Status Of Contralateral Ear In Patients With Chronic Otitis Media

Objective: To study the status of contralateral ear in patients with chronic otitis media.Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study in patients attending GMS Memorial Academy of ENT and Head and Neck Studies, Kathmandu between July 2008 and December 2008. There were 750 patients diagnosed as having chronic otitis media (COM) squamous and mucosal type. Otoscopy was performed in all patients in such ears and the status of contralateral ear was noted. Statistical analysis was performed by simple manual analysis using frequency and percentage. Results: Out of 750 patients, 64.4% were male and 35.6% were female. Regarding types of COM, 36.0% were squamous type. In 68.4% of the patient, the contralateral ear was found to have some form of abnormalities. In mucosal type of COM, 62.9% patients had abnormal contralateral ear while in squamous type, 71.4% patients had abnormal contralateral ear. The most common findings on contralateral ear in both group of patients was retraction of the tympanic membrane.Conclusion: Patients with COM in one ear are more likely to develop some degree of disease in the contralateral ear. The squamous type of chronic otitis media had a greater chance of contralateral ear involvement.