Otomycosis in São Paulo

Abstract

In view of the lack of researches on otomycosis in Brazil, we have tried to study their incidence, their clinical characteristics and the predispondent factors. During one year, 22 suspected cases were seen, 20 of them corresponded to otomycosis infections. The most frequent species were Aspergillus niger (35%) and Candida albicans (20%). The genus Aspergillus represented 75% of the isolates. Itching and hyperaemia (70%), otalgia (65%), hipoacusia (50%) were the commonest signs. Lack of cerumen (70%) chronic otitis (30%) previous antibiotic therapy and eczema (25%) were the most outstanding predispondent factors.

Otomycosis: a retrospective study

“…In São Paulo -SP, Brazil of 736 cases of otitis, 2.7% were otomycosis 20 . Notwithstanding, there are very few otomycosis studies in Brazil 4,[11][12][13] . In João Pessoa -PB, Brazil, of 103 patients with clinical suspicion of otitis externa, 19.4% were diagnosed with otomycosis.…”

“…The occurrence of bilateral otomycosis is very low 4,7,17 . Ho et al (2006) 10 observed a bilateral involvement in 7% of the patients, while in this study this figure reached 20%.…”

“…It is an infection that involves the external ear canal squamous epithelium, characterized by pruritus and occasional otalgia and hypoacusis 3,4 . Predisposing factors such as a failure in the ear's defense mechanisms (changes in the coating epithelium, changes in pH, quantitative and qualitative changes in ear wax), bacterial infection, hearing aid or a hearing prosthesis, self-inflicted trauma (use of q-tips to clean the ear), swimming, broad spectrum antibiotic agents, steroids and cytostatic medication, neoplasia and immune disorders, all of which can render the host susceptible to the development of otomycosis 2,5,6 .…”

“…Treatment recommendations go from germ termination or controlling predisposing factors, to local debridement (microaspiration) and/or the use of antimicrobial agents (topic/systemic) 9,10 . Although otomycosis is a disease spread throughout the world, there are only a handful of studies regarding its true frequency in Brazil 4,[11][12][13] , especially in João Pessoa-PB. The present paper aims at assessing otomycosis symptoms and frequency in patients referred to the Mycology Lab for mycological diagnosis.…”

Presentation Pattern and Fungal Agents Spectrum Causing Otommycosis

“…Prevalence is also influenced by the geographical area, as otomycosis is most commonly present in tropical and subtropical humid climates [12,13,[25][26][27]. The most common species encountered in cases of otomycosis are Aspergillus and Candida [28][29][30].…”