Purpose of the study: This article is a retrospective review of 5 cases of delayed labyrinthine fistula in patients with a longstanding canal wall down mastoidectomy.
Material: All patients had a long-term postoperative follow up with no evidence of complications till they suddenly started to have vertigo. The symptoms were caused by a bony erosion of the lateral semicircular canal detected on physical examination or by a CT-scan. There was no evidence of a recurrent cholesteatoma.
Results: The patients underwent surgery in order to close the fistula, with a good result. In all cases, a factor such as an infection or trauma, seems to have triggered off the bone erosion.
Conclusion: Late complications may occur in the canal wall down mastoidectomy technique, after a long period of follow up in the absence of recurrent cholesteatoma. For this reason, it is advisable to look for a labyrinthine fistula in patient who develop vertigo a long time following mastoid surgery with a resultant radical cavity.