SURFACE-MORPHOLOGY OF MIDDLE-EAR EPITHELIUM IN CHRONIC EAR DISEASE

The ultrastructural details of normal middle ear mucosa have been repo rted in detail in the literature. This study was aimed at investigatin g the superficial structure of middle ear epithelium with the scanning electron microscope in patients with persistent otitis media with eff usion (OME) and chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM), especially in the light of the authors' recent findings regarding decreased ciliary beat frequency (CBF) in patients exposed to tobacco smoke. Mucosal bi opsies were taken from the anterior mesotympanum in four patients with OME and another four patients with CSOM. There was no significant abn ormality of cellular surface structure in patients with chronic middle ear disease. Furthermore, no significant difference was observed betw een smoke exposed and nonsmoke exposed patients. It is concluded that the effect of tobacco smoke on CBF is functional and not related to an y anatomical abnormality observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM ),