Chronic serous otitis media as a manifestation of temporal meningioma

Chronic serous otitis media is a common problem in the daily routine of the otorhinolaryngologist. In the majority of cases, the cause is related to dysfunction of the eustachian tube due to viral or bacterial rhinitis and occasionally to nasopharyngeal tumors. We report a case of a patient presenting with chronic serous otitis media that was resistant to conventional therapy. MRI with gadolinium finally revealed that the middle ear fluid was caused by leakage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) due to bone destruction by a temporal meningioma. The CSF leakage was closed by surgery. Histopathology confirmed meningioma in the temporal bone.     

Primary temporal bone secretory meningioma presenting as chronic otitis media

We report an extremely rare case of a secretory meningioma primarily involving the temporal bone. A 56-year old female patient presented to us with a history of a chronic otitis media and unilateral hearing loss. Diagnostic investigations revealed a tumor arising from the temporal bone without signs of intracranial involvement. Histopathological examination showed a meningioma of the secretory type. The tumor was partially resected and serial imaging at follow-up revealed no extension of the tumor. No new symptoms developed 1 year after surgery. Secretory meningioma is a rare meningioma subtype and extracranial presentation in the temporal bone is very unusual. We present the first case of a primary temporal bone secretory meningioma in the otorhinolaryngological literature. As radical as possible surgical excision with serial imaging at follow-up is recommended.     

Serous otitis media in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Serous otitis media (SOM) is a common disease, the cause of which is not always clear. In this paper authors report the high incidence of SOM among the patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Furthermore, a comparative study about ALS and other diseases shows higher incidence of SOM in ALS. Our study indicates that SOM in ALS seems to be mainly due to muscular disturbance of eustachian tube caused by ALS, although the influence of long term supine position and nasopharyngeal irritation by nasogastric feeding tube cannot be denied in the development of SOM.     

Serous otitis media in children: implication of Alloiococcus otitidis.

OBJECTIVE: Otitis media with effusion (OME) has long been considered to be a noninfective disease resulting from a eustachian tube dysfunction. However, several microbiological techniques have shown bacteria in the middle ear fluids from patients with OME. Alloiococcus otitidis has been detected in the middle ear fluid from patients with OME. The exact role of this infectious agent in the pathogenesis of OME has yet to be elucidated. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective clinical trial. SETTING: A tertiary university-based referral center. PATIENTS: The inclusion criteria included 110 patients aged between 1 and 12 years. The control group included samples obtained from 30 healthy children undergoing a cochlear implantation. The second group included 40 middle ear effusions (MEEs) that were collected from 40 pediatric OME patients during the placement of the ventilation tube. As for the third group, they were 40 children with acute otitis media. Intervention: The bacterial analysis of the MEE was performed by means of microbiological culture-specific techniques. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Positive cultures for A. otitidis as analyzed by bacteriological analysis of samples from the middle ear mucosa and MEE. RESULTS: Bacteria were present in the culture of 72.5% (29) of the patients with OME. Alloiococcus otitidis was the most frequent bacterium in OME (48.27%) as well as Haemophilus influenzae nonserotype B (17.24%). Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most commonly detected pathogen in acute otitis media (37.5%), and then H. influenzae nonserotype B (25%). For most of the OME cases, only A. otitidis bacteria were isolated. CONCLUSION: We observed a high rate of culture positivity for A. otitidis in patients with clinical OME without suppuration. Further studies are needed to confirm whether the association of A. otitidis with OME represents causality. Antibiotic therapy aimed at A. otitidis is complicated by reported resistance, thus emphasizing the importance of our understanding of the pathogenetic role played by this organism     

Serous otitis media. An opportunity for early recognition of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

In a prospective study of 271 new patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, 36 (13.3%) were found to have cranial nerve involvement. Serous otitis media (SOM) was found in 98 (41.4%) of 237 patients who had undergone complete otologic assessment. The local control of tumor and actuarial survival of three subgroups of patients, namely, 80 patients with SOM only, 11 patients with cranial nerve palsy only, and 18 patients with both SOM and cranial nerve palsy, were analyzed. The local control of tumor was better in patients with SOM alone than in those with cranial nerve palsy alone; those patients with both SOM and cranial nerve involvement had worse local control as well as survival. As SOM is not uncommon in the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and adult-onset SOM is otherwise distinctly uncommon, this provides a good opportunity for early recognition and, perhaps, better control of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.     

Serous otitis media and immunological reactions in the middle ear mucosa

An immunohistochemical study was performed on the middle ear mucosa of 21 children with chronic serous otitis media (SOM). In 86% of the patients a highly organized lymphatic tissue was found in the middle ear mucosa which can be regarded as part of the mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT). Features of an immune complex mediated (type III) hypersensitivity reaction were absent.     

