Background: Certain indigenous populations have been noted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to havethe highest prevalence ratesforchronicsuppurativeotitis media (CSOM), including the Australian Aborigines (28-43%), Greenlanders (2-10%) and Alaskan Eskimos (2-10%). Objectives: To determine the prevalence of common ear problems, particularly CSOM, among the indigenous Ati or Aeta community in Bolabog, Boracay, and to determine their hearing sensitivity using screening audiometry. Methods: Study Design - Descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting - A small Ati community in Bolabog, Boracay. Population - A total of 63 adults and children underwent medical interview and otoscopy. Additionally 24 had their hearing screened by audiometry. Results: About a quarter of the population participated in the study, including 41 children (40 percent of all children) and 22 adults (18 percent of all adults). Forty-six percent of children and 23 percent of adults who were examined had previous history of ear discharge, while 22 percent of children and 45 percent of adults who were examined had history of hearing loss. Seventeen percent of children had history of hearing loss in the family. CSOM was found in 18 (43.90 percent) children and 8 (36.36 percent) adults. Impacted cerumen was found in 17.1 percent of children. Eleven female children underwent screening audiometry. Of these, eight had normal hearing and three had abnormal findings. Thirteen adults were also tested, five of whom were male and had normal hearing bilaterally. Four of eight female adults had abnormal hearing, of which three were unilateral. Conclusions: The Ati population in Bolabog, Boracay belongs to a group with the highest prevalence rates for CSOM (27.0 percent). A bigger sample for screening audiometry is required for proper estimation of hearing loss prevalence. Both environmental and genetic factors may have increased the prevalence of CSOM in the Ati population of Boracay. (Author)
HEARING LOSS OTITIS MEDIA OTITIS MEDIA ; SUPPURATIVE

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chronic ear surgery is one of the most common procedures performed for hearing gain. The two methods, which are used for evaluating hearing ability of the patients, are the `15/30 dB rule of thumb' and the `Glasgow Benefit Plot'. Few studies in the literature have reported hearing results by the Glasgow benefit plot method. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree of binaural hearing benefit after chronic ear surgery by the Glasgow benefit plot method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-five records were selected from database of 1300 chronic ear surgery performed from 1989 through 2001. All subjects had bilateral hearing loss greater than 30 dB hearing level and could be followed up audiometrically longer than 12 months after the surgery. RESULTS: From the Glasgow benefit plot method, the same hearing (inter-aural difference < or =10 dB in air conduction threshold) was achieved in 40% of the subjects (26/65), and better hearing (>10 dB in air conduction threshold better than those of non-operated ear) was achieved in 25% of the subjects (16/65). CONCLUSION: The Glasgow benefit plot method is a useful method for evaluating subjective benefit of binaural hearing in bilateral chronic otitis media after chronic ear surgery. It has encouraged surgeons to look at the results of their surgery from a more functional standpoint rather than in purely technical terms.
Ear ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Otitis Media* ; Otitis*

Serous or suppurative labyrinthitis is one of the intratemporal complications of acute or chronic otitis media. Labyrinthitis can occur by meningogenic or hematogenous infection. Major symptoms of labyrinthitis are vertigo and hearing loss. The disease progresses in two phases; serous labyrinthitis, so called toxic labyrinthitis, and suppurative labyrinthitis. If labyrinthitis treated at serous phase, hearing could be saved. But, if the disease progressed to suppurative phase, hearing loss is difficult to recover. Therefore it is very important to distinguish these two phases of labyrinthitis when treating the patient. In general, the direction of nystagmus during labyrinthitis is helpful sign to distinguish these two phases. We report here on an unusual case of acute serous labyrinthitis complicated with chronic otitis media showing atypical pattern with a review of the related literatures.
Ear, Inner ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Labyrinthitis ; Otitis ; Otitis Media ; Vertigo

