Influence of chronic middle ear diseases on gustatory function: An electrogustometric study

Objective: We aimed to quantitatively determine whether middle ear inflammation associated with unilateral chronic otitis media (COM), cholesteatoma, or otosclerosis affects gustatory function. Study Design: Prospective study. Setting: University Hospital, Department of Otolaryngology. Patients: Forty-two patients had unilateral COM (22 men, 20 women; mean age, 54.2 yr), 57 had unilateral cholesteatoma (35 men, 22 women; mean age, 42.1 yr), and 19 had unilateral otosclerosis (10 men, 9 women; mean age, 49.3 yr). Main Outcome Measures: Patients underwent taste testing using electrogustometry (EGM) and sensation thresholds were compared in the affected and unaffected ears among groups and between affected and unaffected ears in each group. Results: Patients with COM and cholesteatoma exhibited an increase in taste threshold in the affected ears compared to the unaffected ears (p < 0.05), whereas otoselerosis patients did not. The extent of the increase of the sensation thresholds in the affected ears was very similar between patients with COM and those with cholesteatoma (p = 0.548). Conclusion: Our EGM study showed that cholesteatoma and chronic middle ear inflammation affected gustatory function to a similar degree.