Obliterative otitis media.

The clinical history, pathology and results of tympanoplasty in 12 patients with obliterative otitis are described. The condition is characterized by an intact, not retracted, thick drum and a middle ear totally filled with fibrous tissue and small cholesterol granulomas. The tube is anatomically obstructed in most cases. The results are poor and it is concluded that tympanoplasty is not indicated in this disease.     

Effects of otitis media with effusion on auditory temporal resolution

OBJECTIVE: There is mounting evidence to suggest that otitis media with effusion (OME) is associated with auditory processing deficits that persist beyond the resolution of the peripheral hearing loss. This study investigated the residual effects of OME on auditory temporal resolution. EXPERIMENT 1: METHODS: Experiment 1 measured detection thresholds for a brief tone presented either before (backward masking) or during (simultaneous masking) a masking noise, in 6- and 8-year-old children. Six-year-olds were selected from a prospectively studied group with a lifetime known history of OME. Eight-year-old children, with a retrospectively determined history of OME, were also recruited. All children were free of OME at the time of testing. RESULTS: Regardless of OME history, 6-year-old children had similar tone thresholds on all masking tasks. In contrast, 8-year-olds with a history of recurrent OME had 18 and 4dB higher mean thresholds for the backward and simultaneous masking conditions, respectively, compared with age-matched controls. Possible explanations for these results included (i) recruitment bias, rather than OME, contributed to differences in auditory processing abilities amongst 8-year-old children, or (ii) OME impaired performance at both ages, but this was not seen in 6-year-olds due to 'ceiling' effects. EXPERIMENT 2: METHODS: To distinguish between these possibilities, Experiment 2 measured temporal resolution, using backward masking and amplitude modulation detection, in the prospectively studied group of children when they were 8 years old. RESULTS: Regardless of OME history, these 8-year-olds had similar auditory temporal processing abilities. Results from Experiment 2 suggested that recruitment bias was the most likely explanation for the difference in auditory processing abilities between 8-year-old children with and without a history of OME found in Experiment 1. Consistent with previous data, associations were found between backward masking, age and cognitive ability. CONCLUSION: There is no evidence to suggest that OME effects temporal resolution after the recovery of normal pure-tone thresholds.     

La aerosolterapia en el tratamiento de la otitis media serosa infantil

Introduction and ObjectivesWe address the efficacy of aerosol therapy in the treatment of otitis media with effusion during childhood. We study audiometric recovery in comparison with other classic treatments.Material and MethodsThis is a retrospective analysis of 37 patients suffering from otitis media with effusion treated with aerosols. We analyze the pure tone audiometry gap results for the whole sample of patients. We also evaluate the characteristics of the group of patients that had previously required surgery and the group withdrawn from aerosol therapy for not responding.ResultsThirty seven patients with a mean age of 6.8 years met the inclusion criteria. Audiometric tests were performed at the beginning of the treatment and after one month, 3 months and finally 6–12 months. In audiometric terms, 76% of the patients achieved results similar to those obtained after surgery. Seven patients were withdrawn from treatment due to poor or no response to aerosol therapy or due to a lack of collaboration. Two patients developed complications not related to aerosol therapy (tympanic perforation and cholesteatoma pearl).ConclusionThe efficacy of aerosol therapy is comparable to that obtained with classic treatments. We have found no differences in the outcomes obtained in the group previously treated with surgery. We found no indicators of poor response in those patients where the treatment failed.     

面神经减压治疗周围性面瘫32例临床分析

目的：探讨面神经减压治疗周围性面瘫的临床疗效。方法：对32例不同原因所致周围性面瘫患者行CT扫描,根据扫描结果行不同进路的面神经减压手术,术后随访0．5～2年,按H-B分级法评判面神经功能恢复程度。结果：32例中17例颞骨骨折面瘫（V级2例,Ⅵ级15例）,伤后2周内手术者13例,术后面神经功能恢复H-B Ⅰ～Ⅱ级11例,达84．6％;伤后3周手术者3例,恢复Ⅱ级2例、Ⅲ级1例;伤后8周手术者1例,仅Ⅳ级恢复。2例医源性面瘫（Ⅵ级）患者,分别在伤后2周和3周手术并为Ⅱ级和Ⅲ级恢复。13例中耳乳突病变者均在1周内手术,Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ级恢复者分别为8、2、3例。结论：选择合适的术式及时机,绝大多数外伤性或中耳胆脂瘤等所致周围性面瘫患者经面神经减压术均能取得良好效果,外伤性面瘫手术尽量在伤后2周内进行。