Clinical Characteristics of Otitis Media with Effusion after COVID-19
WANG Lei
HAN Haolun
WANG Gang
SUN Jianxiong
LI Baowei
ZHOU Ying
ZHANG Yiyan
SUN Zhezhe
SUN Hefang
WU Wei
Abstract：Objective To report incidence and clinical characteristics of otitis media with effusion(OME)after coronavirus infection disease 2019(COVID-19).Methods Patients with OME(n=201)were retrospectively identified among 21,454 patients visiting the department of otorhinolaryngology of the Ninth Medical Center,the PLA General Hospital,from December 2018 to January 2019,December 2021 to January 2022,and December 2022 to January 2023.According to the epidemic situation and government control policies in Beijing(mask wearing in public places,reducing gatherings,home isolation,vaccination,etc.),the 201 patients were divided into a pre-pandemic group(between 1/12/2018 and 31/01/2019,n=68),a prevention and containment period group(between 1/12/2021 and 31/01/2022,n=30),and an outbreak period group(between 1/12/2022 and 31/01/2023,n=103).Data analyzed included demographic characteristics and morbidity of OME related to COVID-19.Results The rate of OME in the prevention and containment period(0.40％)was significantly lower than in the pre-pandemic group(0.82％).The rate of OME in the outbreak-period(1.82％)rose by 51.5％and 243.3％compared to the pre-pandemic and prevention and containment periods(P＜0.01).In the outbreak-period group,92.2％of OME occurred immediately following COVID-19 infection,higher than in the pre-pandemic and prevention and containment periods(P＜0.01).Patients with COVID-19 related OME were elder than those with non-COVID-19 related OME(P＜0.01).Among patients with COVID-19 related OME,74.6％had hearing problems and/or ear fullness within 1～3 weeks after COVID-19 that lasted longer than 1 month in 7.5％of them.Of these patients,50.7％had only ear symptoms and 31.3％showed signs of mild inflammation in the nose and nasopharynx on laryngoscopy.Conclusion COVID-19 infection can significantly increase the incidence of OME,with higher prevalence among elder people.COVID-19 related OME often appears 2 weeks or later after the infection.COVID-19 may cause OME by infecting the middle ear directly,and the specific mechanism needs further study.
Keywords：otitis media with effusioncoronavirus disease 2019respiratory tract infection
Publication Date：2024-10-28
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 780-784 )