Otitis media with effusion: current treatment, new understanding of its aetiopathogenesis, and a novel therapeutic approach

Otitis Media with Effusion (OME) is a common childhood condition leading to hearing loss, and its treatment with ventilation tubes (VTs) is one of the commonest surgical procedures. However, aetiology of OME is poorly understood, and its current treatment requires improvement as OME frequently recur...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Daniel, Matija
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28069/
_version_ 1848793501050863616
author Daniel, Matija
author_facet Daniel, Matija
author_sort Daniel, Matija
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Otitis Media with Effusion (OME) is a common childhood condition leading to hearing loss, and its treatment with ventilation tubes (VTs) is one of the commonest surgical procedures. However, aetiology of OME is poorly understood, and its current treatment requires improvement as OME frequently recurs once VTs extrude. The first, clinical part of this thesis showed that 63.6% of children randomised to VT insertion in a clinical trial will require VTs again, and even with additional adenoidectomy the need for repeat surgery remains high. Although published national guidelines set out criteria for surgery, the multicentre study presented here showed that only 32.2% of children that had VTs met these criteria, and guidelines' publication had limited impact on clinical practice. The second, laboratory part of this thesis demonstrated the importance that bacteria and biofilms play in aetiology of OME, as live bacteria were demonstrated in 91.9% of middle ear effusions (using culture and confocal microscopy). Following from this, a Staphylococcus aureus biofilm model was developed, and used to show that biofilm eradication requires antibiotic (rifampicin and lindamycin) levels 1,000 times higher than those required to inhibit planktonic bacteria, over a period of 2-3 weeks. To achieve this in the middle ear, a local delivery strategy using biodegradable poly (Iactic-coglycolic acid) antibiotic pellets was proposed. Drug release from these pellets was investigated with High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Serial Plate Transfer Testing, which demonstrated that antibiotics can be released for up to 3 weeks. Importantly, the pellets were able to eradicate biofilms in the in vitro model. This thesis has shown that current OME treatment has significant deficiencies, but better understanding of OME pathogenesis raises the possibility of rational new therapeutic strategies. Biodegradable antibiotic pellets designed to eradicate OME biofilms may be a better future treatment that could improve the lives of countless children.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:01:18Z
format Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
id nottingham-28069
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
language English
English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:01:18Z
publishDate 2013
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-280692025-02-28T11:33:03Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28069/ Otitis media with effusion: current treatment, new understanding of its aetiopathogenesis, and a novel therapeutic approach Daniel, Matija Otitis Media with Effusion (OME) is a common childhood condition leading to hearing loss, and its treatment with ventilation tubes (VTs) is one of the commonest surgical procedures. However, aetiology of OME is poorly understood, and its current treatment requires improvement as OME frequently recurs once VTs extrude. The first, clinical part of this thesis showed that 63.6% of children randomised to VT insertion in a clinical trial will require VTs again, and even with additional adenoidectomy the need for repeat surgery remains high. Although published national guidelines set out criteria for surgery, the multicentre study presented here showed that only 32.2% of children that had VTs met these criteria, and guidelines' publication had limited impact on clinical practice. The second, laboratory part of this thesis demonstrated the importance that bacteria and biofilms play in aetiology of OME, as live bacteria were demonstrated in 91.9% of middle ear effusions (using culture and confocal microscopy). Following from this, a Staphylococcus aureus biofilm model was developed, and used to show that biofilm eradication requires antibiotic (rifampicin and lindamycin) levels 1,000 times higher than those required to inhibit planktonic bacteria, over a period of 2-3 weeks. To achieve this in the middle ear, a local delivery strategy using biodegradable poly (Iactic-coglycolic acid) antibiotic pellets was proposed. Drug release from these pellets was investigated with High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Serial Plate Transfer Testing, which demonstrated that antibiotics can be released for up to 3 weeks. Importantly, the pellets were able to eradicate biofilms in the in vitro model. This thesis has shown that current OME treatment has significant deficiencies, but better understanding of OME pathogenesis raises the possibility of rational new therapeutic strategies. Biodegradable antibiotic pellets designed to eradicate OME biofilms may be a better future treatment that could improve the lives of countless children. 2013-07-17 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28069/1/594418_Vol1.pdf application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28069/2/594418_Vol2.pdf Daniel, Matija (2013) Otitis media with effusion: current treatment, new understanding of its aetiopathogenesis, and a novel therapeutic approach. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. Otitis media with effusion Bacteria Biofilms Staphylococcus aureus biofilm model Biodegradable antibiotic pellets
spellingShingle Otitis media with effusion
Bacteria
Biofilms
Staphylococcus aureus biofilm model
Biodegradable antibiotic pellets
Daniel, Matija
Otitis media with effusion: current treatment, new understanding of its aetiopathogenesis, and a novel therapeutic approach
title Otitis media with effusion: current treatment, new understanding of its aetiopathogenesis, and a novel therapeutic approach
title_full Otitis media with effusion: current treatment, new understanding of its aetiopathogenesis, and a novel therapeutic approach
title_fullStr Otitis media with effusion: current treatment, new understanding of its aetiopathogenesis, and a novel therapeutic approach
title_full_unstemmed Otitis media with effusion: current treatment, new understanding of its aetiopathogenesis, and a novel therapeutic approach
title_short Otitis media with effusion: current treatment, new understanding of its aetiopathogenesis, and a novel therapeutic approach
title_sort otitis media with effusion: current treatment, new understanding of its aetiopathogenesis, and a novel therapeutic approach
topic Otitis media with effusion
Bacteria
Biofilms
Staphylococcus aureus biofilm model
Biodegradable antibiotic pellets
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28069/