postoperatively. Patients were divided into two groups according to intraoperative findings: group I (fistula negative) and group II (fistula positive). The evolution of symptoms showed an overall improvement of vertigo (91 %) and hearing loss (53 %) postoperatively. Audiograms showed a significant improvement postoperatively in the pure tone audiometry and bone conduction threshold of group II while group I did not show any significant improvement postoperatively in any audiogram parameter. This study failed to identify factors that could better predict the diagnosis of PLF. However, it shows that middle ear exploration with oval and round window obliteration is effective in PLF especially to decrease vestibular symptoms even when fistula is unidentified intraoperatively. Keywords : Perilymphatic fistulas, surgical exploration, vertigo, senseurineural hearing loss