IN AN attempt to evaluate the effects of sulfonamide compounds used in the treatment of otitis media, the records of all patients with this disease admitted to the Los Angeles County General Hospital during the fiscal years of 1935 and 1943 were reviewed.Only those cases of otitis media in which the ear had drained for three days or longer were accepted in this series. This period of drainage was considered to establish with certainty the diagnosis of true purulent otitis media.
SERIES (BEFORE THERAPEUTIC USE OF SULFONAMIDE COMPOUNDS)This series was selected in order that the results of therapy before the general use of sulfonamide compounds began might be studied.In 1935 the admissions to the Los Angeles County General Hospital totaled 53,411. Of these, 3,212, or 6.0 per cent, were admissions to the department of otolaryngology of the hospital. Altogether, 2,189 case histories with the diagnosis of otitis media, from all departments, were reviewed in the 1935 series. This represents 4.0 per cent of the total admissions to the hospital.In 1,369, or 66.6 per cent, of the 2,189 cases in which the diagnosis was otitis media the ear drained over the three day period. Therefore, in 820, or 33.4 per cent, of the 2,189 cases the ear either did not drain or drained less than three days. Of the 1,369 acceptable cases, 1,241, or 91.1 per cent, were instances of acute, and 128, or 8.9 per cent, were instances of chronic otitis media.Acute Otitis Media.\p=m-\Of the 1,241 patients with acute otitis media, 671, or 54.1 per cent, recovered spontaneously, and 570, or 45.9 per cent, required simple mastoidectomy. The duration of drainage in the nonsurgical cases is shown in table 1. Drainage ceased in 54 per cent of the cases within two weeks.