Effect of use of mitomycin C on the outcome of Choanal atresia repair.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effectiveness of topical mitomycin C (MMC) on outcome of endoscopic repair of choanal atresia (CA) in cases that had never had this operation and when nasal stent was not used.

METHODS: Endoscopic repair of CA was performed in 20 children at King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between January 1999 and October 2005. Intra-operative application of topical MMC (0.4 mg/mL for 4 minutes) was carried out in 13 children, and 7 children did not receive MMC. The follow-up period ranged between 9 months and 6 years. The association between the 2 categorical variables was investigated using Fisher's exact test.

RESULTS: Sixty-nine percent of the cases receiving MMC had a successful outcome compared with 57% of non-MMC cases, however, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.230). In unilateral CA, 70% of those who received MMC had a successful outcome compared with 60% of those who did not; again the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.566). Successful outcome was considered when the posterior choana was patent during the successive follow up, without the need for revision surgeries.

CONCLUSIONS: We did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference between the percentages of children treated with MMC versus no-MMC who remained patent after surgery.