Spontaneous improvement of secretory otitis and impedance screening

Based on repetitive tympanometric screenings of infants and 2-year-old children, the spontaneous improvement of secretory otitis has been studied. In 2-year-old children, 53% of ears with type B improved during the three months from the first to the second evaluation, 67% from the second to the third, and 84% from the third to the fourth. At the same time, tympanogram deteriorated to type B in other ears so that during a nine-month period, 28.6% of all ears with at least one screening have had type B. It was concluded that impedance screening as a prophylactic means to diagnose a middle ear disease early would be meaningless. It will lead to excessive treatment of secretory otitis, as one cannot take other consequences of one screening than to repeat it six months later.