Fungal Otitis Media - Causes, Symptoms And Treatment Of Fungal Otitis Media

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Causes, symptoms and treatment of fungal otitis media

Content:

• What is otitis media?
• Symptoms of fungal otitis media
• Causes of fungal otitis media
• Types of fungal otitis media
• Diagnosis of fungal otitis media
• Treatment of fungal otitis media

What is otitis media?

Fungal otitis media is one of the types of ear inflammation, characterized by the fact that certain parts of it are affected by yeast-like molds. Most often, the walls of the external ear canal, the skin lining the auricle, the eardrum and the middle ear cavity are included in the pathological process. In medicine, fungal otitis media is called otomycosis.

According to statistics, the disease is quite common. Among the total mass of otitis media, the diagnosis of otomycosis is made in 18.6% of cases in adults and in 26.3% in children. About 10% of the world's population suffers from this pathology.

Symptoms of fungal otitis media

There are a number of symptoms that characterize the development of fungal otitis media:

• Persistent or recurrent itching in the ear.
• Headaches. Sometimes they are accompanied by dizziness.
• The appearance of sulfur plugs.
• Auricle irritation and tenderness.
• Hearing loss, a feeling of stuffiness in the ears. This symptom is especially pronounced in case of mycotic otitis media of the middle ear.
• The appearance of characteristic discharge. With otomycosis, they can have a gray, brown or yellowish tint. Their number is determined by the stage of the disease and the fungus that caused the damage to the ear. The discharge has no smell, which makes it possible to determine them from purulent exudate.
• If the disease is localized in the outer ear, then crusts and plugs form in it, and liquid discharge appears. There may be itching behind the ear. Hearing is not greatly reduced.
• During the acute phase, body temperature rises in some patients.
• Swelling of the ear mucosa.

Causes of fungal otitis media

The cause of the development of fungal otitis media is infection with certain kinds of fungi. There are many of them, but most often molds lead to the disease, although there are frequent cases of infection with their yeast-like congeners. They begin to spread and show pathogenic activity when certain conditions exist for this.

These factors include:

• Taking medications, namely a long-term course of antibiotic therapy.
• High humidity.
• Long-term and uncontrolled use of immunosuppressants.
• Purulent otitis media preceding fungal otitis media.
• Ear mucosa injury. It is those people who pay special attention to the hygiene of the ear canal and use cotton swabs for this purpose, more often than others, suffer from fungal otitis media.
• Foreign body in the ear
• Diabetes
• Allergy
• Itchy dermatitis, eczema

Types of fungal otitis media

There are several types of fungal otitis media. Depending on where the pathological process is localized, otolaryngologists differentiate:

• The external form of the disease, when only the auricle and the external auditory canal are affected. This is the most common form of fungal otitis media.
• Fungal maringitis. When the eardrum is inflamed. This form of the disease is extremely rare, in about 1% of cases.
• With an average fungal otitis media, the middle ear cavity is affected.
• Postoperative otomycosis of the middle ear. This type of pathology is characterized by the fact that it develops in the middle ear cavity after surgery.

Diagnosis of fungal otitis media

In order to establish the presence of exactly a fungal infection of the ear, doctors most often resort to cultural and microscopic examination. This requires the collection of the separated contents from the ear. It is important to carry out the fence correctly, since an insufficient amount of material or taking it out of the place of injury leads to the fact that fungi may not be detected.

In order to determine external fungal otitis media, the doctor will need a visual examination, in which he will reveal infiltration and redness of the skin, as well as the presence of pathological discharge.

The otomycosis of the middle ear will be established by otoscopy, during which a perforation of the tympanic membrane and the presence of corresponding discharge will be detected.

When a patient has fungal myringitis, the otolaryngologist will see a swollen and red tympanic membrane, a mycelium is found on its surface, and there is no light reflex.

Treatment of fungal otitis media

Treatment of fungal otitis media is reduced to the use of various forms of antimycotic drugs. First you need to wash the ear with antifungal agents. For this, Amphotericin, Burov's liquid, Chinozole, Nystatin, Clotrimazole and other medicinal solutions are used. Before rinsing, it is important to carry out an ear toilet, which should be aimed at removing the epidermis, wax and mycelium of the fungi.

In addition to treatment with antifungal drugs, it is important to establish the cause of the otomycosis and get rid of it. To do this, it is necessary to increase human immunity, if possible, refuse to take antibiotics, and normalize the microflora of the ear. It is important to completely cure concomitant diseases that affect the state of the immune system.

On the subject: Treatment of otitis media at home

It often happens that otomycosis is caused by mixed microflora, therefore, in addition to antifungal drugs, antibacterial agents are prescribed. If necessary, therapy is supplemented by taking antihistamines and pain relievers.

In most cases, it is possible to get rid of the disease, although this process is rather complicated and lengthy. Basically, the success of treatment depends on the completeness of the elimination of the provoking factor and the correct selection of an antifungal drug.

Sometimes, against the background of otomycosis of the middle ear, the development of adhesive otitis media occurs. It is characterized by the formation of adhesions and hearing impairment, which is irreversible. Therefore, it is so important to seek treatment on time. Another rare but formidable complication of untreated otomycosis is fungal sepsis and the spread of mycosis to internal organs. As for the recurrence of the disease, it is more often observed with postoperative mycosis of the middle ear.

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The author of the article: Lazarev Oleg Vladimirovich | ENT

Education: In 2009, he received a diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" at the Petrozavodsk State University. After completing an internship at the Murmansk Regional Clinical Hospital, he received a diploma in Otorhinolaryngology (2010)