Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
S Afr J Commun Disord. 2022 Nov 28;69(1):e1-e7. doi: 10.4102/sajcd.v69i1.934.
Middle ear pathologies are associated with and persist in individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Yet, limited research exists on middle ear pathologies in children living with human immunodeficiency viruses.
To systematically review evidence of middle ear pathologies in children living with HIV, how it is described, measures used to describe it and other relevant information.
This study was a scoping review. The data were collected from different electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, ProQuest, and Web of Science. The electronic database search was conducted for articles published between January 2010 and December 2020. Keywords used for searching relevant articles included 'middle ear pathology', 'middle ear disorder', 'children', 'HIV', 'otitis media (OM)', 'hearing loss (HL)', 'hearing impairment', 'paediatric', 'minors', 'infants' and 'HIV/AIDS'. Only articles that were published in English and reported on the middle ear function and pathologies of children living with HIV were considered.
A total of 350 articles were extracted through databases, but only six studies were eligible and included for further analysis. Studies reviewed suggested that middle ear pathologies in children living with HIV exist and are common. Recurrent OM, type B tympanogram, chronic OM and HL with conductive element were common. Tympanometry with a 226 Hz probe tone and air bone gap were used commonly to establish the presence of middle ear pathology.
The findings of this study highlighted that despite the dearth of evidence in this area, available evidence indicates that children living with HIV are at increased risk of middle ear pathology. However, studies in this review have mostly used middle ear measures with poor sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, the prevalence and nature of middle ear pathologies in studies reviewed may have been underreported. Further research using sensitive measures such as wideband acoustic immittance is required. Despite the paucity of evidence, the current findings raise important clinical implications for the assessment and management of middle ear pathologies in children living with HIV.Contribution: This study makes a significant contribution to the literature regarding middle ear pathologies and HIV, particularly in children.
中耳病理学与携带人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）的个体有关，并持续存在。然而，针对携带 HIV 的儿童中耳病理学的研究有限。
系统回顾携带 HIV 的儿童中耳病理学的证据，描述方式，用于描述它的测量方法和其他相关信息。
本研究为范围界定综述。数据来自不同的电子数据库，包括 PubMed、Scopus、Science Direct、ProQuest 和 Web of Science。电子数据库检索于 2010 年 1 月至 2020 年 12 月期间发表的文章。用于搜索相关文章的关键词包括“中耳病理学”、“中耳障碍”、“儿童”、“HIV”、“中耳炎（OM）”、“听力损失（HL）”、“听力障碍”、“儿科”、“未成年人”、“婴儿”和“HIV/AIDS”。仅考虑发表在英语文献中并报告儿童携带 HIV 中耳功能和病理学的文章。
通过数据库共提取了 350 篇文章，但只有 6 项研究符合条件并纳入进一步分析。综述研究表明，携带 HIV 的儿童存在中耳病理学，且较为常见。复发性 OM、B 型鼓室图、慢性 OM 和伴有传音性成分的 HL 较为常见。常用 226 Hz 探测音鼓室图和骨气导间隙来确定中耳病理学的存在。
本研究结果强调，尽管这方面的证据匮乏，但现有证据表明，携带 HIV 的儿童患中耳病理学的风险增加。然而，本综述中的研究大多使用了敏感性和特异性较差的中耳测量方法。因此，综述中研究报告的中耳病理学的流行率和性质可能被低估。需要使用更敏感的测量方法，如宽带声导抗，进行进一步的研究。尽管证据不足，但目前的研究结果对评估和管理携带 HIV 的儿童中耳病理学具有重要的临床意义。
本研究对携带 HIV 的儿童中耳病理学文献做出了重要贡献。
