Vol.101 No.4 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 101 No. 4 April 2008
Clinical Study of Bullous Myringitis Associated
with Blowing the Nose
Takashi Hiramatsu
(Hiramatsu ENT Clinic)
Yoshiro Mori
(Mori Otorhinolaryngology Clinic)
Hideo Miyata
(Ichinomiya Nishi Hospital)
The etiology of bullous myringitis (BM) is unknown. We speculated that BM involves middle ear barotrauma because of frequent bleeding in the tympanic membrane, including a patient with BM who strongly blew the nose.
We investigated 186 patients with BM aged one to 80 years old (average age; 8.83), including 16 patients with recurrent BM.
In six patients, BM was associated with blowing their nose. Patient ages ranged from 6 to 58 years old (average age; 32.7). None of the patients showed recurrent BM. Two patients had multiple bulla formations and 5 patients showed bleeding in the tympanic membrane. Among all 186 patients examined, 36 patients had multiple bulla formations and 78 of 181 patients demonstrated bleeding in the tympanic membrane.
These findings suggest that a sudden reflux of secretions and air from the nasopharynx into the middle ear could cause bulla formation on tympanic membrane.
Key words :bullous myringitis, blowing ones' nose, middle ear, barotrauma