ArticleCureus2024
Accuracy of Video Otoscopy in Predicting the Presence of Middle Ear Effusion in Children Compared to Tympanometry: A Diagnostic Study.
Article in Cureus, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Effect of probiotic lozenges on improvement in tympanometric classification within 12 weeks in children aged 3-6 years with adenoid hypertrophy and otitis media with effusion undergoing non-surgical management: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Trial
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3 authors.
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Abstract
importanceMiddle ear effusion (MEE) is the primary cause of conductive hearing impairment among children, predominantly occurring up to the age of two years. The gold standard for detecting MEE is tympanometry (Grayson-Stadler, Eden Prairie, Minnesota). This study explores a less costly alternative, the video otoscope (Inventis S.R.L, Padova, Italy).
objectiveThe primary objective is to compare video otoscopy with tympanometry in terms of its ability to diagnose MEE. The secondary objective is to explore the prevalence of MEE in special populations.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective diagnostic study that included patients aged 0-18 years who visited the pediatric otolaryngology clinic for suspected MEE over a two-year period. Clinical presentation, otoscopy findings, and tympanometry results were reviewed. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 24 (Released 2016; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York). The significance of the results was assessed using the chi-squared test.
resultsWe included 337 patients with a mean age of 5.1 years (standard deviation = 2.68); 967 tympanometry tests were available for comparison with the corresponding ears. Validity tests showed that the sensitivity of video otoscopy was 79.5%, the specificity was 56.9%, the positive predictive value was 89.6%, and the negative predictive value was 37.4%. The overall accuracy was 75.5%. These results were statistically significant.
conclusionVideo otoscopy was capable of diagnosing MEE in children 89.6% of the time. However, tympanometry is still needed in specific conditions, such as narrow ear canals, dull tympanic membranes, and clear tympanic membranes in patients with decreased hearing, a history of ear infections, or speech delay.
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