Endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) is a well-established alternative to external DCR for treatment of obstruction of the lacrimal pathway and has a success rate of up to 95% in primary cases. Despite the benefits of using an endoscopic approach, including enhanced intranasal access to the lacrimal drainage system, there still exists a significant failure rate, particularly in revision procedures. As these failures are mainly due to obstructive postoperative adhesions, intraoperative adjuncts that prevent or minimize scarring should enhance the success rate. Endoscopic DCR was performed with intraoperative topical application of mitomycin-C, an antimetabolite often used in ophthalmologic procedures to reduce scarring and formation of adhesions following surgery. The procedure was successful in 7 of 8 instances, with a follow-up of 3 to 27 months. In one procedure, obstruction recurred 10 weeks after surgery. We feel that the results of this small series are encouraging and that further studies are warranted to determine the effectiveness of mitomycin-C as an adjunct to endoscopic DCR.

Vascular anomalies of the inner ear have been documented in only a few isolated case reports. The goal of our study was to describe, qualify and quantify vascular variations of the inner ear in 122 temporal bones from 64 pediatric subjects aged between 0 and 10 years. The average age was 11.6 months. Horizontal sections of the temporal bone, examined by light microscopy, revealed vessels coursing freely through the perilymphatic space of the cochlea, especially in the apical turn. Other findings included abnormally wide vessels in the stria vascularis as well as a vascular malformation of the internal auditory canal. Our study demonstrated more atypical vessels in the cochlea than in the vestibular labyrinth. We found a statistically significant positive correlation between vascular variations of the inner ear and concomitant cardiac anomalies or endolymphatic hydrops. We also discuss the possible etiology and potential significance of these findings in terms of disturbances of the function of the inner ear.