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Purpose: Intralabyrinthine schwannomas (ILSs) are an uncommon finding. Diagnosis is challenging and no gold standard treatment exists yet. In this article, we present a two-cases series and review the latest available literature to assess the best diagnostic and therapeutic scheme., Methods: We reviewed the latest available literature assessing most frequent and relevant sets of symptoms, clinical features of the disease, diagnostic tests and imaging, possible treatments and after-surgery hearing rehabilitation techniques. We then compared literature data to our own series ones., Results: ILSs clinical presentation and development may overlap with other, more common otological conditions. Full audiometric battery test, electrophysiological study of VEMPS and MRI with contrast enhancement all appear to be critical to correctly diagnose these tumors. Several treatments exist: radiological follow-up, radiation therapy, full or partial surgical excision. Hearing rehabilitation is mostly accomplished through simultaneous cochlear implantation., Conclusions: Our case-series data matches the available literature. ILSs are a rare type of vestibular schwannomas. Diagnosis in challenging and delayed in time as all the diagnostic tests, yet sensitive, are not specific for ILSs. The most suitable treatment seems to be surgical excision of these tumors followed by simultaneous cochlear implantation to restore hearing., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Purpose: To evaluate the recently proposed SAMEO-ATO framework for middle ear and mastoid surgery, by correlating it with the functional outcome in a large cohort of patients operated for middle ear and mastoid cholesteatoma in a tertiary referral center., Methods: We retrospectively included all surgeries for middle ear and mastoid cholesteatoma undergone in our Department between January 2009 and December 2014, by excluding revision surgeries, congenital and petrous bone cholesteatoma. All surgeries were classified according to the SAMEO-ATO framework. The post-operative air bone gap (ABG) was calculated and chosen as benchmark parameter for the correlation analysis., Results: 282 consecutive surgeries for middle ear and mastoid cholesteatoma were released in the study period on a total of 273 patients, with a mean age of 41.2 years. All patients were followed for an average period of 55.3 months. 54% of patients underwent M2c mastoidectomy (Canal Wall Down, CWD), while the remaining underwent Canal Wall Up (CWU) procedures, being M1b2a mastoidectomy the most common one (33%). Mean pre-operative and post-operative ABGs were 29.2 and 23.5 dB, with a significant improvement (p < 0.0001). 'Mastoidectomy' and 'Ossicular reconstruction' parameters of SAMEO-ATO showed significant association with postoperative ABG, with smaller residual gaps for the classes Mx and On, and worse hearing results for M3a and Ox., Conclusion: Our results show the utility of SAMEO-ATO framework, and in particular of 'M' (Mastoidectomy) and 'O' (Ossicular reconstruction) parameters, in predicting the hearing outcome., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Purpose: The evaluation of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic otitis media COM has gained attention over the past years and several questionnaires have been developed to evaluate it in affected patients. The Chronic Otitis Media Questionnaire 12 (COMQ-12) is a widely used disease-specific tool that evaluates the severity of symptoms, the specific impact on work and lifestyle, the effects on the health service, and general impact of the disease in patients with COM. The COMQ-12 questionnaire has been translated and validated into different languages; however, an Italian version is not yet available. The aim of this original study was to translate the COMQ-12 questionnaire into the Italian language and validate this new Italian language version in Italian-speaking patients with COM., Methods: The COMQ-12 was translated into Italian (COMQ-12-It) following international guidelines. Validation was performed comparing and correlating COMQ-12-It with (1) a question that addresses HRQoL, and (2) the results of a generic questionnaire assessing HRQoL, namely the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire., Results: Forty-eight patients with COM were included in the study. Cronbach's alpha was 0.80 indicating a high reliability. There was a strong positive correlation between the question that directly addressed HRQoL and total score (correlation coefficient = 0.62), while the regression analysis between total score of COMQ-12-It and EQ-5D-5L showed a positive relation but only a weak positive correlation (correlation coefficient 0.36)., Conclusions: Our study showed evidence that the Italian version of the COMQ-12 questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool to evaluate HRQoL in Italian-speaking patients with COM.