Childhood serous otitis media: fifteen months' observations of children untreated compared with those receiving an antihistamine-adrenergic combination

Abstract

Of 55 patients who had received, in a previously reported double-blind study, either an antihistamine-adrenergic combination or a placebo for three months for serous otitis media, 48 were followed without drug therapy for an additional year. During the follow-up period no differences were detected between the patients who had initially been treated with drugs and those who had received the placebo, as detected by audiometry, tympanometry, parental concern about hearing loss (as detected by the parents themselves or by their children's teachers or primary health care providers), school performance, or recurrences of serous otitis media.