Efficacy of topical halofuginone in myringotomy patency

The objective of the study is to determine whether topical halofuginone (HF) application has an impact on prolonging the time for healing of myringotomy incision, and to investigate histopathologic effects of HF on tympanic membrane (TM) in rat model. Forty rats with normal eardrums were involved in this study. The study group and control group consisted of 30 and 10 rats, respectively. A posterior incision 1 mm in diameter was made on healthy eardrums of the rats. Following incision, gelfoam soaked with HF hydrobromide of 30 mg/dl was applied on the perforation in study group, whereas gelfoam soaked with isotonic saline was applied on the perforation in control group. On days 1, 3, 7, 10, 14, 18, 21, 24, 27, and 30, otoendoscopic evaluation of eardrums under general anesthesia was conducted and perforations were screened. A rat of each group was killed in control days and TMs were dissected to evaluate histopathological changes. The average times for patency of perforation in study and control groups were 21.43 and 7.50 days, respectively. The difference was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). Histopathological evaluation revealed that HF reduces hyalinisation and fibrosis in eardrum, when compared with the control group. In conclusion, HF significantly delays closure time of myringotomies in rat model. However, this delay may not be enough for recovery of otitis media with effusion.