title: Exploratory findings of audiometry in adult patients with otitis media with high pepsinogen concentrations: a preliminary study.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  The present study showed that elevation of bone-conduction (BC) thresholds at low frequencies might be a characteristic audiometric finding in cases with otitis media with effusion (OME) with high pepsinogen (PG) concentrations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to investigate whether there is any characteristic audiometric finding in adult cases with otitis media with high PG compared to those with low PG.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four adult patients with unilateral OME of undetermined etiology and high PG concentrations (> 500 ng/ml) in their middle ear effusions (high PG group) were selected. The air-conduction and BC thresholds of pure tone audiometry were compared between the affected and healthy ears. Results were compared to those in 23 patients with low PG concentrations (< 50 ng/ml; low PG group).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average BC difference in the threshold at 0.25 kHz between the affected ear and the healthy ear was significantly higher in the high PG group than in the low PG group, with a significantly higher proportion of patients in the high PG group having BC thresholds at 0.25 kHz in the affected ear that were ≥ 15 dB higher than in the healthy ear.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. michsone@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Michihiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sone
authors.forename: Toshinari
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Harumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arao
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Izawa
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakashima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001844:Bone Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010034:Otitis Media with Effusion / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020116:Pepsinogen A / Q000378:metabolism*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020116:Pepsinogen A