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Table 1. Abbreviations and Definitions of Common Terms
(cont'd)
Term Definition
Hearing
assessment
A means of gathering information about a child's hearing status,
which may include caregiver report, audiologic assessment by
an audiologist, or hearing testing by a physician or allied health
professional using screening or standard equipment, which may
be automated or manual. Does not include use of noisemakers or
other non-standardized methods.
Acute otitis media
(AOM)
e rapid onset of signs and symptoms of inflammation of the
middle ear, usually diagnosed by a distinctly bulging tympanic
membrane and the presence of a middle ear effusion.
Persistent AOM Persistence of symptoms or signs of AOM during antimicrobial
therapy (treatment failure) and/or relapse of AOM within one
month of completing antibiotic therapy. When 2 episodes of otitis
media occur within 1 month, it may be difficult to distinguish
recurrence of AOM (i.e., a new episode) from persistent otitis
media (i.e., relapse).
Recurrent AOM 3 or more well-documented and separate AOM episodes in the
last 6 months OR at least 4 well-documented and separate AOM
episodes in the last 12 months with at least 1 in the last 6 months.
Middle ear
effusion (MEE)
Fluid in the middle ear from any cause, but most oen from OME
and during, or aer, an episode of AOM.
Conductive
hearing loss
(CHL)
Hearing loss, from abnormal or impaired sound transmission to
the inner ear, which is oen associated with effusion in the middle
ear.
Sensorineural
hearing loss
(SNHL)
Hearing loss that results from abnormal transmission of sound
from the sensory cells of the inner ear to the brain.
Tympanostomy
tube otorrhea
(TTO)
Discharge from the middle ear through the tube, oen caused by
AOM.
Retraction
pocket
A collapsed area of the tympanic membrane into the middle ear or
attic with a sharp demarcation from the remainder of the tympanic
membrane.
Tympanogram An objective measure of how easily the tympanic membrane
vibrates and at what pressure it does so most easily (pressure-
compliance function). If the middle ear is filled with fluid (eg,
OME), vibration is impaired and the tracing will be flat; if the
middle ear is filled with air, but at a higher or lower pressure than
the surrounding atmosphere, the peak on the graph will be shied
in position based on the pressure (to the le if negative, to the
right if positive).
