Persistent middle ear effusion presumably biofilm-related in a paediatric patient with common variable immunodeficiency

Abstract

Bacterial biofilms play a role in upper respiratory tract diseases, including acute and chronic middle ear diseases, and are involved in chronic infections and resistance to antibiotic treatment. In particular, the nasopharynx and the surrounding tissues act as important reservoirs of resistant bacterial biofilms, which have been detected in biopsies taken from adenoid and/or middle ear mucosa of children with chronic middle ear effusion. Here we describe the management of a child with congenital immunodeficiency and a chronic middle ear effusion, resistant to traditional medical treatment and presumably due to nasopharyngeal colonization by bacterial biofilms, which has been successfully treated by means of medicated nasal douches delivering antibiotic and a biofilm-destroying compound.