Cochlear implantation for treatment of deafness for patients suffering from eosinophilic otitis media.

Introduction: Eosinophilic otitis media (EOM) is an uncommon type of chronic suppurative otitis media characterized by recurrent or persistent thick glue like discharge, resistant to medical treatment or tympanoplasty and progressive gradual deterioration of hearing. EOM is a challenging clinical entity which imposes difficulty management problem to otologists. Method: A case of a patient suffered bilateral discharging ear and bilateral profound hearing loss due to EOM underwent two sequential cochlear implantations were reported in this paper. And a literature review of cochlear implantation for patients suffering from hearing loss resulted from EOM is also presented. Results and Conclusion: Typically, patients suffering from EOM have strong atopic history including asthma, nasal polyposis, allergic rhinitis and drug allergy. Tympanoplasty and mastoidectomy were ineffective treatments for the inflammatory disease process. Repeated topical steroid to the middle ear or systemic steroid therapy can alleviate the local inflammation and decrease the ear discharge. However, topical or systemic steroid therapy will not alter the natural course of illness with progressive gradual deterioration of hearing and some patients will eventually suffer from bilateral profound deafness. As reported in the literature, cochlear implantation is a feasible treatment of deafness in patients suffering from EOM. In our opinion, it is necessary to eradicate the mucosal disease in the middle ear and isolated the middle ear and the surgical implant to prevent secondary bacterial infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]