Herbert J. Spoor

A CLINICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL STUDY OF EXTERNAL OTITIS

Both acute and chronic otitis externa may be manifestations of a generalized dermatosis such as seborrhea, psoriasis or neurodermatitis, or they may be caused by a localized allergic or inflammatory condition stemming from, for example, contact eczema, impetigo or the secondary infectious eczematoid dermatitis from purulent otitis media. The infectious component may not be the primary cause of external otitis, but it is invariably present and complicates clinical management. This infectious component must be eliminated before effective control of the pruritus and pain of external otitis can be achieved. Properly formulated otic solutions achieve this objective.