[Surgical treatment of the obliterated tympanic cavity with autologous mucous membrane cell suspension].

5 patients suffering from high-grade sound conduction deafness due to extensive adhesion process on both ears underwent tympanoplasty on one of the ears. The missing tympanic mucosa was replaced by an autologous cell suspension prepared from mucosa of the maxillary sinus. 6-12 months after re-epithelialisation of the tympanic cavity, reconstruction of the ossicular chain was performed using glasionomer cement prostheses (IONOS). 3 patients showed an improvement of hearing after transplantation of the isolated mucosal cells and following replacement of auditory ossicles. One patient had good improvement of hearing already after reconstruction of the tympanic cavity. In one case reobliteration of the tympanic cavity occurred. The clinical results confirm that using mucosal cell suspensions for reepithelisation of an obliterated tympanic cavity is yet another successful step forward in reconstructive surgery of the middle ear.