The cause of aural polyps in children.
This 20-year retrospective review identifies 35 pediatric patients with aural polyps in an attempt to assess for clinical predictors of significant otopathologic conditions. Chronic otitis media (43%), cholesteatoma (29%), and retained tympanostomy tubes (23%) were the common causes. Unusual causes included mycobacterial infection and Langerhans' cell histiocytosis. Multivariate analysis revealed the co-occurrence of conductive hearing loss at presentation to be a significant clinical predictor (P = .03) of cholesteatoma; the histopathologic finding of keratin-induced giant cell reaction was nonspecific in this respect. Cholesteatoma was also prevalent in recurrent polyp cases, suggesting the need for prolonged follow-up in those children whose initial clinicopathologic evaluation does not yield a definitive diagnosis.
Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA 02114.
R E
RE
Gliklich
M J
MJ
Cunningham
R D
RD
Eavey
D000293:Adolescent; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002781:Cholesteatoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004424:Ear Canal; D004428:Ear Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D004432:Ear, Middle; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011127:Polyps / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies