The role of nasal allergy in otitis media with effusion. A clinical study.

In order to clarify the role of Type I immunologic reactions in the etiology of otitis media with effusion (OME), kindergarten and elementary school children were given routine nasal allergy (NA) tests and otologic tests. Several children among them were evaluated for eustachian tube (ET) function before and after the intranasal histamine challenge, using the inflation-deflation test, and the nine-step inflation and deflation tympanometric test. The results clarified that NA-patients showed a high ratio (21%) of complication with OME, and that OME-patients showed a high ratio (50%) of complication with NA. It was also found that the incidence of tubal dysfunction was higher in OME-patients with NA than in OME-patients without NA. The man period of time between the removal and replacement of a tympanostomy tube was 11 months in OME-patients with NA who underwent hyposensitization; whereas the mean period of time was 2 months in OME-patients with NA who underwent no treatment for NA. The findings of the present study suggest that NA affects tubal function (even if the effect is temporary), and that NA may be a risk factor in OME-prone children.