[Controversial issues in the treatment of recurrent purulent otitis media in young children].

On the basis of published data and their own observations the present authors have concluded that recurrent suppurative otitis media in children of early age groups is not produced, in most cases, by infectious inflammation of the middle ear. It is rather a result of a regularly developing mismatch between the rate with which the embryonic tissue of the middle ear decays and the drainage capacity of the Eustachian tube. They therefore claim that the list of indications for antibiotic therapy of these children should be drastically shortened while that for tympanic paracentesis should be noticeably enlarged. The authors describe two groups of patients they treated at various time periods and show that the new approach is more effective. They consider the results as a verification of their concept of the origin of the above disorder.