2005 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 215-218
Eosinophilic otitis media (EOM) is an intractable otitis media characterized by persistent viscous middle ear effusion and granulation tissue in the middle ear. Patients with EOM often have adult-onset bronchial asthma. Some of these patients show severe and progressive sensorineural hearing loss as well as conductive hearing loss. Despite an increasing number of reports of EOM, its nature and pathogenesis are not fully understood. This study was performed to investigate the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of EOM.
Forty-two patients who had adult-onset bronchial asthma were enrolled in this study. Seventeen (40.5%) patients had nasal allergy, and 15 (35.7%) had bilateral nasal polyps. Concerning ear diseases, 17 patients, 29 ears (34.5%), had abnormal findings on their eardrums and 5 of these patients (10 ears, 11.9%) had EOM. In these 5 patients diagnosed of EOM, 4 patients had non-atopic bronchial asthma and 4 patients also had aspirin intolerance. These results suggest that carerful observation of ears is necessary for patients with adult-onset bronchial asthma, especially when the asthma is non-atopic or when they have aspirin intolerance.
