Microanatomy of the tympanic membrane in chronic myringitis obtained with optical coherence tomography

A microscope-based optical coherence tomography (OCT) device was used to assess the microanatomy of the tympanic membrane in patients with chronic myringitis. A prospective study was designed for this purpose. OCT measurements of the tympanic membrane were done on 11 patients with myringitis with a microscope-based spectral domain OCT system. The in vivo findings were compared with those findings of a control group consisting of 36 patients with retraction pockets or atrophic tympanic membranes ( n = 13), myringosclerosis ( n = 12) and perforations ( n = 11). In active chronic myringitis, the thickness of the tympanic membrane is increased compared to healthy membranes and ...