Isolation of Chlamydia trachomatis from the middle ear aspirates of otitis media.

Chlamydia trachomatis was cultured from the middle ear aspirates of patients with acute otitis media and otitis media with effusion (OME) to assess the relationship between the microorganism and middle ear disease. The agent was recovered in 2 of 6 patients with acute otitis media, in 3 of 13 with acute OME and in 9 of 31 with chronic OME. Serum antibody to the agent was detected in 8 of 9 patients with C. trachomatis infection in the middle ear. Chlamydial infection was found, serologically or by isolation of the agent from the genital tract, in the parents of 5 of 6 children with the infection. Therefore perinatal transmission appeared to be the most probable mode of infection in the infants. These studies indicate that C. trachomatis causes middle ear diseases more often than has been suspected.