Aerobic and anaerobic bacteriology of concurrent chronic otitis media with effusion and chronic sinusitis in children.

OBJECTIVE To correlate the aerobic and anaerobic microbiologic findings of concurrent chronic otitis media with effusion and chronic maxillary sinusitis. METHODS Cultures were obtained from 32 children with concurrent chronic otitis media with effusion and maxillary sinusitis who underwent tympanostomy tube placement. RESULTS A total of 42 isolates, 24 aerobic and 18 anaerobic, were recovered from 30 patients; 27 were isolated from both sites, 4 from the ear only, and 11 from the sinus only. The most common isolates were Haemophilus influenzae (9 isolates), Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 7), Prevotella species (n = 8), and Peptostreptococcus species (n = 6). Microbiological concordance between the ear and sinus was found in 22 (69%) of culture-positive patients. CONCLUSION The concordance in recovery of organisms in more than two thirds of the patients illustrates the common bacterial etiology between chronic otitis media with effusion and chronic sinusitis in children.