Ito K, Wada K, Nomura Y, Fukazawa O, Hirabayashi C, Taguchi K
Auris Nasus Larynx. 1985;12 Suppl 1:S255-7. doi: 10.1016/s0385-8146(85)80168-1.
Otitis media with effusion (OME) is known to occur in school or preschool children. Its chief symptom is hearing disturbance without otalgia. One of its effective therapies is myringotomy and suction of secretion out of its morbid tympanic cavities. This improvement differs with frequencies. The purpose of this paper is to present the mechanism of hearing recovery after myringotomy. The mean audiogram of OME showed a flat shape with 0 dB of bone conduction and 37.5 dB of air conduction. Hearing level after myringotomy recovered at high tones, but not recovered at low ones. One week later, the mean audiogram without perforations of eardrums showed hearing improvement at low tones. These findings suggested that slower recovery at low tones might be due to incision of an eardrum and closure of its perforation. To confirm this hypothesis we performed an experiment, by which the vibratory mechanism of a thin membrane was disclosed. The result showed that the vibratory modality of a membrane was influenced by incision of it. In conclusion, it is considered that though myringotomy of OME gets hearing improvement, it could result in hearing impairment, probably due to the vibratory modality of an eardrum.
中耳积液（OME）常见于学龄儿童或学龄前儿童。其主要症状是听力障碍但无耳痛。有效的治疗方法之一是鼓膜切开术并从病变的鼓腔吸出分泌物。这种改善因频率而异。本文旨在阐述鼓膜切开术后听力恢复的机制。OME的平均听力图呈平坦型，骨导为0分贝，气导为37.5分贝。鼓膜切开术后高音调听力水平恢复，但低音调未恢复。一周后，鼓膜无穿孔的平均听力图显示低音调听力有所改善。这些发现表明，低音调恢复较慢可能是由于鼓膜切开及穿孔闭合所致。为证实这一假设，我们进行了一项实验，借此揭示了薄膜的振动机制。结果表明，薄膜的振动方式受其切口的影响。总之，虽然OME的鼓膜切开术能改善听力，但可能会导致听力损害，这可能是由于鼓膜的振动方式所致。
