• Moisês A Arriaga and Douglas A Chen.
• Pittsburgh Ear Associates, Allegheny General Hospital Hearing and Balance Center, PA 15212, USA.
• Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2002 May 1;126(5):512-7.

ObjectivesHydroxyapatite cement cranioplasty (HAC) after translabyrinthine resection of acoustic neuroma is a promising new technique for wound reconstruction. This study reviews the efficacy of HAC for the prevention of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage and the long-term wound outcomes of HAC versus abdominal fat graft (AFG) reconstruction.MethodsThis retrospective study of l08 consecutive acoustic neuromas operated on by Pittsburgh Ear Associates uses chart review, telephone interview, and mail questionnaire data. Fifty-four patients received AFG dural repair, and 54 patients received HAC.ResultsSeven AFG patients (12.5%) had CSF leaks versus 2 (3.7%) of the overall group of 54 HAC patients. However, none (0%) of the 47 HAC patients had CSF leakage with current HAC techniques. HAC also produced significantly less postauricular wound depression and superior cosmetic results in comparison with AFG. Although HAC patients experienced less postoperative discomfort, wound complications requiring medical or surgical intervention were extremely uncommon in both groups.ConclusionHAC offers significant CSF leakage control and long-term cosmetic and comfort advantages over AFG alone. We recommend HAC as the standard closure technique for translabyrinthine acoustic neuroma surgery.

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