Myringosclerosis: an indication of a blocked aditus.

Tympanoplasty has been the mainstay of treatment in chronic otitis media. In a non cholesteatomatous chronic otitis media, there has been much debate whether a cortical mastoidectomy is required or not. Creating an aerating mastoidectomy in cases of blocked aditus ad antrum helps in reducing the recurrence. However, the status of aditus is not always known unless a mastoidectomy is performed. In this study we try to find out if there is any clinical clue regarding a blocked aditus ad antrum by looking at the tympanic membrane. Fourty-three cases of cortical mastoidectomies were retrospectively studied in this series. Patency of aditus ad antrum was analyzed with respect to presence of myringosclerosis and the status of middle ear mucosa. In this study myringosclerosis was found to be significantly associated with a blocked aditus while no such association was found with the status of middle ear mucosa. The presence of myringosclerosis may indicate a blocked aditus ad antrum and performing a cortical mastoidectomy in such cases may help in creating an aerated mastoid, thereby possibly reducing the recurrence rate.