Otitis media is the infectivity of the middle ear, whether acute or chronic. Acute otitis media with effusion includes all acute infections of the middle ear caused by pus-forming bacteria, which usually reach the middle ear by way of the Eustachian tube. Bacterial infection of the mastoid process, a cone-shaped, honeycombed projection of bone behind the auricle, may occur as a complication of middle ear infections. Hearing impairment often follows because newly malformed tissues affect the mobility of the eardrum and the ossicles. Painful swelling of the eardrum may require a surgical incision to permit drainage of the middle ear. Since the use of penicillin and other antibiotics became widespread, mastoid complications have become much less frequent. Sometimes acute otitis media with effusion leads to a chronic infection that does not respond readily to antibacterial agents.
Acute and chronic nonsuppurative otitis media, which do not engage the development or ejection of pus, are caused by closure of the Eustachian tube due to conditions such as a head cold, diseased tonsils and adenoids, inflammation of the sinuses, or riding in airplanes without rushed cabins. The chronic form can also result from bacterial infection. As the watery discharge impairs hearing, chronic otitis media in young children may interfere with language development. A variety of treatments are employed, including use of antibiotics and antihistamines, removal of tonsils and adenoids, and insertion of tubes into the middle ear to consent to drainage.
Otitis media is the most widespread diagnosis in sick kids in the U.S. Little children, infants, and preschoolers are predominantly prone. More or less every child has at least one bout of acute otitis media before the age of 6. About 1 in 100 adults has hearing loss due to a condition called otosclerosis or otospongiosis, in which an abnormal amount of malleable bone is deposited between the stapes and the oval transom.........
