Background: To compare the functional and anatomical results of two different types of grafts in type 1 tympanoplasty (TPL I). Methods: A retrospective comparative bicentric study was conducted on patients treated with TPL I using temporal fascia or tragal cartilage. We evaluated the functional and anatomical results with intergroup and intragroup analyses. Variables predicting long-term success were also evaluated. Results: A total of 142 patients (98 fascia graft vs. 44 cartilage) were initially assessed, with a mean follow-up of 67.1 ± 3.2 months. No significant differences were observed between the two groups on the intergroup analysis of age, gender, ear side, or pre-operative hearing data (all p > 0.05). At the intragroup analysis of auditory outcomes, both groups demonstrated a significant improvement in post-operative air conduction, with greater gain for the fascia group at 6 months follow-up (p < 0.001 for both); however, at long-term follow-up, cartilage demonstrated better stability results (p < 0.001). When comparing the pre-and post-operative air-bone-gap (ABG), both groups showed a significant gain (p < 0.001); the fascia group showed that at 6 months, a greater ABG increase was found, but the difference was not statistically significant (4.9 ± 0.9 dB vs. 5.3 ± 1.2 dB; p = 0.04). On the contrary, the cartilage group at long-term follow-up at 5 years maintained greater outcomes (10 ± 1.6 dB vs. 6.4 ± 2 dB; p < 0.001). Lower age (F = 4.591; p = 0.036) and higher size of perforation (F = 4.820; p = 0.030) were predictors of long-term functional success. Conclusions: The graft material selection should consider several factors influencing the surgical outcome. At long-term follow-up, the use of a cartilage graft could result in more stable audiological outcomes, especially in younger patients or in case of wider perforations.

Hearing loss can seriously impact children’s daily life. This study aims to translate and validate the French versions of the hearing performance questionnaires, SSQ-Parent (for 5–18 years old chil...

Hearing loss can seriously impact children’s quality of life. Disease-specific questionnaires are required to optimise medical care. This study aims to translate, adapt and validate the French version of the PEACH score for the auditory performance of children. This is a controlled, prospective study, conducted between April and October 2020. The translation was conducted using a forward-backward technique, and statistical validation was conducted with a test and re-test, on a patient population and a control population. Patients were included if they were 1–11 years old, and had at least 30 dB hearing loss in one ear. The mean age was 6 years for the 39 patients and 3.9 years for the 34 controls. Reproducibility, measured by Spearman’s coefficient between global scores of the test and re-test was 0.78 (p < 0.001). The test was internally consistent (Cronbach’s alpha was 0.89) and item per item construct validity was satisfactory. The ROC curve showed a moderate area under the curve (0.74 p < 0.001) with 67% sensitivity and 73% specificity. The French PEACH had good statistical properties, although a brief 13-item questionnaire, and can be used for evaluation of the disease-specific quality of life for young children with hearing loss.

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) are now an integral part of clinical and academic practice in ENT, and it is essential to have tools with a validated French version. However, there are no guidelines on ENT questionnaires available in French or those that could have transcultural adaptation. The present study, under the auspices of the ENT National Professional Council and the French Society of ENT, inventoried PROMs, for each super-specialty and pathology, meeting one of the following inclusion criteria: validated French version, not translated but used internationally (i.e., translated into other languages and widely cited since 2017), or subjectively deemed useful by experts in the super-specialty in question. In total, 103 questionnaires were identified. To encourage and accompany their intercultural adaptation and statistical validation, this article presents the rationale and methodology of such an undertaking. PROMs either already validated in French or which it would be useful to translate were inventoried. The methodology of translation and validation to guarantee reliability and relevance is presented.

Background: Stapes prosthesis dislocation is the first cause of revision stapes surgery. To our knowledge, there is no data about stability of the incus attachment of manual crimped prosthesis of different materials. This study aimed to compare the dislocation incidence between titanium and fluoroplastic stapes prostheses. Method: A monocentric retrospective cohort study was conducted between January 2013 and June 2022 in a tertiary-care center. All patients that underwent a primary stapes surgery with manually crimped fluoroplastic or titanium prostheses were included. Prosthesis dislocation from the incus was identified intraoperatively or with CT scan. The incidence of stapedial prosthesis dislocation over time was estimated using the Kalbfleisch and Prentice survival analysis method. Other indications for revision surgery prior to prosthesis dislocation were considered as competing events. Differences in the cumulative incidence functions between the fluoroplastic group and the titanium group was assessed using the Gray's test. Results: Eight hundred and fifty-five patients underwent primary stapes surgery during the study period. Fluoroplastic prosthesis was used in 758 (88.7%) cases and titanium prosthesis in 97 (11.3%) cases. Median follow-up was 51.7 months (28.4–80.1). Dislocation was observed in 23 (3.0%) patients with fluoroplastic prosthesis and none (0.0%) in the titanium group. The probability of prosthesis dislocation at two years after surgery was 3.5% in the Teflon group and 0.0% in the Titanium group. No significant difference was found in the cumulative incidence of prosthesis dislocation between the fluoroplastic group and the titanium group (p = 0.12). Conclusions: Despite lack of statistical power, our results suggest a trend in a more stable incus attachment of manually crimped titanium stapes prosthesis compared to fluoroplastic over time. Further prospective randomized studies could be valuable to assess our findings. Graphical