Endoscope-Assisted Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence Repair: Single Institution Outcomes

Objective: To compare outcomes of endoscope-assisted middle cranial fossa MCF) repair of superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) compared to microscopic MCF repair. Study design: Retrospective cohort. Setting: Tertiary medical center neurotology practice. Methods: Retrospective chart review and cohort study of patients who underwent surgical repair of SSCD via MCF approach from 2010 to 2019 at our institution. Patients were categorized according to use of endoscope intraoperatively. Pre- and post-operative symptom number was calculated from 8 patient-reported symptoms. Pre- and post-operative changes in symptom number were assessed using paired t-tests. Single-predictor binary logistic regression was used to compare final reported symptoms between cohorts. Linear regression was performed to assess air-bone gap (ABG) changes postoperatively between cohorts. Results: Forty-six patients received surgical management for SSCD. Of these, 27 (59%) were male and 19 (41%) were female. Bilateral SSCD was present in 14 cases (29%), of which 3 underwent surgical management bilaterally, for a total of 49 surgical ears. Surgery was performed on the right ear in 19 cases (39%) and on the left in 30 cases (61%). Forty ears (82%) underwent microscopic repair while 9 (18%) underwent endoscope-assisted repair. Microscopic and endoscope-assisted MCF repair both demonstrated significantly improved symptom number postoperatively (P < .001 for each). There was no significant difference in change in ABG between the 2 cohorts. On average, patient-reported symptoms and audiometrically-tested hearing improved postoperatively in both groups. Conclusion: While endoscopic-assisted MCF repair has the potential to provide better visualization of medial and downslope defects, repair via this technique yields similar results and is equivalent to MCF repair utilizing the microscope alone.