What does COM stand for?

Erosion of the incus long process with concomitant discontinuity of the incudostapedial joint is a common cause of conductive hearing loss secondary to chronic otitis media.

In the article 'An approach to chronic otitis media with effusion, the pros and cons of grommets', Duane Mol differentiates between the different types of otitis media and explodes some of the myths about grommets.

The majority of the children had chronic otitis media and their ears needed cleaning twice daily.

Persistent fluid in the middle ear and chronic otitis media can reduce a child's hearing at a time that is critical for speech and language development.

We excluded otitis media with effusion, chronic otitis media, and glue ears.

And chronic otitis media may lead to deafness, speech problems and learning difficulties.

All of the children attending each participating center were considered eligible unless they had an underlying chronic illness (immunologic diseases; neoplastic disorders; renal, cardiac, hepatic, or hematologic diseases; bronchodysplasia; Down syndrome; chronic otitis media with effusion) or even a mild acute upper or lower respiratory tract infection at the time of enrollment.

Persistent fluid in the middle ear and chronic otitis media can reduce a child's heating at a time that is critical for speech and language development.