Physician Profile

Through her research in the area of otitis media, also called middle ear disease, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh's Margaretha L. Casselbrant, MD, PhD, is fighting one of the most common infections for which children seek care.

Dr. Casselbrant's main areas of research are the prevention and treatment of otitis media, how it can affect balance and the hereditary aspects of the disease. Studies that Dr. Casselbrant and her colleagues have performed show that children who have fluid in their middle ear seem to be clumsier than children who do not and that balance improves after tympanostomy tubes have been inserted or the fluid goes away.

In the area of heredity, Dr. Casselbrant and her colleagues published a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1999 that was conducted at Children's Hospital. They followed twins and triplets from birth to 5 years of age. They found a high genetic susceptibility to ear disease existed among these children. This study justified the next step - the search for the genes that put children at risk for developing the illness. By finding the genes, it would be possible to develop methodologies by which to determine which children are prone to the disease and also to develop new ways of treating otitis media. Dr. Casselbrant is applying for grants to find the genes and is beginning the search for siblings, at least two or more who have had ear tubes, to include in the study.

Dr. Casselbrant also is aware of the socioeconomic toll that the disease can take on the family of a sick child-missing work to go to the doctor and waking up in the middle of the night to care for an ailing child. She hopes her work to heal these children also can lessen the burden on parents.

Dr. Casselbrant is director of education and clinical research in the department of otolaryngology at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. She also is professor of otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.