OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that eustachian tube opening efficiency, measured as the fractional gradient equilibrated (FGE), is lower in 6-year-old children with no middle ear disease but a well-documented history of recurrent acute otitis media, as compared with children with a negative disease history (control). STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Tertiary care pediatric hosp...

Timmy, a two-year-old, has received two antibiotic courses (ampicillin, cefaclor) for acute otitis media during the past year. Today, his mom visits your pharmacy and mentions that they have just returned from an appointment with the boy's doctor. Timmy was diagnosed with otitis media with effusion, which the doctor described as fluid in the ears unaccompanied by fever or any signs of pain or d...

We report a case of otogenic intracranial complication. The patient was a 34-year-old female who complained of left otalgia and headache. She was hospitalized because of deterioration of her level of consciousness and high fever. On examination, her cerebrospinal fluid showed an elevated cell count. A bacterial culture of the otorrhea and cerebrospinal fluid found Streptococcus pneumoniae. A CT...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between Vitamin D deficiency and acute otitis media infection. METHODS The randomised, single-blind, case-control study was conducted at the Paediatric Department of Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey, from January to April 2010. It comprised ambulatory children diagnosed with acute otitis media and healthy controls. The subjects were divided into gr...

Innate immunity is of particular importance for protection against infection during early life, when adaptive immune responses are immature. CD14 plays key roles in innate immunity, including in defense against pathogens associated with otitis media, a major pediatric health care issue. The T allele of the CD14 C-159T polymorphism has been associated with increased serum CD14 levels. Our object...

BACKGROUND Acute otitis media with perforation (AOMwiP) affects 40% of remote Indigenous children during the first 18 months of life. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis are the primary bacterial pathogens of otitis media and their loads predict clinical ear state. Our hypothesis is that antecedent respiratory viral infection increases bacterial density an...

OBJECTIVE New vaccines that offer protection against otitis media caused by nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae and by Moraxella catarrhalis are under development. However, the potential health benefits and economic effects of such candidate vaccines have not been systematically assessed. METHODS We created a computerized model to compare the projected benefits and costs of (1) the currently a...

Some specific management options to treat and prevent otitis media and certain related conditions are related to Eustachian tube dysfunction, whereas others are not. An understanding of the role that tubal dysfunction plays in the currently available nonsurgical and surgical options can be helpful not only in the decision-making process to treat or not to treat but also the reasons for complica...

BACKGROUND Because previous studies have indicated that otitis media may be a polymicrobial disease, we prospectively analyzed middle ear effusions of children undergoing tympanostomy tube placement with multiplex polymerase chain reaction for four otopathogens. METHODS Middle ear effusions from 207 children undergoing routine tympanostomy tube placement were collected and were classified by ...

Otitis media is the most common reason for children less than 5 years of age to visit a medical practitioner. Whilst the disease rarely results in death, there is significant associated morbidity. The most common complication is loss of hearing at a critical stage of the development of speech, language and cognitive abilities in children. The cause and pathogenesis of otitis media is multifacto...