Clinical Experience of Middle Ear Disease in Cleft Palate Patients

ABSTRACT

It has been well documented that dysfunction of the Eustachian tube if the main cause of middle ear disease in most cleft palate patients. The middle ear disease is refractory to medical treatment and has frequent recurrences; the final results may end up with chronic otitis media and/or hearing loss. Currently, myringotomy with placement of ventilation tube in early infant stage have been widely accepted for treatment of otitis media in cleft palate patients. We calculated the frequency of the occurrence of otitis media in cleft palate patients who have received palatoplasty in our clinic. Preoperative otoscopic examination and tympanometric test were taken in all patients. We performed tympanostomy and ventilation tube insertion at the time of palatal repair on every patients who had evidence of otitis media in the preoperative otologic examinations. Since November 1996, 79 patients received palatoplasty and among these 63 patients(79.7%) received bilateral ventilation tube insertion simultaneously. We confirmed the previously documented high prevalence of otitis media in cleft palate patients and understood the importance of preoperative otologic examinations in the managements of cleft palate.