Contralateral Ear in Chronic Otitis Media: A Histologic Study

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of the contralateral ear changes in human temporal bones of donors with chronic otitis media. STUDY DESIGN: Transversal. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The temporal bones were examined under light microscopy and then described. Chronic otitis media was defined by the presence of irreversible inflammatory alterations in the middle ear cleft. The contralateral ear was defined as the normal or the less affected ear. To compare the qualitative variables, the chi test was used. Spearman's nonparametric test was used for correlations. P values less than or equal to .05 were considered significant. RESULTS: We studied 85 pairs of temporal bones. Cholesteatoma was observed in 22.4% of the more damaged ears. The prevalence of contralateral ears with alterations was 91.8%. The main alterations were granulation tissue (81%), effusion (58%), and tympanic membrane retractions (35%). There was a direct and moderately strong correlation between the extent of granulation tissue in the more damaged ear and the contralateral ear (r(s) = 0.345, P = .004). A strong correlation was observed between the extent of cholesteatoma in the more damaged ear and in the contralateral ear (rs = 0.617, P < .001). CONCLUSION: We observed a high prevalence of changes in the contralateral ear. There was a direct correlation between the extent of both granulation tissue and cholesteatoma between the two ears, demonstrating that the more extensive the manifestation of these pathologies in the more damaged ear, the greater they will be in the contralateral ear.