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Uptake and release of ethyl alcohol by homograft ossicles and cartilage

Storage in ethyl alcohol solution is a commonly-used, convenient method of preservation. Alcohol, nevertheless, has destructive effects on the membranous labyrinth and can be used expressly for this purpose in labyrinthectomy. It is most important, therefore, that alcohol should be washed out from any homograft prior to implant and in tympanoplasty the removal of alcohol from homograft material is achieved by washing in isotonic saline solution. The duration for washing is often variable and mainly depends upon the length of operation, although Smyth and Kerr (1971) who use 70 per cent alcohol suggest that washing for half an hour is adequate. The present study was designed to estimate the quantity of alcohol taken up by homograft material and its rate of release into isotonic saline solution. It was initiated following a case in which a sensorineural hearing loss occurred after an uneventful atraumatic tympanoplasty in which a homograft incus stored in 90 per cent alcohol had been used. The duration of washing was uncertain but clearly the surgeon had regarded it as adequate.