Otoscopic appearances and tympanometric changes in narghile smokers.

Narghile (water-pipe) smoking requires the generation of significant negative intrapharyngeal pressure, which may be transmitted to the middle ear through the Eustachian tube. A total of 80 ears from regular narghile smokers were examined otoscopically and by tympanometry. Seventy ears from heavy cigarette smokers were similarly examined and served as a control group. There was a highly significant increase in the prevalence of attic retractions (P < 0.01) in the narghile smokers. The tympanometric changes were not significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.05).