Otitis Media with Effusion
To view the entire topic, please log in or purchase a subscription.
5-Minute Clinical Consult (5MCC) app and website powered by Unbound Medicine helps you diagnose and manage 900+ medical conditions. Exclusive bonus features include Diagnosaurus DDx, 200 pediatrics topics, and medical news feeds. Explore these free sample topics:
-- The first section of this topic is shown below --
Basics
Description
- Otitis media with effusion (OME) is defined as the presence of fluid in the middle ear in the absence of acute signs or symptoms of infection.
- More commonly, a pediatric disease
- May occur spontaneously from poor eustachian tube function or as an inflammatory response after acute otitis media (AOM)
- Synonyms: serous otitis media, secretory otitis media, nonsuppurative otitis media, “ear fluid,” or “glue ear”
Epidemiology
Incidence
Approximately 90% of children have OME before school age, mostly between the ages of 6 months and 4 years.
- Approximately 2.2 million new cases annually in the United States
- Less prevalent in adults and is usually associated with an underlying disorder
Etiology and Pathophysiology
- Chronic inflammatory condition where an underlying stimulus causes an inflammatory reaction with increased mucin production creating a functional blockage of the eustachian tube and thick accumulation of mucin-rich middle ear effusion
- Young children are more prone to OME due to shorter and more horizontal eustachian tubes, which become more vertical around 7 years of age.
- Biofilms, anatomic variations, and AOM caused by viruses or bacteria have been implicated as stimuli causing OME. The common pathogens causing AOM include nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Moraxella catarrhalis.
- In adults, OME is often associated with paranasal sinus disease (66%), smoking-induced nasopharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia and adult onset adenoidal hypertrophy (19%), or head and neck tumors (4.8%).
Risk Factors
General Prevention
OME is generally not preventable, although lowering smoke exposure, breastfeeding, and avoiding child care centers at an early age may decrease the risk.
-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please log in or purchase a subscription --
Basics
Description
- Otitis media with effusion (OME) is defined as the presence of fluid in the middle ear in the absence of acute signs or symptoms of infection.
- More commonly, a pediatric disease
- May occur spontaneously from poor eustachian tube function or as an inflammatory response after acute otitis media (AOM)
- Synonyms: serous otitis media, secretory otitis media, nonsuppurative otitis media, “ear fluid,” or “glue ear”
Epidemiology
Incidence
Approximately 90% of children have OME before school age, mostly between the ages of 6 months and 4 years.
- Approximately 2.2 million new cases annually in the United States
- Less prevalent in adults and is usually associated with an underlying disorder
Etiology and Pathophysiology
- Chronic inflammatory condition where an underlying stimulus causes an inflammatory reaction with increased mucin production creating a functional blockage of the eustachian tube and thick accumulation of mucin-rich middle ear effusion
- Young children are more prone to OME due to shorter and more horizontal eustachian tubes, which become more vertical around 7 years of age.
- Biofilms, anatomic variations, and AOM caused by viruses or bacteria have been implicated as stimuli causing OME. The common pathogens causing AOM include nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Moraxella catarrhalis.
- In adults, OME is often associated with paranasal sinus disease (66%), smoking-induced nasopharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia and adult onset adenoidal hypertrophy (19%), or head and neck tumors (4.8%).
Risk Factors
General Prevention
OME is generally not preventable, although lowering smoke exposure, breastfeeding, and avoiding child care centers at an early age may decrease the risk.
There's more to see -- the rest of this entry is available only to subscribers.