Condition of Contralateral Ear in Chronic Otitis Media

Abstract

Background and objectives: Chronic otitis media is defined as a continuous and enduring inflammation and infection of middle ear cleft and mastoid air cells for more than 6 weeks. It is characterized by its destructive disease of middle ear in nature. The contralateral ear is defined as an ear that the patient does not complaining off, because of either ignorance or not causing discomfort in comparison to the diseased ear, or it may be totally normal and have nothing to complain. The aim of this study was to declare the condition of contralateral ear in chronic otitis media. Methods: Two hundred patients were selected randomly. The diseased ear was marked as complaining ear and other as contralateral ear. Both ears examined by otoscope, microscope and endoscopically, thereafter tuning fork tests done for both ears (Rinne and Weber tests), and then patients were assessed audiologically by (pure tone audiometry and tympanometry). Results: According to the current study 35.5% of patients have had some problems in the contralateral ear, from which 8% of patients had tympanic membrane perforation. 19% of encircled patients had conductive hearing loss, followed by 11.5% of patients had sensorineural hearing loss and 5% of patients had mixed hearing loss. Conclusions: Current study concluded the result that most of the time there may be an abnormality in contralateral ear in chronic otitis media therefore thorough examination of contralateral ear is indicated in every case of chronic otitis media.