Correlation between Middle Ear Risk Index (MERI) and tympanoplasty-A prospective study

Abstract

Tympanoplasty results depend on the severity of middle ear disease present preoperatively. Various grading systems were developed for this. The present study was carried out to determine the Middle Ear Risk Index (MERI) score and categorise the patients into mild, moderate and severe MERI and study the relation between MERI and outcome of tympanoplasty. The study consisted of 50 patients undergoing tympanoplasty for mucosal or squamous type of CSOM. The MERI score was calculated. The patients were categorised into those with mild, moderate and severe MERI. The graft uptake status was assessed. The relation between MERI score and graft status was assessed by T test. The overall graft uptake was 76%. Patients with a high MERI score had low graft uptake. This study shows that MERI score is a prognostic indicator of tympanoplasty results. It is inverserly proportional to graft uptake.