Results of preservation of the posterior canal wall in cholesteatoma surgery as related to middle-ear aeration

The last otological generation witnessed a fierce discussion concerning the treatment of choice of cholesteatomatous ears—closed versus open technique being the issue. The reports of the success and failure of these two opposed techniques varied greatly (McCabe, 1977; Sade, 1982a). It is the purpose of this study to clarify this issue further by reviewing the fate of 100 cholesteatomatous ears treated by the closed technique and followed up for as long as 13 years—a length of follow-up which has not hitherto been reported. We will also try and attempt to correlate the success and failure of this method with the ability of these ears to aerate—a clinical status which may be regarded as indicating the ‘Eustachian function’ of any particular middle ear in question.