title: Assessments of the size of tympanic membrane perforations: a comparison of clinical estimations with video-otoscopic calculations.
abstract: We conducted a study to determine how accurate various ENT specialists were in estimating the size of 100 tympanic membrane (TM) perforations with standard otoscopy. The specialists included, in descending order of rank, 2 Consultant Surgeons, 2 Senior Registrars, and 2 Registrars, all of whom had confirmed good vision. We compared their estimates, which were made independently and expressed as a percentage of the total area of the TM, with exact measurements calculated with computer-based video-otoscopy. We found that the video-otoscopic calculations were far superior to the estimates of the specialists, even the most experienced Consultants (p < 0.01). We recommend that video-otoscopy be used whenever possible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. ibekwets@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Titus S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Ibekwe
authors.forename: Onyekwere G
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Nwaorgu
authors.forename: Aderemi A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Adeosun
authors.forename: Daniel D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Kokong
authors.forename: Hakeem O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Lawal
authors.forename: Patrick O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Okundia
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Onakoya
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D038781:Otoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D018058:Tympanic Membrane Perforation / Q000473:pathology*; D014741:Video Recording