A Comparative Study of Bacteria in the Tympanic Cavity and the Mastoid Antrum in Chronic Otitis Media

Abstract

We studied bacteria speicies isolated from the tympanic cavity and the mastoid antrum during surgeryin patients with chronic otitis media. The most frequent bacterial species in the tympanic cavities was S.aureus (22%), followed by S. epidermidis (20%), Corynebacterium (13%), and P. aeruginosa (11%). S.epidermidis (29%) was the most common organism in the mastoid antrum. In only12 (20%) of61earsexamined, bacteria were detected in both the tympanic and mastoid cavities. The ears in which S.epidermidis or P. aeruginosa was detected in the tympanic cavities tended to have a different bacteria in themastoid antrum.