Abstract
Objectives
Increased numbers of patients with secretory otitis media appeared in outpatient clinics after the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron pandemic; however, the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant infection and secretory otitis media is uncertain.
Methods
We performed tympanocentesis and used reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing to examine middle ear effusion (MEE) and nasopharyngeal secretions from 30 patients with secretory otitis media associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. RT-PCR was performed using the open reading frame 1ab and nucleocapsid protein gene kit from Shanghai Berger Medical Technology Co., Ltd., as the sole assay method, in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
Results
MEEs from 5 of the 30 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, including one patient with positive results for both the nasopharyngeal secretion and MEE. We report and discuss the medical records of six patients, including these five MEE-positive patients and a MEE-negative patient.
Conclusion
SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in MEE caused by coronavirus disease 2019-related secretory otitis media even when a patient’s nasopharyngeal secretion tests PCR-negative for SARS-CoV-2. The virus can remain in the MEE for a long time after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Data are available on request.
References
Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W et al (2020) A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med 382(8):727–733. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2001017
Chantzi FM, Papadopoulos NG, Bairamis T et al (2006) Human rhinoviruses in otitis media with effusion. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 17(7):514–518. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-3038.2006.00448.x
Jeican II, Aluaș M, Lazăr M et al (2021) Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the middle ear of deceased COVID-19 patients. Diagnostics 11(9):1535. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11091535
Kadriyan H, RizkikaAbtartu LH, Wardoyo EH, Andiwijaya FR (2022) Measuring the possibility of middle ear discharge for COVID-19 test material. Interdiscipl Perspect Infect Dis 2022:7207846. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/7207846
Stein SR, Ramelli SC, Grazioli A et al (2022) SARS-CoV-2 infection and persistence in the human body and brain at autopsy. Nature 612(7941):758–763. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05542-y
Rezes S, Söderlund-Venermo M, Roivainen M et al (2009) Human bocavirus and rhino-enteroviruses in childhood otitis media with effusion. J Clin Virol 46(3):234–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2009.08.010
Shaw CB, Obermyer N, Wetmore SJ, Spirou GA, Farr RW (1995) Incidence of adenovirus and respiratory syncytial virus in chronic otitis media with effusion using the polymerase chain reaction. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 113(3):234–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0194-5998(95)70111-7
Pitkäranta A, Jero J, Arruda E, Virolainen A, Hayden FG (1998) Polymerase chain reaction-based detection of rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, and coronavirus in otitis media with effusion. J Pediatr 133(3):390–394. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3476(98)70276-8
Kurabi A, Pak K, DeConde AS, Ryan AF, Yan CH (2022) Immunohistochemical and qPCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the human middle ear versus the nasal cavity: case series. Head Neck Pathol 16(2):607–611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12105-021-01378-6
Uranaka T, Kashio A, Ueha R et al (2021) Expression of ACE2, TMPRSS2, and furin in mouse ear tissue, and the implications for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Laryngoscope 131(6):E2013–E2017. https://doi.org/10.1002/lary.29324
Buchman CA, Brinson GM (2003) Viral otitis media. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 3(4):335–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-003-0094-6
Acknowledgements
The authors thank all patients for their participation. The authors also thank the Department of Laboratory Medicine of the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University for its support of this study.
Funding
This work was supported by Hebei Science and Technology Department, Health innovation Project (Grant no. 22377762D), and Key Scientific and Technological Research Plan of Hebei Province Medical Science Research Project (Grant nos. 20220975 and 20221200).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Ethical approval
This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. And it was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, Y., Liu, J., Yang, F. et al. COVID-19-related secretory otitis media in the omicron era: a case series. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 280, 4697–4700 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08075-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08075-w