BACKGROUND The prevalence of otitis media in Greenlandic children is one of the highest in the world. International studies have shown that otitis-prone children may benefit from tubulation of the tympanic membrane. However, it is unknown whether these results can be applied to Greenlandic children and trials on the effects of ventilation tubes in high-risk populations have, to our knowledge, n...

Hyperplasia of the middle ear mucosa contributes to the sequelae of acute otitis media. Understanding the signal transduction pathways that mediate hyperplasia could lead to the development of new therapeutic interventions for this disease and its sequelae. Endotoxin derived from bacteria involved in middle ear infection can contribute to the hyperplastic response. The p38 mitogen-activated pro...

BACKGROUND Acute otitis media is a common reason for antibiotic prescribing, despite strong evidence that antibiotics provide minimal benefit. Studies have demonstrated that patients' (or parents') expectations of antibiotics often influence general practitioners' (GPs) decision to prescribe antibiotics, but few have explored parents' expectations of the management of infections in children, or...

Otitis externa is no longer viewed as an isolated disease of the ear canal, but is a syndrome that is often a reflection of underlying dermatological disease. Causes are classified as predisposing (increase the risk of otitis); primary (directly induce otitis), secondary (contribute to otitis only in an abnormal ear or in conjunction with predisposing factors) and perpetuating (result from infl...

OBJECTIVE Otitis media management involves both primary and specialist health care. The present study used data on GP referrals to estimate the proportion of children with otitis media referred from primary to specialist care, study variation in referral pattern and factors that influence GP behaviour. METHODS Data on general practitioners' view on collaborative aspects of specialist health c...

OBJECTIVE To determine the long term effects of antibiotic treatment for acute otitis media in young children. DESIGN Prospective three year follow-up study within the framework of a primary care based, double blind, randomised, placebo controlled trial. SETTING 53 general practices in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS 168 children aged 6 months to 2 years with acute otitis media. INTERVENT...

This study investigated the frequency of vestibular disorders in developmentally disabled preschoolers who did and who did not have a history of otitis media. Fifteen children with a history of otitis media and fifteen children with no history of otitis media were given two tests for vestibular functioning: the Southern California Postrotary Nystagmus Test (SCPNT) and the Lateral Labyrinthine R...

BACKGROUND Individual trials to test effectiveness of antibiotics in children with acute otitis media have been too small for valid subgroup analyses. We aimed to identify subgroups of children who would and would not benefit more than others from treatment with antibiotics. METHODS We did a meta-analysis of data from six randomised trials of the effects of antibiotics in children with acute ...

The Japanese guidelines for acute otitis media in children recommend classifying acute otitis media by age, manifestations and local findings, and also recommend myringotomy for moderate-grade cases with severe local findings, severe-grade cases, and treatment-resistant cases. The heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine was released in Japan in February 2010. In Hiroshima City, public fundin...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the therapeutic effects in terms of disease clearance and hearing improvement of canal wall up mastoidectomy in combination with Type I tympanoplasty in otitis media. METHODS A total of 78 patients (81 ears) with otitis media were treated by canal wall up mastoidectomy in combination with Type I tympanoplasty. The postoperative tympanic membrane morphology, average of pu...