Ear Fluid

My son recently had ear tubes placed. The ENT noticed during the placement of the ear tubes that the consistency of the fluid in his ears was that of “solidified gelatin.” He had not observed this before and did not know if it was related to CdLS. Can you provide me with any information?

“Solidified gelatin” is kind of an unusual description. Ordinarily, there is nothing different about the fluid found in the ears of children with CdLS compared with fluid found in the ears of normal children with serious otitis media (inflammation of the ear). However, if that was the child’s first set of ear tubes, the fluid had been present several years. During that period of time, the typical “glue ear” fluid can turn extremely tenacious and even solid. If there have been recurrent infections, it can sometimes even contain partially calcified plaques.

RS/TK 7-13-10

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