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Obliterative otitis media is a condition in which the entire middle ear cavity is filled up with fibrous tissue and with intact tympanic membrane. The aim of this study was to define the clinical features and analyze the treatment outcomes of this disease. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Between January 2000 and August 2011, 16 patients consistent with the criteria of obliterative otitis media were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: All patients had intact but thickened eardrum, with mixed hearing loss of mild to moderate degree. The video pneumatic otoscopic examination revealed very limited mobility of eardrum. Myringotomy did not reveal any air-filled spaces or fluid in the tympanic cavity. There was no significant improvement of hearing after myringotomy or ventilation tube insertion. CONCLUSION: Obliterative otitis media is a discrete clinical entity and should not be confused with otitis media with effusion or adhesive otitis media.
Adhesives ; Ear, Middle ; Eustachian Tube ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural ; Humans ; Otitis ; Otitis Media ; Otitis Media with Effusion ; Tympanic Membrane ; Ventilation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Injection of endotoxin into the middle ear of experimental animals results in otitis media with effusion and transient reversible hearing loss, which occurs in the higher concentration of endotoxin than the concentration found in human middle ear effusion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the histopathologic changes of the cochlea in guinea pigs with experimental otitis media with effusion induced by E.coli endotoxin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Concentrations of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from E.coli, such as 0.1 mg/ml, 1 mg/ml, and 10 mg/ml, were instillated into the middle ear cavity of 30 normal guinea pigs. Histopathologic changes of the cochlea were observed at 1 week after endotoxin instillation, using both light and electron microscope. Six normal guinea pigs were used as a control group whose middle ears were instillated with the physiologically sterile saline. RESULTS: There were deformation in the organ of Corti, partial loss of stereocilia in the hair cells, and vacuolation in stria vascularis at a concentration of 10 mg/ml lipopolysaccharides from E. coli. Mild morphologic abnormality of the cochlea was observed at the concentrations of 1 mg/ml and 0.1 mg/ml. CONCLUSION: A higher concentration of LPS in the middle ear cavity may produce severe inner ear damage, possibly resulting in the sensorineural hearing loss.
Animals ; Cochlea ; Ear, Inner ; Ear, Middle ; Guinea Pigs ; Hair ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Humans ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Organ of Corti ; Otitis Media with Effusion* ; Otitis Media* ; Otitis* ; Pathology* ; Stereocilia ; Stria Vascularis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study aims to evaluate that usefulness of the endoscopic ear surgery (EES) through the systematic review. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We searched literatures in literature databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, etc.). Inclusion criteria is 1) studies of patients with chronic otitis media, otitis media with effusion, cholesteatoma, conductive hearing loss, mixed hearing loss etc. 2) studies in which a transcanal endoscopic surgery was performed; and 3) studies in which one or more of the appropriate medical outcomes have been reported. We excluded that 1) non-human studies and pre-clinical studies; 2) non-original articles, for example, non-systematic reviews; editorial, letter and opinion pieces; 3) research not published in Korean and English; and 4) grey literature. Finally, 65 articles were selected and those results were analyzed. RESULTS: The safety of the EES was reported in 61 articles. Some studies reported damaged facial nerve or perilymph gusher but these are the complications that can arise due to the characteristics of the disease and not due to the EES and other reported complications were of similar or lower level in the intervention group rather than the microscopy group. The effectiveness of the EES was reported in 23 articles. The EES tended to show improved effects in terms of graft uptake status, cholesteatoma removal, and hearing improvement although effective outcomes of most studies reported no significant difference between EES and microscopic ear surgery. CONCLUSION: EES is a safe and effective technique and as it is less invasive than the microscopic ear surgery.
Cholesteatoma ; Ear ; Endoscopes ; Facial Nerve ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural ; Humans ; Methods ; Microscopy ; Otitis Media ; Otitis Media with Effusion ; Otologic Surgical Procedures ; Perilymph ; Transplants

PURPOSE: Patients with Turner syndrome have been frequently suspected to have associated various otologic disorders and hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the otologic problems in children with Turner Syndrome. METHODS: Twenty patients aged 5 to 20 years who were diagnosed as Turner syndrome were evaluated audiologically. RESULTS: Five subjects (25.0%) had previous histories of otitis media. An audiological examination was performed for all subjects and revealed normal hearing in 13 patients (65.0%), unilateral hearing loss in 3 patients (15.0%) and bilateral hearing loss in 4 patients (20.0%). Type of the hearing loss was conductive in 3 ears (7.5%), mixed in 2 ears (5.0%) and sensorineural in 6 ears (15.0%). Degree of hearing loss was mild in 9 ears, moderate in 1 ear and moderately severe in 1 ear. The incidence of hearing loss according to the karyotype revealed 10 ears (41.7%) in total deletion of Xp but only 1 ear (6.3%) in partial deletion of Xp. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that the otitis media and hearing loss were one of the common findings in children with Turner syndrome. These results emphasize the importance of regular otological examinations and audiological evaluation in children with Turner syndrome for quality of life.
Child* ; Ear ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; Hearing Loss, Unilateral ; Humans ; Incidence ; Karyotype ; Otitis Media ; Quality of Life ; Turner Syndrome*

