Management and outcomes of chronic otitis media in patients who received solid organ transplantation.

Objectives: Control of perioperative infection can increase the success rate of organ transplant. The incidence, clinical features, and optimal management of chronic otitis media (COM) in solid organ transplant recipients have not been adequately evaluated. We therefore assessed the incidence and clinical course of COM in solid-organ transplant recipients.

Design: Case series with chart review.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Subjects And Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 3278 patients who underwent solid organ transplantations between February 1995 and December 2007 to identify those diagnosed with COM before and after transplant. We analyzed the long-term clinical course and management of COM in these patients.

Results: Of 3278 solid organ transplant recipients, 65 (2.0%) were diagnosed with pretransplant COM with a perforated ear drum, including 31 liver, 28 renal, and 6 heart transplant recipients. The primary symptom was otorrhea, followed by hearing disturbance, otalgia, and tinnitus. Middle ear swab culture showed bacterial growth in 17 of the 40 patients (42.5%) with suppurative COM. Of these 40 patients, 14 underwent tympanomastoid surgery (operation group) and 26 were prescribed antibiotics (medication group). The remaining 25 patients, with dry perforated ear drums and well-pneumatized mastoids, were observed without treatment (observation group). After transplantation, the incidence of otorrhea was significantly lower in the operation group (11.1%) than in either the medication (26.9%) or observation (26.7%) group (P = .040, .048, respectively).

Conclusions: Precise diagnosis and proper surgical intervention for COM may reduce the rate of otorrhea and exacerbation of COM in solid organ transplant recipients.