Otitis media with effusion in children and its association with deformity of the vomero-ethmoid suture

Abstract

AbstractFifty children aged between five and eight years of age who have had proven otitis media with effusion have been retrospectively assessed. Twenty-five children who had attended the Casualty Department with head injuries, who have had X-radiography of their skulls as part of their investigation, acted as controls. All the children in this group were selected because they had no otological history.The 50 Children comprising the retrospective survey were split into two groups: Group 1, with recurrent secretory otitis media requiring surgical intervention on more than three occasions; Group 2, comprising 25 children who had had up to three surgical interventions.All the children had PA X-radiography of their skulls in order to demonstrate the bony nasal septum. In Group 1, a septal deformity was found to be sited at the middle third of the bony septum at the vomero-ethmoid suture. In Group 2, the deformity was found to involve the whole of the middle third of the bony septum, plus portions of the upper and lower thirds of the bony septum.In the control group, in whom there was no history of otological disease, there was no deformity sited at the middle third of the bony septum.