Duration of middle ear effusion after acute otitis media.

In approximately 50% of young children persistent otitis media with effusion (POME) is found by otoscopic examination or by tympanometry 10 to 14 days after the physician institutes antimicrobial treatment for acute otitis media. Over a 180-day period the course of persistent otitis media with effusion was studied in predominantly middle class, otherwise healthy white children under 3 years of age. One month after POME was first diagnosed, 22 (29%) of the children still had POME. By the second month 11 (14%) of these children still had POME. Only 5 (6%) of the study population had POME which persisted for more than 90 days. The mean duration of POME was 40 days; (median 14 days). These data suggest that in most cases POME is a self-limiting condition when found in young, otherwise healthy, middle class white children.