Children with deformational plagiocephaly do not have significantly higher rates of otitis media, compared with children in the general population, according to a recent study.
Deformational plagiocephaly previously has been reported to be associated with otitis media (OM), but this study did not find a significant association. Children in the study with more severe deformity had a higher rate of ear infection, compared with those with less severe deformity, but this trend also was not significant, wrote Adam Purzycki and his colleagues at the Wake Forest University Medical Center's North Carolina Institute for Cleft and Craniofacial Deformities, in Winston-Salem.
The retrospective study included 1,112 children with deformational plagiocephaly who presented between February 2004 and June 2006. Age at presentation was 3–12 months (mean 5.6 months); 723 were boys and 389 were girls. Of this group, 559 (50.3%) were reported by their parents as having had at least one ear infection, Mr. Purzycki and his coworkers said.
In the patients with deformational plagiocephaly, the incidence of OM was not higher than that reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for children in general. The severity of deformity showed a nonsignificant correlation with the number of ear infections: Of the 793 patients with the milder plagiocephaly severity levels I-III, 387 (48.8%) had had at least one ear infection. Of the remaining 319 patients with higher severity levels IV-V, 172 (53.9%) had been diagnosed with at least one ear infection. The number of ear infections was determined by self-reports from patients' guardians (J. Craniofac. Surg. 2009;20:1407-11).
A subset of 124 patients were examined by tympanometry to diagnose clinical or subclinical OM or fluid collection resulting from abnormal drainage, which would suggest eustachian tube dysfunction. Of these, 121 had readings indicative of OM. “The significantly high percentage of typanogram readings that pointed to otitis media, whether clinical or subclinical, suggests an overall malfunction of the middle ear drainage function of the eustachian tube in these children,” they wrote.
No conflicts of interest or study funding were reported.