Lateral cephalometric analysis of children with otitis media with effusion: a comparison with age and sex matched controls.

Previous reports from this department have established significant differences in the morphology of the nasopharynx between patients with otitis media with effusion (OME) and normal controls. This study has used lateral cephalometric analysis to investigate these differences in greater detail. Skeletal and soft tissue measurements were recorded in 50 patients with bilateral OME and were compared with 50 age and sex matched normal controls. Various points were plotted enabling 23 different linear dimensions and three angles in and around the nasopharynx to be compared. The results show significant differences between the two groups in the skeletal and soft tissue dimensions of the nasopharynx. The children with OME have a smaller nasopharynx with a suggestion that this may be due to a difference both in the rate and timing of growth.