This preliminary study suggested that our large-sized silicone sheet may be effective for postoperative recovery of mastoid aeration even in ears operated with SWR procedure.
In the treatment of carcinoma of the external auditory canal (EAC), surgical resection has mainly been applied for patients with external ear carcinoma. However, surgical resection severely compromises the quality of life due to sacrificing of organ function. For organ preservation, superselective intra-arterial (IA) rapid infusion chemotherapy was combined with radiotherapy against carcinomas of the EAC. METHODS: Stages, feeding arteries, and outcomes were reviewed. Tumors were staged according to the Pittsburgh staging system. Chemotherapy was administered intra-arterially in the angiography suite via transfemoral catheterization of the feeding arteries. The patients received up to four weekly infusions of cisplatin (100 mg/body). The patients received external beam radiation simultaneously with IA cisplatin infusion chemotherapy at a dose of 2.0 Gy per fraction once daily five days a week with photon beam energy of 6MV (total dose of 60Gy). RESULTS: Four patients underwent superselective IA infusion chemo-radiotherapy. The median follow-up period was 23 months ranging from 12 to 42 months. Two patients were staged as T2 and other patients were staged T3 and T4. All patients were free from neck metastases. Cisplatin was delivered through the posterior auricular artery in three patients and the superficial temporal artery in one patient. Complete response (CR) was obtained in all four patients. Overall toxic side effects were modest. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical treatment of carcinoma of the EAC has always caused functional disturbances such as hearing loss even at its early stages. Superselective intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy can be an effective organ preservation treatment with high cure rates.
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