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Role of bacterial biofilm in development of middle ear effusion

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Abstract

Biofilms have been implicated in the development of several chronic upper respiratory tract infections. Role of bacterial biofilms has been well studied in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis. However, its impact on development of middle ear effusion is still a matter of debate. To study the extent of surface adenoid biofilm and evaluate its role in the pathogenesis of chronic otitis media with effusion in children. The study was carried out on 40 children in Alexandria Main University Hospital between 1 and 16 years of age without sex predilection, who were divided into two groups. The first group (20 children) had otitis media with effusion associated with adenoid hypertrophy, whereas the second group (20 children) had adenoid hypertrophy without middle ear effusion. Adenoidectomy with ventilation tube insertion was done for group 1 cases, whereas, only Adenoidectomy was done for group 2 cases. The samples were processed for the detection of biofilms by scanning electron microscopy. The biofilm formation was graded according to extension. Biofilm formation was detected on all samples for group 1. Adenoids removed from patients with otitis media with effusion had higher-grade biofilm formation than the other group (P 0.0001). No correlation was found between adenoid size and biofilm formation. In pediatric population, adenoid surface biofilm formation may be involved in the pathogenesis otitis media with effusion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, 8 El Gesh St, El Azareeta, Alexandria, Egypt

    Sedeek Abd El-Salam Tawfik, Ahmed Aly Ibrahim & Ahmed Youssef

  2. Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

    Iman Mamdoh Talaat

  3. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Damanhour Educational Hospital of Medicine, Ministry of Health and Population, Damanhour, Elbehyra, Egypt

    Soliman Samy Abd El-Raouf El-Alkamy

Authors
  1. Sedeek Abd El-Salam Tawfik
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  2. Ahmed Aly Ibrahim
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  3. Iman Mamdoh Talaat
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  4. Soliman Samy Abd El-Raouf El-Alkamy
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  5. Ahmed Youssef
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Correspondence to Ahmed Youssef.

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All authors have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was taken from parents of children involved in the study before making any procedure.

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Tawfik, S.A.ES., Ibrahim, A.A., Talaat, I.M. et al. Role of bacterial biofilm in development of middle ear effusion. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 273, 4003–4009 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-016-4094-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-016-4094-2

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