Investigation of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction by Different Methods in Children with Otitis Media with Effusion

To investigate and identify the most reliable method for assessing Eustachian tube function (ETF) in pediatric patients with otitis media with effusion (OME).

A total of 49 ears from pediatric patients diagnosed with OME and 32 healthy control ears were included. The assessment methods for ETF included acoustic immittance measurement (AIM), tubomanometry (TMM), Eustachian tube score (ETS), sonotubometry (STM), and tubo-tympano-aerodynamic-graphy (TTAG).

AIM was used as the standard, and the consistency of TMM, ETS, STM, and TTAG was tested with sensitivities of 75.6%, 60.0%, 82.05%, and 53.85%, specificities of 94.4%, 97.2%, 66.67%, and 83.33%, and Youden indices of 0.700, 0.572, 0.487, and 0.372, respectively. ROC analysis revealed an optimal diagnostic threshold for TMM values of 4.5. Significant differences in AIM results were observed between groups stratified by this TMM-based diagnostic threshold (χ² = 36.690, P = .000). When the TMM values were <4.5, the rate of normal Eustachian tube opening was 5.55%, which increased to 75.56% for values ≥4.5.

TMM demonstrates superior diagnostic performance compared to ETS, STM, and TTAG. The combination of AIM and TMM is recommended for the evaluation of ETF in pediatric patients with OME.