Otitis media is one of the most common illnesses in childhood and can lead to serious immediate and long-term consequences. Optimal treatment is dependent on a comprehensive understanding of the specifics of the disease, however current diagnostic procedures often lack the specificity needed to guide treatment decisions. Otitis media can present differently in each patient, including the presence or absence of infection, the degree of conductive hearing loss, and the characteristics of any effusion (e.g., volume and viscosity). We currently lack non-invasive, objective methods to assess and differentiate these characteristics, and the impact of these variations on otitis media-related hearing loss is not well understood. Our goal is to develop methods to differentiate variations in diagnostically important otitis media characteristics to better guide management. This talk will discuss the impact of variations in otitis media on both behavioral and physiologic audiological measures as well as the diagnostic potential of wideband tympanometry in characterizing these variations and otitis media-associated hearing loss.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the effect of middle-ear effusion volume on audiological outcomes in children with otitis media with effusion.
- Discuss the utility of wideband tympanometry in characterizing the volume of middle-ear effusion in ears with otitis media.
- Explain the potential of wideband tympanometry as an objective and non-invasive estimate of hearing loss caused by otitis media.
