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At the 1991 annual meeting of the Triological Society held in Waikoloa, Hawaii, D. J. Premachandna, FRCS, on behalf of coworkers from Sussex and Tunbridge Wells, England, presented results of managing chronic otorrhea from mastoid bowls. This technique utilized autologous keratinocyte layers cultured from a 4 X 8-mm postauricular skin graft from the patient. Skin was cultured for 9 to 21 days and placed on one side of mesh gauze used as a carrier. This was draped over the area of granulation tissue, which had previously been prepared with bizmuth and iodoform gauze packing.
Results were reported in 26 patients with 28 open mastoid cavities; chronic otorrhea was present for 2 to 32 years. Follow-up ranged from 10 to 18 months. Complete epithelialization occurred in 17 cavities and partial epithelialization in seven cavities. There were four failures including one cholesteatoma recurrence. The authors felt that advantages with this technique included