Malignant External Otitis in Spain

Publication date: January–February 2017
Source:Acta Otorrinolaringologica (English Edition), Volume 68, Issue 1
Author(s): Antonio Guerrero-Espejo, Inmaculada Valenciano-Moreno, Rafael Ramírez-Llorens, Palmira Pérez-Monteagudo
IntroductionMalignant external otitis is a necrotising infection, which extends from the squamous epithelium of the ear canal to the adjacent tissue.The objective of the study was to investigate its incidence and other epidemiological data in Spain, reporting the largest case series to date.MethodsA descriptive, retrospective study of the Spanish population was carried out using the minimum basic data set (MBDS) based on data of patients admitted to hospitals in the 2008–2013 period. Patients whose diagnosis (principal or secondary) at discharge was encoded as 380.14 (malignant external otitis), according to ICD-9-CM, were included as cases. The Spanish incidence rate was calculated for all its communities and provinces, as well as by season and mortality.ResultsA total of 355 patients (302 as principal diagnosis and 53 as secondary) were diagnosed. The incidence rate was 1.30 (95% CI, 1.17–1.44) per 106 inhabitants and year, although there were variations among geographical areas. The median age of cases with main diagnosis was 74 years (range 10–95 years). The predominant age group was in patients over 84 years old (19.3 cases per 10⁶ inhabitants and year). The incidence was higher in men and the male–female relative risk was 2.4. Diabetes was present in 74.6% of patients. The diagnosis was predominant in the last quarter of the year. The gross in-hospital mortality rate was 3.7%.ConclusionsMalignant external otitis is seen mostly among male elderly and diabetic patients. The incidence and mortality rate are low in Spain.



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