Seasonal differences of tympanogram and middle ear findings in children

• Published in: HNO Vol. 65; no. Suppl 1; pp. 68 - 72
• Main Authors: Knopke, S., Böttcher, A., Chadha, P., Olze, H., Bast, F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Munich Springer Medizin 2017
• Subjects: Acoustic Impedance Tests - methods; Acoustic Impedance Tests - statistics & numerical data; Adolescent; Age Distribution; Allergology; Audiometry - statistics & numerical data; Child; Child, Preschool; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Germany - epidemiology; Head and Neck Surgery; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Originalien; Otitis Media - diagnosis; Otitis Media - epidemiology; Otitis Media - physiopathology; Otorhinolaryngology; Plastic Surgery; Prevalence; Reproducibility of Results; Risk Factors; Seasons; Sensitivity and Specificity; Sex Distribution; Otitis media; Tympanic membrane; Middle ear effusion; Eustachian tube; Paracentesis
• ISSN: 0017-6192; 1433-0458
• DOI: 10.1007/s00106-016-0288-6

Background It is a known fact that bacterial or viral acute otitis media occurs more frequently in the winter months. Only a few older studies on seasonal differences in middle ear findings are available. These studies are based solely on tympanography, without correlation to intraoperative middle ear findings. This study addresses the question of whether seasonal differences can be found in the preoperative tympanogram and in the corresponding intraoperative findings in children with chronic middle ear problems. Patients and methods This retrospective study included patients who had undergone myringotomy with or without tympanostomy tube insertion at the Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin between January and December 2011. Corresponding to the catarrhal phases, winter months were defined as those from November to April; summer months from May to October. The preoperative tympanogram and the documented intraoperative middle ear finding were statistically analyzed for seasonal differences. Results A total of 654 ears from 206 male and 127 female patients with mean age 3.7 ± 2.5 years were analyzed. In the majority of cases, a type B tympanogram was found ( n  = 376; 57.5%), whereas the middle ear was filled with air in 19.1% of cases. No significant seasonal differences were found for either the intraoperative middle ear findings or the preoperative tympanograms ( p  > 0.05). Conclusion For children with a typical history of chronic otitis media without effusion and chronic tube ventilation dysfunction, myringotomy with or without tympanostomy tube insertion is indicated independently of the season. The results indicate that a wait-and-see approach with hope of improvement during the summer months is not rational.