Single Sequence Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Serous Otitis Media

Introduction: We evaluated the usability of short-term (approximately 3 minutes) T2 sequence temporal bone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of serous otitis media (SOM) in our study.

Methods: A prospective study. Otoscopic examination and audiometry-tympanometry were performed on all 73 patients included in the study. All patients underwent short-term T2 sequence temporal bone MRI before the paracentesis procedure.

Results: The mean age of 73 patients (30 female and 43 male) was 7.78 ± 3.01 (3 to 17 years). A total of 134 ear paracentesis operations were performed. As a result of the intraoperative paracentesis procedure, 107 Type B tympanogram and 13 Type C tympanogram were found out of 120 ears that had fluid in the middle ear. Out of 14 ears without fluid flow in the middle ear, five were found to be Type B tympanogram and nine to be Type C tympanogram. The sensitivity of the type B tympanogram in the diagnosis of SOM was 89.1%, the specificity was 64.2%, the positive predictive value was 95.5%, and the negative predictive value was 40.9%. The sensitivity and specificity of short-term T2 sequence MRI in diagnosing SOM were found to be 100% and 100%.

Conclusion: Among the available methods, the short-term T2 sequence temporal MRI is the most effective method for evaluating fluid in mastoid cells.