Abstract
Sixty-five patients presenting to a general pediatric practice for either well baby care or acute illness in the first seven months of life over a two year period with signs of acutely discovered otitis media with effusion (AOME) were subjected to tympanometry and subsequent tympanocentesis. The overall sensitivity in detecting AOME of the practitioners on the 129 ears studied varied from 92 to 100 percent using pneumatic otoscopy. The specificity of the practitioners varied from 40 to 67% but there was marked variation in the diagnosis under one month of age. Tympanometry was 44% sensitive and 77% specific in the same patients with some special considerations in the infants head position seeming to account for some of the lack of sensitivity. The presenting author feels that there is a distinct advantage in obtaining a definitive diagnosis by using the technique of exploratory tympanocentesis in suspected AOME under one month of age.
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Howie, V., Grabowski, M., Ploussard, J. et al. EXPLORATORY TYMPANOCENTESIS FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE OTITIS MEDIA WITH EFFUSION IN THE NEONATE: LIMITATIONS IN THE USE OF THE TYMPANOMETER UNDER SEVEN MONTHS OF AGE. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 283 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00698
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00698