Causes of glue ear

Abstract

Over the past one hundred years medical views on the cause of glue ear have frequently changed. The medical literature was reviewed to see if these changes reflected advances in the level of scientific support for different causes. This revealed that only a few of the many proposed causes command any scientific support. An explanation for the changing pattern of views on the aetiology of glue ear was therefore sought by considering secular changes in medical knowledge and belief in general. This suggested that the views held on the cause of glue ear at any given time are influenced and largely determined by the prevailing knowledge and beliefs of medicine as a whole. This phenomenon is not peculiar to glue ear--though conditions about which there is considerable uncertainty are probably more susceptible to such influences.

Intracochlear Pressures in Simulated Otitis Media With Effusion: A Temporal Bone Study

“…Otitis media occurs with a peak incidence at the age of 2–3 years (1,2), with a point prevalence on screening tests of about 20%, and experienced by 90% of children at least once by the age of three, but is not considered uncommon in adults (3,4). Several factors contribute to the incidence of OME including recurrent acute otitis media, allergies, adenotonsillar disease, poor Eustachian tube function and inadequate middle ear ventilation (5). OME results in a mild to moderate conductive hearing loss of 15 to 50 dB between 500–4000 Hz (6).…”

The anatomical features of the middle ear exerting the influence on the formation of exudative otitis media in the breast-fed infants of different gestational age

“…Причиной экссудативного среднего отита у детей 1-го года жизни является дисфункция слуховой трубы, для возникновения которой существует множество факторов [1,[8][9][10].…”