The fate of cartilage grafts for ossicular reconstruction in tympanoplasty.

Summary--Six autograft tragal cartilages and two preserved homograft nasal septal cartilages removed from revision tympanoplasty were examined with histologic and histochemical stains. The implanted cartilage remained in the middle ear from six months to eighteen months without significant inflammatory reaction or evidence of resorption. It appears that the implanted cartilages removed from tympanoplasty have been well tolerated in the middle ear space.