Sigmoid sinus and external auditory canal distance measurement analysis in chronic otitis media patients

OBJECTİVE: In this study ; the aim is to determine whether sigmoid sinus position measurements and external auditory canal distance have an anatomical etiology in the development of the disease in patients with chronic otitis media. MATERİAL AND METHODS: Patients aged 18-65 who were diagnosed with chronic otitis media between January 2013 and January 2020 at Dicle University Otorhinolaryngology Clinic were retrospectively analyzed. 100 patients followed up for chronic otitis media (Study group); 100 patients who had no complaints about the ear before and who were admitted to the emergency department with trauma and who did not have a fracture of the temporal bone after their temporal tomography were determined as the control group. In temporal bone tomography, the distance between the anterior edge of the sigmoid sinus and the posterior wall of the external auditory canal, sigmoid sinus width, sigmoid sinus depth and external auditory canal width were measured and compared in the relevant sections. FİNDİNGS: In our study, including 100 patients in the patient group and 100 patients in the control group; Temporal bone tomography applied to a total of 200 patients was evaluated. In our study, a total of 800 measurements were made on 200 patients. In our study; While the width of the external auditory canal was 5.17 ± 0.94 mm for the patient group, it was 4.86 ± 0.72 mm for the control group. A significant difference was found between the width of the external auditory canal of the patient group and the width of the external auditory canal of the control group (p: 0.011). The distance between the anterior edge of the sigmoid sinus and the posterior external auditory canal wall was 12.36 ± 1.79 mm for the patient group and 13.30 ± 2.48 mm for the control group. A significant difference was found between the anterior edge of the sigmoid sinus and the posterior wall of the external auditory canal in the patient group and the distance between the anterior edge of the sigmoid sinus and the posterior external auditory canal wall in the control group (p: 0.03). Sigmoid sinus width was found to be 11.65 ± 2.46 mm for the patient group and 13.22 ± 2.74 mm for the control group. Significant difference was found between the sigmoid sinus width of the patient group and the sigmoid sinus width of the control group (p: 0.000). Sigmoid sinus depth was found to be 5.75 ± 1.63 mm for the patient group and 5.88 ± 1.96 mm for the control group. No significant difference was found between the sigmoid sinus depth of the patient group and the sigmoid sinus depth of the control group (p: 0.86). CONCLUSİON: In our study, the distance between the anterior edge of the sigmoid sinus and the posterior wall of the external auditory canal was found to be shorter in the ears with chronic otitis media, while the external auditory canal width was found to be longer in the ears with chronic otitis media. While sigmoid sinus width was found to be shorter in ears with chronic otitis media, no statistically significant difference was found in sigmoid sinus depth. In our study, we concluded that there may be a correlation between the location of the sigmoid sinus and the width of the external auditory canal with the development of chronic otitis media. It would be beneficial to support this issue with studies with larger samples. KEYWORDS: Chronic otitis media, sigmoid sinus location, external auditory canal width