The place of 'salvage' petrosectomy.

Thirty-three of 58 patients with carcinoma of the external auditory meatus and middle ear were treated by radiotherapy. Nineteen patients suffered a recurrence. This proved to be unsuitable for petrosectomy in all patients with a tumour of the middle ear. A few patients with tumours of the external auditory meatus, usually of non-squamous variety, have survived for a reasonable period after 'salvage' petrosectomy.