Effects of middle ear effusion on transient evoked otoacoustic emissions in children

In order to assess the applicability of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) measurements on the sequential monitoring of children with middle ear effusion (MEE), the effects of MEE on TEOAEs response were investigated. TEOAEs responses were recorded on 56 ears of 33 patients before and after tympanostomy tube placement. In the 37 ears with MEE seen at myringotomy, the average band reproducibility below 2 kHz recovered significantly after tube placement, whereas the average band reproducibility at 5 kHz diminished. In the 19 ears without MEE, no significant changes in echo amplitude and band reproducibility were noted in the post-operative TEOAEs measurements compared with pre-operative ones. The results of this study suggest that an improvement in echo response and band reproducibility below 2 kHz in serial TEOAEs measurements may indicate resolution of MEE in children with otitis media with effusion.