Perilymph fistula: the Iowa experience.

Ninety-one patients with demonstrable perilymph fistulas presented with an amazing array of signs and symptoms ranging from unilateral tinnitus and aural fullness to sudden-and-profound hearing loss, roaring tinnitus, and whirling vertigo. Between 1977 and 1984, 214 exploratory tympanotomies for suspected perilymph fistula (PLF) were performed on 177 patients. One hundred six primary (initial) fistulas were found in 95 ears and 26 recurrent fistulas were identified. Eighty-two percent of the 91 patients with PLF had auditory symptoms, 8% with auditory symptoms as the sole complaint. Eighty-one percent of the patients had vestibular symptoms, 12% with vestibular symptoms alone. The type of hearing loss and the nature of the vestibular symptoms were widely variable. Of the 58 patients with preoperative auditory symptoms, 49% had improved hearing (23% improved to serviceable range), after closure of PLFs. Ninety-five percent of the patients who presented with vestibular symptoms had elimination of or decrease in their dizziness to the extent that it no longer interfered with their daily activities. The highest incidence of recurrent fistula was associated with grafts using fatty tissue. Patients with Mondini deformity were at particularly high risk for fistula recurrence.