Otitls media is one of the most common diseases during childhood with a peak incidence and prevalence from 6 to 20 months of age. It is the most frequent disease managed with antibiotics in children. The infection typically develops as a result of bacterial contamination through the Eustachian tube in the presence of preexisting inflammation in the middle ear. The optimal method of management remains open to question and is the subject of continuing controversy. Over-diagnosis of the disease and unnecessary prescription of antibiotics for this condition have contributed to the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Thus, the differential diagnosis between acute otitis media and otitis media with effusion is important to determine the management strategy; whether to use antibiotics and which antibiotics to use when necessary. Otitis media may be accompanied by a variable degree of conductive hearing loss. Both infectious and noninfectious complications of otitis media may result in significant morbidity and complications, including acute and chronic mastoiditis, petrositis, and intracranial infection.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Child* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Ear, Middle ; Eustachian Tube ; Hearing Loss, Conductive ; Humans ; Incidence ; Inflammation ; Mastoid ; Mastoiditis ; Otitis Media with Effusion ; Otitis Media* ; Otitis* ; Petrositis ; Prescriptions ; Prevalence

Eosinophilic otitis media is characterized by thickened, bulging and pale tympanic membrane with viscous or gelatinous secretion in the middle ear cavity. Gelatin-like fluid contains many eosinophils and this disease may occur in patients with adult onsetbronchial asthma. It is intractable otitis media which resists all therapy including myringostomy and tympanomastoidectomy due to abnormal mucosa until the allergic factor is controlled. In these patients, oral steroid is very effective in controlling the disease. Major complication of eosinophilic otitis media is sensorineural hearing loss which may occur despite steroid therapy. We report two cases of patients with bilateral otitis media with bronchial asthma, which were treated with oral and topical steroid therapies.
Adult ; Asthma ; Ear, Middle ; Eosinophils* ; Fibrinogen ; Gelatin ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Humans ; Mucous Membrane ; Otitis Media with Effusion ; Otitis Media* ; Otitis* ; Tympanic Membrane

OBJECTIVES: To analyze frequency-specific hearing results after surgery for chronic ear diseases while considering pathological findings and various surgical factors. METHODS: Patients who underwent surgical management of chronic otitis media were reviewed retrospectively (n=559). Using pure tone audiometry, air conduction (AC), bone conduction (BC), and air bone gap (ABG) change between pre- and post-operative tests were calculated for the frequencies of 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 (AC and BC), and 6,000 Hz (AC). Frequency-specific results were investigated, considering various surgical factors, such as type of surgery, type of ossiculoplasty and pathological findings. RESULTS: AC results in the intact canal wall mastoidectomy showed improvement at each frequency except 4,000, 6,000 Hz. AC results in the tympanoplasty showed improvement at each frequency except 6,000 Hz. AC and ABG results in the open cavity mastoidectomy showed improvement only at the frequencies of 250, 500, 2,000 Hz. AC and ABG improved at low and mid frequencies but not in high frequencies above 3,000 Hz when ossicular reconstruction was conducted. AC and ABG results also improved at low and mid frequencies in the cholesteatoma, and ABG results improved at all frequencies except 3,000 Hz in the non-cholesteatoma. CONCLUSION: After chronic ear surgery, AC and ABG changes improved, primarily in the low and mid frequencies. Further evaluation and studies for post-operative hearing loss at high frequencies are recommended for rehabilitation of hearing ability after surgery.
Audiometry ; Bone Conduction ; Cholesteatoma ; Ear ; Ear Diseases ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Otitis Media ; Retrospective Studies ; Tympanoplasty