Preoperative assessment of taste function in patients with middle ear disease.
OBJECTIVE
To identify differences in taste function among patients with chronic otitis media, cholesteatoma, and noninflammatory disease before middle ear surgery.


METHODS
Retrospective analysis.


METHODS
Tertiary referral hospital.


METHODS
Two hundred thirty ears underwent primary middle ear surgery from January 2006 to December 2010. The subjects consisted of 84 men and 146 women with ages ranging from 20 to 60 years (mean, 43.9 yr). There were 95 ears with chronic otitis media, 61 ears with pars flaccida retraction-type cholesteatoma, 22 ears with pars tensa retraction-type cholesteatoma, and 52 ears with noninflammatory diseases such as otosclerosis and ossicular anomalies.


METHODS
The patients underwent taste testing using electrogustometry and the filter paper disk method in the regions controlled by the chorda tympani nerve.


RESULTS
None of the patients complained of taste dysfunction before middle ear surgery. Among the 4 groups, the patients with pars tensa retraction-type cholesteatoma displayed the highest electrogustometry threshold. The filter paper disk method did not detect any significant differences among the 4 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that the filter paper disk scores of all taste qualities (sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes) are not deteriorated preoperatively during chronic inflammation in the middle ear and that taste function is affected most in patients with pars tensa retraction-type cholesteatoma.
Department of Otolaryngology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo, Japan. akko7992@hyo-med.ac.jp
Akiko
A
Sakaguchi
Hirokazu
H
Katsura
Tomomi
T
Nin
Osamu
O
Adachi
Yasuo
Y
Mishiro
Tadashi
T
Daimon
Masafumi
M
Sakagami
D000328:Adult; D018424:Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013506:Otologic Surgical Procedures; D010040:Otosclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D013652:Taste Threshold / Q000502:physiology*