Vol.98No.8contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 98 No. 8 August 2005
A Case of Eosinophilic Otitis Media Aggravated
by Lung Cancer
Masayo Kamei, Yuka Ookawa, Ken Ishijima, Hiroaki Sato,
Hitoshi Kobayashi and Akira Kurose
(Iwate Medical University)
A 35-year-old male had been treated with prednisolone for 7 years under a diagnosis of bilateral eosinophilic otitis media. Middle ear granulation was intractable despite intensive local and systemic steroid treatment and granulation extended to the inner ear, resulting in bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss. Systemic examinations demonstrated a solitary lung adenocarcinoma accompanied by severe eosinophil infiltration, subsequently causing elevation of the serum IL-5 level. Cytokines induced by the eosinophils infiltrating the lung cancer may also account for the exacerbation of middle ear inflammation.
Key words : eosinophilic otitis media, inner ear dysfunction, adenocarcinoma, cytokine