Additionally, the normal
tympanogram made conductive hearing loss from a middle ear effusion or tympanic membrane perforation unlikely.
The study group contained patients who had OME as determined by
tympanogram results and physical findings between January 2017 and October 2017.
The rescreening procedures included an otoscopic examination, a
tympanogram and a repeat DPOAE.
All examinations were carried out by the same otolaryngologist, after which
tympanogram, pure-tone audiometry (PTA), and transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) tests were conducted.
Hearing assessment was done two weeks after admission using otoacoustic emissions in the patients having normal
tympanogram. Hearing impairment was classified as sensorineural if otoacoustic emissions were absent while tympanometry was normal.
Impedance audiometry showed a
tympanogram type A bilaterally, with a stapedial reflex (SR) threshold of 95 dB (only in the case of 0.5 kHz, 1 kHz) in the right ear and 85 dB in the left ear (in the case of 0.5 kHz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz, 4 kHz).
In the study group, 15 (32.6%) children had type A
tympanogram, 7 (15.2%) had type C1, 9 (19.6%) had type C2, and 15 (32.6%) had type B
tympanogram.
Evaluation criteria for clinical efficacy are as follows: (1) cured: no feelings of ear fullness, no otorrhea or effusion, and
tympanogram converted to Type A or Type As (2) effective: residual feeling of ear fullness,
tympanogram converted to Type A or Type C, and tympanocentesis showed no effusion or presence of residual perforation without otorrhea; (3) ineffective: no improvement in feeling of ear fullness or hearing loss, still presenting with a blue eardrum, coffee-colored liquid obtained on tympanocentesis or residual perforation accompanied by otorrhea, and
tympanogram was still Type B; (4) recurrence: the symptoms reappeared after the patient was cured or showed improvement for 1 year.
In this study, children with CLP present normal hearing and
tympanogram type C, due to chronic alterations in ME, as demonstrated in Table 1.
According to the facial palsy protocol,
tympanogram and acoustic reflex were determined as audio-logic work-up to assess the level of facial nerve lesion on at least two occasions at 3-week interval or at the most on four occasions at 12-week interval.
Children whose ear infections involve severe bulging of the eardrum are likely to benefit from antibiotic treatment, while children with a peaked
tympanogram pattern are likely to recover from the infections without the use of antibiotics, according to study results.