Clinical Manifestations of Aural Fullness

Abstract

PurposeEven though aural fullness is ubiquitous among patients presenting to otolaryngology clinics, the association between aural fullness and disease development has not yet been clearly determined.Materials and MethodsOur study was performed on outpatients from June 2006 to February 2010 whose major complaint was "ear fullness", "aural fullness", or "ear pressure". We assessed their demographic and clinical characteristics, including sex, associated diseases, symptoms, otoscopic findings, audiology test results, and final diagnoses.ResultsAmong 432 patients, 165 (38.2%) were males and 267 (61.8%) were females, with mean ages of 42±19 years and 47±17 years, respectively. Tinnitus, hearing disturbance, autophony (p<0.01) as well as nasal obstruction and sore throat (p<0.05) showed a statistically significant correlation with aural fullness. Among patients who complained of hearing fullness, tests and measures such as impedance audiometry, speech reception threshold, and pure tone audiometry generated statistically significant results (p<0.05). Ear fullness was most frequently diagnosed as Eustachian tube dysfunction (28.9%), followed by otitis media with effusion (13.4%) and chronic otitis media (7.2%). However, 13.4% of patients could not be definitively diagnosed.ConclusionAmong patients complaining of ear fullness, Eustachian tube dysfunction, otitis media with effusion, chronic otitis media were most commonly observed. Performance of otoscopy, nasal endoscopy, the Valsalva maneuver, and additional audiological tests is necessary to exclude other diseases.

Clinical implications of magnetic resonance imaging in temporomandibular disorders patients presenting ear fullness

“…Although EF is a common otologic symptom in the otolaryngology field, its underlying etiologies are yet to be clearly elucidated. Interestingly, less than 50% of adult patients presenting with EF are diagnosed with actual ear diseases . In addition, unlike other common ear diseases, the cause of EF is not commonly identified through regular otologic examinations.…”

Migraine‐Related Aural Fullness: A Potential Clinical Entity

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Persistent, idiopathic AF has a prevalence of 13.4%, and the second most common classification of patients with AF after eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD). 1 In this study, we retrospectively examined a cohort of patients who presented with isolated, prolonged AF. We aimed to (1) analyze these patients and examine migraine-related AF and (2) assess the impact of migraine treatment on AF severity.…”

“…1 In this study, we retrospectively examined a cohort of patients who presented with isolated, prolonged AF. We aimed to (1) analyze these patients and examine migraine-related AF and (2) assess the impact of migraine treatment on AF severity.…”

Percepção do ruído, saúde auditiva e qualidade de vida de professores de escolas públicas

“…Just a few teachers reported auricular fullness. This symptom was not found in literature or in studies with teachers, and, in general people, it is more frequently diagnosed as a Eustachian tube dysfunction (28.9%), followed by media otitis with effusion (13.4%) and by chronic media otitis (7.2%), taking into consideration that a part of the patients did not received a definitive diagnostic (20) . Intolerance to loud sounds or noise, consistently mentioned by a substantial number of teachers, is a feeling that can be related to occurrence of Metz recruitment in cochleopathies and to pathological adaptation in retrocochlear affections (21) .…”