Preoperative assessment of taste function in patients with middle ear disease

To identify differences in taste function among patients with chronic otitis media, cholesteatoma, and noninflammatory disease before middle ear surgery.

Retrospective analysis.

Tertiary referral hospital.

Two hundred thirty ears underwent primary middle ear surgery from January 2006 to December 2010. The subjects consisted of 84 men and 146 women with ages ranging from 20 to 60 years (mean, 43.9 yr). There were 95 ears with chronic otitis media, 61 ears with pars flaccida retraction-type cholesteatoma, 22 ears with pars tensa retraction-type cholesteatoma, and 52 ears with noninflammatory diseases such as otosclerosis and ossicular anomalies.

The patients underwent taste testing using electrogustometry and the filter paper disk method in the regions controlled by the chorda tympani nerve.

None of the patients complained of taste dysfunction before middle ear surgery. Among the 4 groups, the patients with pars tensa retraction-type cholesteatoma displayed the highest electrogustometry threshold. The filter paper disk method did not detect any significant differences among the 4 groups.

Our findings suggest that the filter paper disk scores of all taste qualities (sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes) are not deteriorated preoperatively during chronic inflammation in the middle ear and that taste function is affected most in patients with pars tensa retraction-type cholesteatoma.