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Otitis Media and Inborn Errors of Immunity

  • Otitis (D Skoner, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The aim of this review is as follows: (1) to present the role of otitis as a warning sign for inborn errors of immunity (IEI), (2) to establish which patients presenting otitis should be investigated for IEI, (3) to review data about main IEI associated with otitis-prone patients.

Recent Findings

Otitis media is a very common infection in general population. The concept of otitis-prone children established a certain frequency of the infections in order to look for conditions leading to them. The confirmation of middle ear impairment by specialists has demonstrated better confiability. The hallmarks for immunologic evaluation are the presence of complications as mastoiditis and membrane perforation, failure to thrive, and additional respiratory symptoms. Humoral immunodeficiencies have been more frequently described in association with otitis-prone patients, for example, hypogammaglobulinemia, MBL deficiency, and IEI associated with major syndromes.

Summary

Most of the patients with confirmed IEI present otitis as one of the recurrent infections. It is suggested the investigation of immune defects in patients with otitis, and the following warning signs are suggested: Otitis evolving with mastoiditis, abscesses, or systemic infections; no response to appropriate antibiotic therapy; otitis media associated with other infections; recurrent otitis leading to failure to thrive and general developmental delay; and family history of primary immunodeficiency and/or consanguinity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Immunology, Reference Center for Rare Diseases, Faculdade de Medicina, Centro Universitario Saude ABC, Avenida Lauro Gomes, 2000, Santo Andre, SP, 09060-870, Brazil

    Maine L. D. Bardou, Daniele Pontarolli & Anete S. Grumach

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  1. Maine L. D. Bardou
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  2. Daniele Pontarolli
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Contributions

All the authors contributed to literature review; draft and final revision was ASG’s responsibility.

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Correspondence to Anete S. Grumach.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Grumach reports grants, personal fees, and other from Takeda and personal fees and other from CSL Boehring, outside the submitted work. Dr. Bardou and Pontarolli declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Otitis

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Bardou, M.L.D., Pontarolli, D. & Grumach, A.S. Otitis Media and Inborn Errors of Immunity. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 20, 59 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-020-00957-x

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