title: [Bacterial flora of the external ear canal. 1. Cancer patients].
abstract: The bacterial flora of the external ear canal was investigated in a group of 64 patients with head and neck cancer, to observe why otitis externa frequently occurs in cancer patients. Staphylococcus epidermidis (48.5%), Pseudomonas sp. (18.8%), and Flavobacterium sp. (16.8%) were the prominent isolates from ear samples, and Gram-negative organisms which rarely existed in normal canal, were found to be markedly increased (59.4%). Moreover, about half of all non-sterile ear canals were found to have more than one Gram-negative flora. We have concluded that cancer patients probably suffer from external otitis more frequently because of enhanced colonization by Gram-negative pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Juan
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004424:Ear Canal / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*