OBJECTIVE: To discuss the treatment of external auditory canal stenosis or atresia occurring as a complication of transcanal endoscopic ear surgery.
METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 11 patients who developed external auditory canal stenosis or atresia after undergoing transcanal endoscopic ear surgery. The 10 patients with stenosis were treated with external auditory canal expansion via drainage tube insertion; 2 of these patients further received local injections of triamcinolone acetonide. One patient with atresia was treated with meatoplasty surgery followed by tube insertion and triamcinolone acetonide injection.
RESULTS: The stenosis/atresia improved in all patients, and the external auditory canal was unobstructed without restenosis.
CONCLUSIONS: Stenosis/atresia of the external auditory canal after transcanal endoscopic ear surgery should be treated with dilation therapy/meatoplasty in a timely manner to prevent progressive hyperplasia of the scar and regain a normal-sized ear canal.

Mechanical feedback is one of the most common difficulties encountered when fitting hearing aids for toddlers and young children. We described the use of 3D printing to tailor a protective cap for a toddler with bilateral microtia/canal atresia to facilitate bone-anchoring hearing aid use.

BACKGROUND: We report a rare case of first branchial cleft anomaly (FBCA) accompanied by bony atresia of the external auditory canal, middle ear malformation, and location malformation of the facial nerve according to the intraoperative findings.
METHODS: A 19-year-old male patient presented to our department with a mass behind the right earlobe and recurrent postauricular swelling and pain since childhood, he also had severe hearing loss in the right ear since birth. The patient underwent surgery including mass removal, mastoidectomy, and simultaneous meatoplasty and ossiculoplasty under microscopy. No facial palsy or recurrence was noted during postoperative follow-up.
CONCLUSIONS: FBCAs are rare, and to our knowledge, this is the first report of FBCA accompanied by external auditory canal bony atresia, middle ear malformation, and location malformation of the facial nerve. An effective postauricular approach under microscopy facilitated complete lesion removal and simultaneous otologic reconstruction.

Temporal bone high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging are valuable tools in the evaluation of pediatric hearing loss. Computed tomography is important in the evaluation of pediatric conductive hearing loss and is the imaging modality of choice for evaluation of osseous abnormalities. MR imaging is the modality of choice for evaluation of sensorineural hearing loss. A broad spectrum of imaging findings can be seen with hearing loss in children. HRCT and MR imaging provide complementary information and are often used in conjunction in the preoperative evaluation of pediatric candidates for cochlear implantation.

Objective:Case-control study analysis of the speech discrimination of unilateral microtia and external auditory canal atresia patients with normal hearing subjects in quiet and noisy environment. To understand the speech recognition results of patients with unilateral external auditory canal atresia and provide scientific basis for clinical early intervention. Method:Twenty patients with unilateral congenital microtia malformation combined external auditory canal atresia, 20 age matched normal subjects as control group. All subjects used Mandarin speech audiometry material, to test the speech discrimination scores (SDS) in quiet and noisy environment in sound field. Result:There\'s no significant difference of speech discrimination scores under the condition of quiet between two groups. There\'s a statistically significant difference when the speech signal in the affected side and noise in the nomalside (single syllable, double syllable, statements; S/N=0 and S/N=-10) (P<0.05). There\'s no significant difference of speech discrimination scores when the speech signal in the nomalside and noise in the affected side. There\'s a statistically significant difference in condition of the signal and noise in the same side when used one-syllable word recognition (S/N=0 and S/N=-5) (P<0.05), while double syllable word and statement has no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). Conclusion:The speech discrimination scores of unilateral congenital microtia malformation patients with external auditory canal atresia under the condition of noise is lower than the normal subjects.

Fusion of the atlas with the occipital bone is a rare congenital dysplasia known as occipitalization of the atlas, occipitocervical synostosis, assimilation of the atlas, or atlanto-occipital fusion. It is a component of the paraxial mesodermal maldevelopment and commonly associated with other dysplasias of the craniovertebral junction. External auditory canal atresia or external aural atresia is a rare congenital absence of the external auditory canal. It occurs as the consequence of the maldevelopment of the first pharyngeal cleft due to defects of cranial neural crest cells migration and/or differentiation. It is commonly associated with the dysplasias of the structures derived from the first and second pharyngeal arches including microtia. We present the coexistence of the occipitalization of the atlas and congenital aural atresia, an uncommon combination of the paraxial mesodermal maldevelopment, and defects of cranial neural crest cells. The association is most probably syndromic as minimal diagnostic criteria for the oculoariculovertebral spectrum are fulfilled. From the clinical point of view, it is important to be aware that patients with microtia must obtain also appropriate diagnostic imaging studies of the craniovetebral junction due to eventual concomitant occipitalization of the atlas and frequently associated C1-C2 instability.