Surgery vs. natural course of chronic otitis media. Long-term hearing evaluation

The present paper investigates the hearing function in chronic otitis media vs. tympanoplasty in 41 patients with bilateral chronic otitis media, operated on unilaterally. The auditory evaluation was performed immediately before surgery and at a follow-up time varying from 1 to 14 years (mean = 5 years). Results were expressed in terms of relative gain (in respect to preoperative hearing levels) and total gain (in comparison with the contralateral ear). A progressive reduction of the hearing threshold as a function of time was observed both in non-operated and operated ears. The comparison of the threshold shifts between the two ears indicated that the long-term functional results of tympanoplasty can be considered quite satisfactory.