Secretory otitis media and mastoid air cell development.

Controversy continues over the factors involved in the development of the mastoid air cell system (MACS). This study examines the effect of persistent secretory otitis media with effusion (SOME) on the development of the MACS. Thirty-one children, aged 4, were drawn from a cohort of cleft palate children in a multi-centre, prospective otological study set up in 1984. The initial presence of SOME was assessed by otoscopy, tympanometry and bilateral myringotomy, performed under the same anaesthetic as surgical repair of the cleft lip or palate. Only one ear in each child was ventilated with a tube and the other, the control ear, was assessed by regular follow-up otoscopy and tympanometry. The persistence of SOME after palate repair in over 70% of the non-ventilated ears in 4 years olds and the presence of a contralateral ventilated middle ear provides the perfect model for assessing the effect of SOME on MACS development. Plain, lateral mastoid X-rays were assessed by planimetry to give a well accepted measurement of mastoid pneumatization. Nine children were excluded from analysis as they did not meet the strict criteria of one persistently ventilated middle ear and one with persistent SOME. 22 children (44 ears) were available for analysis, 9 children were tubed at 3 months and 13 were tubed at 12 to 16 months. In 19 of the 22 ears the mastoid air cell system was larger on the tubed side.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)